Quote from city council member and former Encinitas mayor, Dan Dalager describing the current state of the city budget, "We have a glass that is full and overflowing." source
Okay, question #1, if our budget is "overflowing" then why is the extremely high traffic Leucadia Blvd/Hwy101 intersection so dilapidated and dangerous?
Question #2, If the budget is "overflowing" then why is everyone lobbying for new taxes?
ENCINITAS: Voters to decide on taxing short-term rentals
OPINION: Yes on Encinitas Props F and G
I believe that our local high profit short term rentals should be on an equal playing field with our hotels and motels. But, if our budget is "overflowing" then why not cut the motels and hotels a break and repeal the Prop R sand tax? This would make them more price competitive with our neighboring cities like Carlsbad.
This concept was brought to the council's attention by Kevin Cummings but was not well received, ETA Watchdog Report No Break for Local Businesses.
The Encinitas Chamber of Commerce (which receives tax money from the city) has an ad for props F & G on their e-mail newsletter, view here.
Burning Question: Is it ethical for the ECC to lobby for new taxes?
(The Prop R sand tax pundits are taking full credit for the success of Encinitas but that hubris is a topic for another blog post).
Hey Goober, ya'll gonna take them frog skins and buy yerself a rifle so's ya'll kin shoot some squirrels?
ReplyDeleteThat is what Danny said about his lawnmower shop budget before it went out of business.
ReplyDeleteThe answers to the questions posted by J.P. could be answered as followed.
ReplyDeleteMisinformation
Misdirection
Misrepresentation
Misalignment.
Personally I'm voting NO on F and G, and suggesting others do like wise.
Since the first of the year there has been a mad scramble by the council led by Jerome Stock to increase rates, fees, and taxes. That glass ain't full and it ain't overflowing. Dan is a doofus.
ReplyDeleteAlready we have had two rate increases in the San Dieguito Water District and one in the Cardiff and Encinitas Sanitary Divisions. Unfortunately both Teresa and Maggie voted for these increases. Sadly they are having the wool pulled over their eyes by the three men, again led by Stocks.
I'm with Bob. I'm voting NO on F and G. No more money for the profligate leaders at city hall.
I am definitely voting yes on Both.
ReplyDeleteI am not subsidizing landlords who sell out our neighborhood. Short term renters need to pay their fair share. I hope you vote yes on both as well and save our neighborhoods.
You play in Encinitas, you pay for a small portion of maintaining Encinitas.
Of course everyone should pay their fair share. At issue is what that fair share should be, and how the money is used once collected. I personally question the validity of the pro F&G argument.
ReplyDeleteVote no on any tax increases including the two new ones in June.
ReplyDeleteLocal homeowner- How much tax is raised from F&G? The city wasted ten's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of $$$ every year. Last year they wasted ten grand on a survey of Happiness!! Get real! How much additional tax will be raised by taxing homeowners with F and G?? IF not more than 10 Grand then it's a waste. And the city can STOP surveying happiness and redirect the money to better causes. Or better yet NOT SPEND IT AT ALL!!!
ReplyDeleteGood post, JP, and some good comments.
ReplyDeleteI am voting NO on F & G. The City already charges a $150 YEARLY permit fee for short term rentals, that are NOT hotels.
I don't think that a small homeowner, living on site, and renting out less than half the year, should be considered in the same category as HOTELS and MOTELS for sand taxes.
For one thing, we don't need so MUCH new sand, which is not the same as our local sand, and which causes environmental degradation.
For another thing, I agree; the Chamber of Commerce, which is supported by the General Fund (taxpayers), should not become a sand lobbyist, and also should not come out with interviews of our current Mayor, Jerome Stocks, without offering articles about candidates who oppose him, and also about Maggie Houlihan, who SHOULD BE MAYOR now, if the three man majority had not twisted tradition in an obvious attempt to boost Stocks' election chances.
We can all work together to defeat him. Jerome is all for a tax and spend economy, and has been for nearly eight years. Enough is enough. Time for a positive change.
Yeah, why if the glass is "overflowing" do property owners have to be charged more and more for taxes, through water rate increases, and for sewer rate increases?
ReplyDeleteIt's cheating the Encinitas Sanitary Division and Cardiff Sanitary Division ratepayers to be charged both an increased usage or "commodities" fee on our property tax bill for sewer rates, as well as an increase fixed fee, for each water meter. We pay every other month for a standard meter fee for the San Dieguito Water District.
We have NO sewer meters. For those who have paid to install them in ESD and CSD, the actual usage charge has gone down by sometimes over 300%. Check past blog comments from Just a Plumber.
85% of the water used in winter months does NOT go into our sewers, plus the multiplier per 100 Cubic Feet of water is unfairly high.
The City is getting almost $6 million yearly from ESD and CSD, which make up less than half of the city's property owners, I believe. Most of Council, including Maggie Houlihan and Jerome Stocks, are in the Leucadia Water District, which is gerrymandered, and doesn't include everyone who's property tax bill says Leucadia.
