Lake County’s opinions on local/state issues
Check out today’s editorial column, cartoon and columnist perspectives.
That’s why we were glad to see a bill introduced in the Capitol that would require county assessors to list on their websites all the direct levies that apply to each taxrate area within the county.
Direct levies are those extra fees, assessments and charges that are listed on property tax bills. These can include special taxes or other charges for such things as weed abatement, street lights, library bonds, school district bonds, flood control, water recycling, park maintenance, fire districts and Mello-Roos bonds.
While property owners can see the charges on their own tax bills, the text describing the charges is often abbreviated and puzzling.
For people seeking information about the taxes on property in other areas, it can be difficult or impossible to find complete information.
Assembly Bill 119, introduced by Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, would increase tax transparency, allowing homebuyers to check the county assessor’s website to see all the bonds, taxes, fees and assessments that voters in that area have approved.
Those charges can stay on property bills for decades, often with no sunset date at all.
It could soon become even easier for measures such as these to pass, adding new direct levies to property tax bills. Currently, taxes and bonds for a special purpose generally need the approval of two-thirds of voters, with the exception of school bonds, which pass with only 55 percent approval.
However, a newly introduced bill would apply that lower approval threshold to a much wider range of taxes and charges. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, resurrected after failing in the last session, would require the approval of only 55 percent of voters to pass new taxes or bonds for spending on infrastructure and affordable housing projects. Proposals such as ACA1 would make it easier to pass tax increases. That makes it more important than ever for taxpayers and voters to have a clear view of the direct levies they’re already paying.
Perhaps if taxpayers had a clearer idea of what they’re already paying, they’d be in position to evaluate whether they’re getting what they’re paying for.