GUEST COLUMNIST: 300 will end illegal city taxes, levied without vote

This simple two-sentence ordinance 1) ends now stormwater fees and other deals voters never approved between enterprises and the city, and 2) phases out secret utility taxes and other enterprise payments to the city over eight years. All savings will lower our bills and “fees.” Make city council run enterprises like businesses, not slush funds or piggy banks. Demand your right to vote on taxes they falsely call “fees.” Vote “for” the “Right to Vote” petition, issue 300.

Businesses cannot tax us, yet city enterprises do. The illegal city streetlight tax, which we finally ended, cost us $14 million.  Next came $45 million in rain taxes (storm water fees) to fix city drainage. Light tax, water tax — what’s next? Air tax? Repeal the enterprise “fee” (tax) imposed without voter approval and misused to bail out city neglect!

Enterprise “fees” give the city cash and services. The city raided its parking fund for one million dollars. It spends parking “fees” on insiders. Utilities bought useless land to bail out a failing enterprise, then raised water rates 41 percent.  Let’s end enterprise gifts and subsidies, like fake “fees” to fix city-owned storm water channels, pipes, curbs, and roads.

The petition’s first sentence phases out secret utility taxes and other enterprise payments to the city.  The savings are under 1 percent of the $405 million total city budget (Budget in Brief, page 7) per year for eight years.  Customers end up saving $140 in yearly utilities.

Page 9 of the city’s 2008 financial report says net assets are $2.7 billion, “of which $358 million was unrestricted.” Yet the council still claims it has “no money.”

The petition’s second sentence will stop city misuse of enterprises by making enterprises independent. No more using “enterprise fees” as taxes without voter approval. Present, future, and delinquent storm water “fees” would end at once.

Consider these four facts:

Thousands of storm water “fees” remain unpaid, a strong  protest of a bad tax.

Nothing stops any city enterprise from quadrupling its “fees” after this election.

Stormwater Enterprise paid the city Street Department $300,000 in  “fees”  in “error.”

This “fee” illegally taxes churches, schools, and federal-state-county governments.

Consider also these recent council actions: the $53 million downtown Olympics headquarters handout; the “sale” of 43 acres north of the Broadmoor for one dollar; last spring’s $4 million gift to one company; $10-plus million yearly loss on near-empty buses; $30 million to fix one intersection; loans, payoffs, bonuses, and studies; millions for tourism ad subsidies; selling City Hall to raise cash to fix council offices; and the huge Costco tax rebate. The only way to end their waste is to make them live on a real budget.

For its political show trial, the city asked its city-paid judge to issue a gag order banning me from mentioning “freedom of speech” and other defenses. Many abuses show how city council has politicized police, attorneys, and courts. City Hall hates petitions, particularly one reducing city revenue. It has overtly harassed me for 18-plus years, to intimidate any possible petitioner.

Now the city attorney has threatened to ignore the will of the voters and continue imposing the storm water “fee,” even after passage of issue 300 repeals it!  For shame!

Resist threats to put storm water “fees” on your property tax bill, lien your home, impose fines, and report your peaceful protest to ruin your credit. To condemn such harsh city tactics; to end their storm water tax the city falsely calls a “fee”; to phase out their secret utility tax voters never approved; to denounce their illegal acts against petitioners; to object to their depriving voters of pro-con election notice information; to protest their last-minute change in the ballot title to make it confusing, please vote “for” issue 300, the “Right to Vote” petition. Then volunteer at info@cityreforms.com or 550-0010.  Together, we can fight City Hall, and win.

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Bruce is the author of issue 300. The website is www.CityReforms.com.