Perhaps I'm too "green" and still hindered by the reality from which I emerged to enter the political arena... I say this because today I was told by a man, who I otherwise respect, that it isn't "really" a tax increase if we are simply raising the amount of taxes that a county can choose to impose. Even though previous legislators have often ducked their accountability for raising revenues by creating new or increased taxing authorities in lower jurisdictions, I am not of like mind.
To me, if I were to vote to give permission to raise taxes to another lower jurisdiction, knowing full well that the taxing jurisdiction came to us for that permission specifically so they COULD raise taxes, then I would be voting for a tax increase. Indirectly, yes. But, I think it is intellectually dishonest to claim that this is not a vote for a tax increase... Just because some other poor fool at the local level is going to take the heat for the increase, doesn't mean we can walk away clean if we vote to permit it.
The voters told us they didn't want tax increases, and even passed prop 108 to require us to get 2/3 of the vote in order to do so. I feel I owe the voters my no vote on allowing a county to raise their taxes, even if my coworkers do not agree.
