Californians anti-tax? Not necessarily

The conventional wisdom is that Californians are sick of taxes, absolutely refuse to pay more, and will kick out of office any lawmaker who votes to raise them. But is that really the case? Not necessarily, as the June 8 election demonstrated. There were 60 local tax and bond measures on the ballot that day, and 44 of them—73 percent—passed. Here’s the breakdown:

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Type Total Pass Pass %age City majority vote 11 9 82 County majority vote 2 2 100 City 2/3 vote 8 5 63 County 2/3 vote 1 1 100 Special district (2/3) 9 6 67 School parcel tax (2/3) 9 6 67 School bond (55%) 20 15 75

Source: California Local Government Finance Almanac (www.californiacityfinance.com)