Norm Sauer: Government vote overwhelms the people - The Union of Grass Valley
Wednesday, May 13, was the final day of voting in the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District fee election. Sounds boring until you consider how bizarre it really is. The district seeks to impose a $12 per real property parcel fee in both counties. The bizarre takes us to Proposition 218 passed in 1997. The laudable purpose of the measure was to guarantee the right to vote to property owners on local service fee increases. 218 eliminated the exemption of government property from service assessments or fees (taxes), now every governmental agency in Marin and Sonoma counties is allowed to cast ballots regarding the $12 fee or tax. Because the exemption from tax of government property was removed, the largest single block of votes in the mosquito district fee election is cast by government. It emerges that Marin County government is assigned 6,211 worth of ballots while the federal government is allocated 9,167 ballots. Every unincorporated city in the two-county district will also vote, their ballots totaling 12,840 votes. Even more bizarre, the Marin County Board of Supervisors allowed different department heads to vote their ballots. It is a safe bet most ballots cast by government agencies will be “yes” to pass the parcel tax. Source: www.theunion.com
