The election is two weeks away. Be sure to take advantage of the SD Taxpayers voter guide and in-depth policy reports. sdtaxpayers.org/tracker sdtaxpayers.org/policyreport…

If Prop 40 (the Billionaire Tax) is "approved by voters in November, it’s unclear how much money the ballot initiative would raise, how quickly the funding would become available, and how lawmakers would spend it." timesofsandiego.com/politics… SD Taxpayers has read the fine print and is not impressed with what it found. The tax would create unresolved valuation and legal questions could delay or reduce what the measure actually collects. Vote NO on Prop 40. sdtaxpayers.org/policy-repor…

The Mayor will present the Fiscal Year 2026 Year-End Financial Performance Report to the October 21 Budget and Government Efficiency Committee. The report will compare actual and projected revenue and expenses activity. While general fund revenue actuals were slightly higher than expected (by $4.1 million), this gain was more than offset by higher expenditures (up $10.5 million). City reserves ended the year below target. "The ending FY 2026 General Fund reserves balance of $202.4 million, or 10.9 percent of the three-year average of operating revenue, remains below the 14.1 percent target outlined in the City’s Reserve Policy." The city is also carrying 1,350 vacant positions, including 299 in the Police Department and 101 in the Fire Resue Department. The report does not have a summary of the #SanDiego's fiscal condition as of the end of Fiscal Year 2026, but given higher than expected expenditures, low reserves, and a budget kept balanced by leaving rank-and-file public safety positions vacant it is not unreasonable to conclude that the city's finances are in need of improvement. sandiego.hylandcloud.com/211…

California state Proposition 1 may promise affordable housing, but there is little chance it will deliver. sandiegouniontribune.com/202… Proposition 1 would add roughly $580 million per year in General Fund debt service for about 30 years — some $17.4 billion in principal and interest on the $10 billion general obligation portion — at a time when the state faces a persistent multibillion-dollar structural deficit, and general obligation debt is a first-priority claim on the General Fund that must be paid regardless of how the funded programs perform. sdtaxpayers.org/policy-repor… Vote NO Proposition 1.

#SanDiego taxes continue their upward trajectory. Measure B, a countywide sales tax hike is on the November ballot. But smaller local increases also add to the tax burden. sandiegouniontribune.com/202…

The appointment of a Chief Operating Officer can be expected to improve the city's day-to-day operations but only the mayor and council have the authority to make the substantive policy reforms need to get #SanDiego on a stable financial position. To date, there has been little evidence they are taking steps in that direction. timesofsandiego.com/politics…

"Proposition 43 would make it harder to raise local taxes, such as sales taxes, by restoring an important taxpayer protection that voters overwhelmingly approved in 1978 with the passage of Proposition 13. In a series of court decisions beginning nine years ago, Proposition 13’s requirement for a two-thirds vote for local special taxes was effectively eradicated." sandiegouniontribune.com/202… The measure is also support by SD Taxpayers. sdtaxpayers.org/policy-repor…

In California, local governments have a tendancy to underestimate the cost of taking over power companies. "It would cost $20 billion for San Francisco to purchase Pacific Gas & Electric’s grid in a public power takeover, the utility’s CEO announced Wednesday, far above an estimate the city provided earlier this year." sfstandard.com/2026/10/14/pu…

Some taxes (like sales taxes) are easy to notice. Others are hidden. "The #SanDiego Housing Commission imposes a hefty 'monitoring' fee on subsidized housing projects to ensure that tenants meet income-eligibility requirements. "The commission charges $163 per unit for this service. For a 300-unit project, with rent restrictions lasting a typical 55 years, this translates to millions of dollars over the life of the project. "That could make the difference between a developer building an affordable housing project or not, or deciding to build it anywhere else in the state that does not impose such additional costs. "'It’s a tax on affordable housing,' developer Gene Broussard told the Union-Tribune." sandiegouniontribune.com/202…

"A state audit released Tuesday found more than 50 dams across California are in poor condition, with the failure of any of them posing a potential danger to hundreds of thousands of people and causing billions of dollars in property damage." "The Lake Hodges Dam is rated the worst dam in the state by the California Division of Safety of Dams." 10news.com/news/local-news/n…

#SANDAG originated as a county level planning organization 50 years ago. It has since evolved into a major government agency with 400 employees, and $1.5 billion budget, and its own taxing authority. SANDAG is also beset by ongoing accountability failures and management issues. ncpipeline.substack.com/p/sa…

The City Council Land Use & Housing Committee will take the first step towards forming an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) to finance the redevelopment of the #MidwayRising project at its October 17 meeting. An EIFD is a special financing district that uses a portion of future property tax revenue generated by new growth within a specific boundary to pay for public projects. The current property tax baseline value is frozen. As property values grow within the district, the future tax increment (the extra revenue above the baseline) is diverted into a special fund to pay for projects or back bond debt. Since the EIFD would be in effect until 2081 and receive over $1 billion in revenue (or $148 million in today’s dollars), it is critical that #SanDiego residents fully understand the risks and benefits of the arrangement. SD Taxpayers has not taken a formal position for or against #MidwayRising. sandiego.hylandcloud.com/211…

#Escondido "has come out against the county’s proposed half-cent sales tax measure, which would bring the city’s sales tax to the state cap if approved by voters this November." "The county’s proposed Measure B does not include a sunset clause." Additionally, Measure B "fails to establish dedicated allocations, revenue-sharing formulas or guaranteed distributions for incorporated cities or municipal police and fire departments." The sales tax hike is also opposed by SD Taxpayers. sdtaxpayers.org/tracker thecoastnews.com/escondido-c…

The #SanDiego County Taxpayers Association has released its 2026 School Bond Transparency Report Card, the 14th annual review of how openly San Diego County’s K-12 and community college districts report on the use of voter approved bond dollars. “A school bond is a commitment property owners carry for decades, and the oversight has to last just as long,” said Mike McLaughlin, chairman of the Taxpayers Association Board of Directors. “The biggest remaining gaps are in performance audits and in the independence of oversight committees -- the pieces that tell taxpayers not just how bond money was spent, but how well. "We also encourage residents to consider serving as the taxpayer representative on their local oversight committee. "Those volunteers are the front line of bond accountability.” sdtaxpayers.org/studies-feed…