If the glass is overflowing, we would not need to subsidize the city on the backs of a minority of property owners. Cardiff sewer ratepayers are paying an average of $60 every month for sewer rates, according to the City analyst. Encinitas and Cardiff sewer ratepayers pay about two and often three times as much as Leucadia sewer ratepayers who are fortuante to pay a FLAT FEE of $194 per year.
Yes, a flurry of overspending, overtaxing is taking place. Vote for change, and vote no on all new taxes.
Whatever. Short term rentals and especially landlords SUCK BIG TIME!!!
ReplyDeleteI HOPE THEY FIND A WAY TO TAX ALL OF YOU MORE.
YOU ARE JUST AS LOW AND DO AS MUCH DAMAGE TO OUR TOWN AS MICK P WHO YOU ALL LOVE SO MUCH.
Dude...don't drink and post... It's not HOT.
ReplyDeleteHey Nicole.
ReplyDeleteI could give a crap whether I'm Hot. I am not trying to be Paris.
Why would you think I am drinking, is that what everyone in your family does?
Wasn't it J.P. who came up with the idea of taxing short term rentals on this blog in the first place?
ReplyDeleteNo, JP didn't, that I recall; he can speak for himself.
ReplyDeleteBut all the Council Members supported it. I also think the taxes are excessive on small hotels, and small homeowners, in terms of yearly taxes, and requiring an extra yearly fee for those who are NOT in the business of renting out all year.
The tax could and should apply to those property owners who have multiple investment properties run by property management firms, which can be "big biz."
Those type of investment firms, big profit corporations should for sure help pay back into our local economy, and I feel by attracting tourists to small businesses, they do already contribute to the sales tax base. They should not have to pay for sand lobbyists through the City, though.
The City will have to spend a lot to enforce and administer this new law. Encinitas may then justify having to pay for more staff, besides an overabundance of unwanted sand, really, forced on some of us unwillingly, whether we need it or not.
No one wants continually increasing sand taxes and parking fees, except perhaps various govt. sectors, Councils.
Look to Carlsbad, and its recent raise in beachside parking fees, hotly protested. If one compares Encinitas' fees and taxes to other districts, now, also comparing the number of contractors and staff, we can clearly see that spending is at an all time high. The amount Encinitas property owners pay per capita for operating expenses and contractors, taxes and fees, outstrips cities nearby.
Encinitas is bloated, and should pay for an efficiency expert. If the glass is "full and overflowing," as Dalager said, Encinitas should not be in the business of imposing new overly broad, excessive, ever-increasing, and unnecessary sand taxes, including extra golf course buddy bonuses for sand lobbyists who smile and gladly rake in "a piece of the action."
As everyone knows, Dan is a dumb person. Hence, the dumb ass comment.
ReplyDeleteThe City is broke. The City needs the taxes.
I am voting for the taxes, having short term rentals pay their fair share and voting against Dan next time he is up.
The hotel tax should go to repaving the coast highway.
ReplyDeleteCorrection, because the sanitary "divisions" are gerrymandered, Maggie Houlihan is also in ESD.
ReplyDeleteApparently, only Jerome is voting for increased fees that he will not have to pay, himself, on this issue.
Encinitas City Council Revenue Plan.
ReplyDeleteProperty values have stopped increasing. When that happens, property taxes stop increasing.
I have a "Fair" solution that will keep the cash flowing.
Let's not just tax Vacation Rentals at 10%, lets tax all commercial activity in Encinitas at 10%.
We can start by raising the sales tax to 10%. We'll be taxing customers at all the retail outlets along the 101, right? The clothing shops, restaurants, and fast food outlets all sell to tourists. I mean, Fair is Fair.
Then, let's make the 10% sales tax applicable to grocery store purchases also. My wife works at Ralphs, and she tells me that people come into her store off the I-5 all the time. They are tourists, and they need to be taxed too.
Finally, we also have to tax the Service businesses. Tourists get their clothes cleaned, go to beauty parlors, and wash their cars, right?
Of course, an all-encompassing tax measure isn't going to pass. So the Council needs to introduce individual propositions that target specific small business types every election cycle.
This June, we vote for taxing Vacation Rentals; maybe in November we can vote for taxing fast food; and then next June we'll vote for taxing beauty parlors, and so on.
As long as there are more sheep at the polls who think they are taxing tourists, than there are Encinitas residents trying to run a particular type of small business, the measures will pass.
Boom times will return to Encinitas! Once again, every year will bring another windfall for the city coffers!
Of course, the question does arise: What will they do with all that cash?
The answer to that is obvious. The council members can return to their first love--that is, building monuments to themselves. Maybe we can even replace the head on the Cardiff Surfing Statue with a bust of Jerome Stocks?
I thought the Cardiff statue was Jerome Stocks -- didn't he give the sculptor a photo of his wild surfing days?
ReplyDelete