- In this video, California City resident D.J. Twohig speaks against the special parcel tax that will be on the March ballot
- California City resident Duane Vasquez is in support of the special parcel tax in Cal City
- A special parcel tax will be on the March 5 ballot for Cal City residents.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The special parcel tax in California City is especially important to many people in this desert town.
I'm Steve Virgen, your Cal City neighborhood reporter. Some claim the tax is needed, while others say it's wasteful.
"For those of us that have an intelligent understanding of local business and best practices for governance, this is a horrible idea," said D.J. Twohig, a California City resident.
D.J. Twohig, who owns multiple properties in Cal City, is opposed to the parcel tax that will be on the March ballot.
If it passes, residents are expected to pay $146 annually for the next five years.
That comes out to 40 cents per day.
It's an estimated $5.2 million that will help fund general services, which includes police, fire, and parks staffing.
The measureneeds two-thirds of the vote to be subject to approval.
The current parcel tax is set to end in June.
In 20-18... the proposal didn't pass initially... and police and fire departments subsequently laid off employees.
There has been talk of that happening again or relying on remote county services.
"I'm offended by the scare tactics and so that's how I tried to guide the city to the best of my ability to come up with other plans other than a dumbass parcel tax," Twohig said.
Twohig believes there are other alternatives. The longtime Cal City resident says parcel taxes should be used for special projects, not for more than half of the city's budget. Twohig, who is on the KernTax board of directors, says there is a 25% delinquency rate on the parcel tax in Cal City.
"It's a horrible scam and it should be eliminated. It should never happen again in California City," Twohig said.
Cal City resident Duane Vasquez informed the community of the previous special tax with a series of videos. He supports the special tax.
"Even though I think the City Council and the city staff haven't done their job to raise other tax revenues, particularly from cannabis, to not vote for it is just being spiteful and the citizens suffer," Vasquez said.
A special tax has been in place for several years now. Vasquez believes it's needed.
"I would have preferred to see a special tax that was permanent so we don't run into this five years from now because it creates great instability within the departments," Vasquez said.
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