{"id":272549,"date":"2026-04-17T12:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272549\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:43:08","slug":"revenue-from-higher-sales-taxes-can-be-used-for-anything-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272549\/","title":{"rendered":"Revenue from higher sales taxes can be used for anything \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cbest practices\u201d theory has its origins<\/a> in manufacturing in the 1970s, when executives realized the importance of always taking basic steps in building a better product. In journalism, the theory is embraced by wire services and many other news organizations. A recurring structural fact \u2014 a good example is that a large chunk of legislation in the Senate effectively requires 60 votes to advance due to the filibuster \u2014 is offered as baseline context.<\/p>\n

When it comes to proposals to use ballot measures in California to raise general taxes with simple majority support, it\u2019s time that news organizations recognized another recurring structural fact: Sponsors routinely and deceptively assert that new revenue would go to improve specific services. They do so with full knowledge that such taxes go into the general fund, which can be used for any purpose regardless of campaign promises.<\/p>\n

This tactic led voters to approve higher sales taxes in San Francisco in 2014 \u2014 allegedly to improve transit programs and fix roads \u2014 in Los Angeles County in 2017 \u2014 allegedly to reduce homelessness \u2014 and in Fresno in 2018 \u2014 allegedly to fix up parks and boost public safety. Years later, there is little to no evidence of progress toward promised outcomes in any of these jurisdictions, especially Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

Now San Diego County is about to witness its version. A union-led coalition is pushing for a half-cent increase in the county sales tax via a November ballot measure. What would the new revenue generated by the Protect San Diego County\u2019s Health & Safety Act allegedly be used for? Per its supporters<\/a>, \u201cour region\u2019s most critical health and safety priorities: cleaning up the Tijuana River toxic sewage crisis, strengthening 911 emergency response and wildfire preparedness, safeguarding access to affordable health care for families, and keeping local children safe, fed and cared for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proper response to this is a cynical groan. Whenever a union-led coalition pushes for tax hikes in California, whatever the claimed intent, the real goal is almost always ensuring there is enough money to cover the cost of new pay raises and massive annual payments into pension accounts.<\/p>\n

But you wouldn\u2019t know that from reading some news coverage. Instead, one January report<\/a> treated the union pitch as gospel: \u201cA proposed half-cent sales tax measure aims to raise a projected $360 million annually to address key issues \u2014 child care, health care, the Tijuana River sewage crisis and public safety.\u201d Yeah, sure.<\/p>\n

The filibuster is a fact of life in the Senate. That\u2019s why reporters always explain its power. Unions selling sales tax hikes with focus group-tested pablum \u2014 \u201ckeeping local children safe, fed and cared for\u201d \u2014 is a fact of life in California. That\u2019s why reporters should always, every last time, make this point in their coverage: New sales tax revenue can be used for anything, and in our state, there is a long history of campaign promises about where the new revenue will go not being kept. Without this context, stories are more akin to ad copy for a seemingly noble cause than neutral, helpful reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cbest practices\u201d theory has its origins in manufacturing in the 1970s, when executives realized the importance of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1965,975,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-272549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-editorials","9":"tag-opinion","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}