The San Diego City Council Monday unanimously passed a resolution to oppose a statewide measure called the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act,” or TPA, which is scheduled to appear on the November 2024 ballot.
The measure would make it more difficult to raise taxes by requiring approval by two-thirds of each house of the legislature and a majority of voters to raise state taxes; it would increase the vote requirement for local taxes to a two-thirds vote of the electorate.
It was sponsored by the California Business Roundtable, a business coalition that describes itself as non-partisan and representing “major employers” throughout the state. That group has described the act as a protective measure, as its name implies.
Many local and state politicians disagree. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature filed an emergency petition earlier this year to have the TPA removed from the ballot. The League of California Cities filed an amicus letter to support.
The League of California Cities’ executive director, Carolyn Coleman, added that this measure, if passed, would give corporations an unfair advantage over public services and private citizens.
“This dangerous measure — that deceptively seeks to ‘protect’ taxpayers — would do the opposite by forcing city residents to pay more for streets and roads, water, public safety, homeless shelters, and other critical services,” she said.
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera did not mince words about the TPA.
“This ballot measure is an antidemocratic power grab by greedy corporations and puts a radical minority in charge of the democratic process,” Elo-Rivera, who led the vote, said in a statement.
“It also jeopardizes a range of critical City services and infrastructure that our residents have come to rely on and expect.”
