So did I long, long ago~
Here's the latest:
For Immediate Release: June 21, 2016
Contact:
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Brian Smith, 415-320-9384, brian@bpsbr.com
Santa Clara Valley Water District Taxpayers Protest Hidden Taxes
Funding Delta Tunnels Planning
San Jose, CA – Today, ratepayers from Santa Clara Valley Water District questioned unfair, and possibly illegal, fees that have emerged in documents recovered under the Public Records Act. The documents reveal an elaborate money transfer system set up years ago that is funding planning for the controversial Delta Tunnels project. Fees that taxpayers and ratepayers never approved.
In a press conference after public comments at the SCVWD Board workshop on CA WaterFix today, Bryan Carr, a SCVWD ratepayer from Monte Sereno said, “As a ratepayer in the District, I am upset that my water District has used ratepayer fees and parcel taxes to fund planning for the Delta Tunnels for years. The Tunnels will divert freshwater that keeps the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary alive. We deserve a vote on where our taxes and fees are being spent, especially when these projects have not met state and federal environmental standards.”
See a full account of what was found in the PRA request. (Below.)
“The Delta tunnels plan has been sold to the public as being paid for by ratepayers for about $5 month on their water bills. But it appears that all Santa Clara Valley taxpayers have been funding advanced planning for the controversial Delta Tunnels proposal for years,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “If SCVWD cannot afford to pay for Delta tunnels planning at the $14 million level without relying on property taxes, how will they afford a $1 to $2 billion project?”
The district has insisted for years that it can raise property taxes on Santa Clara County homeowners without a public vote to help pay for the Delta Tunnels because the project is simply an addition to the State Water Project, the series of dams and canals that was authorized by state voters in 1960.
But the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s association warned SCVWD this March that these taxes may be illegal under Proposition 13, which requires a two-third vote by taxpayers for new fees. Their letter argued that the tunnels were not part of the original State Water Project plan and that any property tax hike to fund them would be illegal without voter approval.
"What the voters approved in 1960 doesn't say anything about tunnels," Timothy Bittle, an attorney with the Taxpayer’s association told The (San Jose) Mercury.
In addition, the district’s federal contribution to the tunnels has involved ratepayer money being spent on a cash fund to enable the Bureau of Reclamation to unleash $74 million in grants, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, to cover planning costs for big industrial irrigation districts, like Westlands Water District. Santa Clara Valley Water District customers have been taxed twice, at the local and federal for this project.
BACKGROUND:
Santa Clara Valley Water District purchases water through two projects as a regional wholesaler and sells it to municipal retail water districts. About 40 percent of SCVWD's water supply is drawn from the Delta through the State Water Project (SWP), and the Federal Water Project (CWP).
PRA documents suggest that since the beginning of the Delta Tunnels planning process, SCVWD has used local property taxes and benefited from Federal taxpayer dollars through a complicated shell game to pay for their share of Delta Tunnels project planning.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is planning to pay for their $1 to $2 billion contribution for construction of the Delta Tunnels. SCVWD has used Ad Valorem parcel taxes since the beginning to pay for their share of Delta tunnels planning costs on the State Water Project side. This does not sit well with ratepayers who are actually tracking the project, especially those in Morgan Hill who do not receive SWP water. The Delta tunnels plan has been marketed to Californians as being paid for solely by recipients of the water that they would deliver. There has been no public discussion of relying on property taxes or federal tax dollars for funding.
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