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MEASURE C
City of Oakland Business Tax Exemption
Shall the measure amending Oakland’s Business Tax Ordinance to provide one-year business tax exemptions for (1) certain small businesses with annual gross receipts of $1,000,000 or less, including retail sales, grocers, business and personal services, recreation and entertainment, and manufacturing, and (2} businesses that establish a new commercial location in the City; and authorizing the City Council to extend the exemptions on an annual basis for up to three additional years, be adopted?
Vote Required: 50%+1
Criteria:
1-Intent and structure of tax (i.e. a % or rate for a sales or transfer tax, or a $ per parcel for a parcel tax)
2- Amount of the tax generated per year
3 -Duration of the tax
4- Is this a Special or General tax?
5- Where is the money specifically going? (If a special tax)
6-Is there another similar tax already in place? If so that tax info should be included.
7-Will this take 2/3, vote or simple majority to pass?
8.-Extraneous language unrelated to the matter which could be considered as deceptive to the
voter.
SCORE: 3.6
Comments: The score was lowered from the maximum of five because of the failure to provide clarity as to why it’s needed, and failure to provide what the exemptions would cost the city in lost revenues. This measure is unique in that it is a measure to lower an existing tax.
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MEASURE D
City of Oakland Charter Amendment
Shall the measure amending the City Charter to, among other things, expand the eligibility for service on the Board of the Police and Fire Retirement System and reduce the frequency of the Board’s mandatory meetings from monthly to no less than quarterly be adopted?
Required Vote: 50%+1
Criteria
1-Intent of the Measure –
2-Duration of the measure if it passes?
3-Are there any financial effects if this measure passes? If so- how much?
4-Where will the money go that is spent on this if it passes?
5- If there are financial impacts, is the source of that money made clear?
6- Does the measure deal with 1 or more issues?
7- What is the current situation that would remain if this measure does not pass?
8.-Extraneous language unrelated to the matter which could be considered as deceptive to the
voter.
SCORE: 1.8
Comments: The score was lowered from the maximum of five because of the failure to provide information on why the measure was needed. There is also no information on whether there would be costs to enacting the change in retirement board procedures. In particular, there was concern with the open-ended statement saying: “among other things” that would be amended by this measure . How could a voter know from the ballot language what other things may be affected?
MEASURE E
City of Oakland Parcel Tax
Shall the measure to: prevent increased 911 response times; maintain fire stations, fire protection services, police patrols and investigations, and gun-violence and crime prevention services; address homelessness; and remove illegal dumping and trash by imposing a parcel tax of $192 annually for single-family parcels, and other parcels as specified, exempting certain low-income and senior households and others, raising approximately $34,000,000 annually for nine years, with oversight, audits and public disclosure, be adopted?
Vote Required: 50%+1
Criteria:
1-Intent and structure of tax (i.e. a % or rate for a sales or transfer tax, or a $ per parcel for a parcel tax)
2- Amount of the tax generated per year
3 -Duration of the tax
4- Is this a Special or General tax?
5- Where is the money specifically going? (If a special tax)
6-Is there another similar tax already in place? If so that tax info should be included.
7-Will this take 2/3, vote or simple majority to pass?
8.-Extraneous language unrelated to the matter which could be considered as deceptive to the
voter.
SCORE: 2.6Comments: The score was lowered from the maximum of five because of the failure to provide information on whether this is a General versus Special Tax. Tax Measure initiated by a citizen’s group only require a simple majority, while the same measure from a city council vote require a 2/3rds vote. The measure fails to say where the money was specifically going, and whether there were any existing taxes in place, and because of extraneous verbiage designed to influence a Yes vote such as including popular concerns such as fire, crime, trash dumping, 911 response times, etc. The money can be spent on other governmental purpose and may not go to the purported purposes. Calling for “Oversight, audits and public disclosures” means little because such measures are required of most local governmental actions.
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