ON MARCH 3, VOTE NO ON THE $15 BILLION BOND MEASURE
A bond measure on the March 3 statewide ballot would authorize $15 billion in new debt to be repaid by California taxpayers. This unnecessary borrowing will cost nearly $600 million in annual General Fund money to pay off, every year for the next 30 years. While the state might be able to absorb this cost now, it may be less able to accomplish that during a recession.
It’s just too much. But for politicians, it’s never enough.
As recently as November 2016, voters passed Proposition 51, a $9 billion General Obligation bond for schools and community colleges. That followed an $8 billion bond, Proposition 1D, in 2006.
Borrowed money isn’t free money. California already has more than $158 billion of outstanding bonds and authorized, unissued bonds. How much are we paying? In 2000–2001, General Fund payments for bond debt added up to $2.9 billion annually. Last year it was up to $8.1 billion.
Bond debt can become a devastating burden on taxpayers, who are obligated to pay it ahead of other expenses for government services.
There’s another huge problem with this massive statewide bond measure: It nearly doubles the bond limits at the local level. Local bonds are repaid exclusively through property taxes, meaning that if this bond passes, your property taxes almost surely will increase as well. That’s why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association opposes this measure.
You can find all the HJTA PAC’s ballot measure recommendations, candidate endorsements and other helpful information by clicking here.
HJTA.org is your source for everything Proposition 13 and for information valuable to California taxpayers. For more information or to take action, go to HJTA.org/take-action.
Published by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). Copyright © 2019 by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. All rights reserved.