California farmers and ranchers heard a recent presentation on a November 2024 ballot initiative that would give voters the final decision on approving new local and state taxes.
In a Dec. 4 workshop at the California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Reno, NV, farmers and ranchers packed a meeting room to hear about the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act. The initiative is backed by the California Farm Bureau, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Business Roundtable and the California Business Properties Association, along with a coalition of other supporters.
Supporters of the initiative say it would build on the legacy of Proposition 13, a landmark 1978 initiative that capped property taxes at 1% of assessed value, set limits on annual increases and required two-thirds votes to introduce new taxes.
The new measure would require all new taxes passed by the California Legislature be approved by voters and would reaffirm a two-thirds voter approval for all new local special tax increases. It would also define what is a tax or fee, mandate accurate descriptions of new tax proposals and require politicians to identify how revenue will be spent before any tax or fee is enacted.
Steven Fenaroli, California Farm Bureau’s political affairs director, said the initiative would amend the California Constitution to guard against potentially conflicting court rulings from disputed interpretations of constitutional language.
“If you leave here with one thing, it is that the Taxpayer Protection Act in 2024 gives you the right to vote on all future tax increases,” Fenaroli said. “This is about restoring your rights as voters and making sure that farmers and ranchers continue to have their voices heard, and that we don’t let folks and unelected bureaucrats just continue to raise taxes and fees on us.”
Fenaroli said the measure is a continuation of work by the California Farm Bureau that helped defeat Proposition 15, a “split-roll” property tax initiative that farmers and ranchers argued would be damaging to their livelihood. That initiative was voted down in 2020 after drawing early, vigorous opposition from the California Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations.
“The crux of the problem is we already have the highest personal income tax and state sales tax and gas tax, and everything keeps going up. Taxes and fees just keep going higher and higher,” Fenaroli said. “In this last legislative session, the California Legislature proposed more than $200 billion in new taxes and fees.”
Ben Granholm, a representative for the initiative campaign, said the measure is a reaction to tax increases that provide few, if any, returns for Californians.
“All of these taxes and fees that are continuously being raised on farmers and ranchers and on our everyday residents, are going to these critical issues, but we’re not seeing the benefits,” Granholm said.
Fenaroli told attendees the Taxpayer Protection Act holds government officials accountable.
“This restores accountability and makes sure that those who have unchecked authority are held accountable and that fees actually represent the services that are being provided,” he said. “We always hear the money is for roads, bridges, schools, firefighters or cops. But how many times do we see it go into the general fund for another use? This measure ends this whole bait-and-switch that we have with taxes and increases transparency.”
During the meeting, presenters told farmers that the measure strengthens Proposition 13 protections by guaranteeing that local property tax revenues remain in the county where they are collected and prohibits a “split rate” property tax by eliminating the ability to add surcharges to all properties above the limits set by Proposition 13.
While still allowing local governments to raise money, Fenaroli said, the measure includes a “legally enforceable” provision that the county or city has to identify the use of the proposed tax funds.
Campaign officials said they have conducted surveys that revealed the measure has strong prospects for passage. They note that voters facing inflation and mounting cost-of-living increases may be receptive to an initiative—46 years after Proposition 13—that gives California residents a voice on whether to accept new taxes.
“This is very winnable,” Granholm said. “People don’t necessarily oppose raising taxes. Their problem is when that tax money isn’t going to where it was promised, so it’s those things that irritate the voters about where their tax money is going.” — Christine Souza, Ag Alert assistant editor, California Farm Bureau Federation
