New taxes coming, but not in San Carlos

Thomas Levinson/Daily Journal Mike Vail, a supporter of Robert Ross, watches election results update via the Internet along with Claudia, at Ross' election night party.

[Arn Cenedella]

San Carlos residents said "enough is enough" by overwhelmingly voting against the Prop U sales tax increase by a margin of 55% to 44%.

Why is the answer to every governmental budget issue: "We need more money."?

Perhaps the answer to budget issues is NOT more money but perhaps - "We need to be more efficient with the use of the money we already receive".

Recent events speak to the waste and ineffeciency of many government entities:

Bay Bridge repair - can't get it right the first time so let's spend more money putitng a temporary fix on it.

San Carlos School District - accounting error of $940,000 is lion share of $1.4M shortfall.

Part of the explanaition for the shortfall was "declining school enrollment". If my memory serves me correctly, a few years when the School District asked for a new tax to raise money, the explanation was "increasing enrollment demands higher revenues".

So let me see if I got this right?

School district needs more money when enrollment INCREASES and when it DECREASES. Does that strike anyone else as a little strange?

Bottom line - no matter what happens government wants more money.

Anyone want to bet the School District in 2010 or 2011 will have another tax issue on ballott?

I have a great idea, someone should do a study that tracks government spending over the past 20 years. I would be willing to bet that revenues for just about every government agency has increased above poplulation growth and inflation over this time period.

Why?

[roc]

i would agree to a condom tax to provide condoms for politicians if they had less kids we would have less gov. jobs created to support them or an an education tax for politicians to learn their jobs so less consultants & speech writers & on &on

[Activist Mom]

It is interesting that both of these comments are from way outside San Carlos.

We have cut the cost of City government to the bone and are now facing the possibility of closing down whole departments because Measure "U" was defeated.

The school district is a completely separate entity, with a completely separate budget. Measure "U" would not have provided any money for the schools.