More Sales Tax

Ward G. Johnson

Tuesday, March 7, will be the Los Angeles county wide Consolidated Municipal and Special Elections, This year voters will decide whether or not they wish to chip in another quarter of a cent for sales tax for the next ten years with and including an independent annual audit and citizens oversight.

I have to wonder how much of our tax money was spent just to bring this one proposition to the voters when you consider the cost of running this election to poll the answer. Inside the envelope of voting materials there is an eight-page instruction booklet, a ballot, a secrecy sleeve for the ballot, a ballot return envelope plus the postage to deliver it to my door. The cost of printing and mailing each ballot likely runs several dollars in materials alone before the addressing of each ballot is figured in to the sum.

There are also thousands of precincts within Los Angeles County, which on election day, will be staffed by an inspector earning $240 and at least three poll workers each earning $120 for the day.

Add the production and labor and multiply it by thousands of precincts and you arrive at a rather substantial price tag whether or not voters approve or reject this one county measure that appears alone on the ballot for this election. I cannot help but imagine how much money this is costing us in the first place or why this same funding could not have gone toward alleviating the issue.

Take the cost of this election and reallocate that funding toward the initiative, which is a plan to prevent and combat homelessness. It includes just about every entitlement program society has by funding mental health, substance abuse treatment, health care, education, job training, rental subsidies, emergency and affordable housing, transportation, outreach prevention and supportive services for homeless children, families, foster youth, veterans, battered women, seniors, disabled individuals and other homeless adults too many to list. Was anyone overlooked or left out besides the taxpayers?

Our Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors want to take another quarter of a cent per dollar out of the working taxpayer’s check to squander it away on more frivolous wasteful spending. Former supervisors Don Knabe and Mike Antonovich – the taxpayers miss you now more than ever.

Category:

Beachcomber

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