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A 1/2 cent or a 1/2 percent sales tax?

September 3, 2016
Laura Mordaunt

Laura Mordaunt

By LAURA MORDAUNT

Words used in the San Luis Obispo County Measure J-16 on the Nov. 8 ballot will mislead voters by stating a ½ cent sales tax instead of what it truly is ½ percent sales tax increase. When propaganda and swaying the voter is your goal you use words like penny-cent instead of a multiplier that is a percentage.

Most voters understand that Sacramento has taken our sales based and other tax type dollars and chosen not to send them back to our county to fix roads and infrastructures that they are mandated to fix. San Luis Obispo Council of Government’s survey, paid by your tax dollars, revealed that an increase in ½ percent countywide sales tax would fail to achieve the ⅔ votes needed in an election.

So they played and played until our city councils and special interests groups got compensated (bought off) resulting in local government support for this measure to be placed on the November ballot.

Don’t be fooled or played by our county government or special interests supporting this new tax as there is no guarantee that your roads will ever be fixed. Other past tax dollars earmarked for roads did not return as promised.

This chart has been provided for those that may have been confused about the meaning of ½ cent versus ½ percent that county government chose for the verbiage of the ballot measure. The ballot measure should not have been allowed to use ½ cent as it is very misleading. Words do matter. Vote NO on Measure J-16.

Note: There is a correction on the following graph.

New tax

Laura Mordaunt resides in San Luis Obispo. She is a former aerospace systems engineer with a degree in Mathematics from San Jose State University.


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Great all are expressing viewpoints against Measure J! Suggest you all show up at the NO ON MEASURE J Rally on September 12 at 11:30am in front of the SLO County Courthouse on Monterey Street. Large numbers of voters at the rally will tell the ‘powers that be’…H–L NO ON MEASURE J!


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Have you ever known a government agency that had enough of your money? This is just another attempt to have government put their hand in your wallet. Where is the budget analysis that shows how much has come in to fix the roads and how is that money is being spent now. Also, where is the analysis of exactly what will be fixed (over and above what current money income is addressing) with the new money. Live within your means, stop allocating funds to pet projects/causes and use the money already collected wisely and keep your hands out of my pocket.


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Folks, better read the measure itself. Bottom line, this is to make bike lanes everyplace. Straightening out traffic problems is only a small part of what it’s supposed to do, and there’s not enough money to do both. The bike powers — and they are a very well organized and powerful special interest — got their foot in the door, and got a whole lot more than you’d believe. So, they get their trails (makes the tourist industry happy, so they’re on board too) and YOU still get to sit in traffic jams.


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I and others must be spending sales taxable dollars more than $10,000 a year.


So lets say you


1. Buy a new car at least $35,000 (many pay $40,000 up)


2. Pay for all that I do a year in sales taxable purchases $40,000


Then currently I would pay


8% of $35,000 + $40,000 = $75,000 sales taxable

sales would be $6,000


Add the ½% and the extra sales tax is another $375.


Total sales tax for that person would become $6375!


Are we not taxed enough!!!


Also on my WholeFoods receipt it says


Tax/Fee Summary

Name Rate Taxed Amount Tax Amount

CALIFORNIA 6.25 whatever you bought $x

San Luis OB 0.50 whatever you bought $x

San Luis OB 1.25 whatever you bought $x


This is how it adds up to 8% when you buy.


You can see the 6.25 goes to the STATE of CA and does not come back and SLO has added already added 1.75% sales tax on us.


If you vote yes it will say


Tax/Fee Summary

Name Rate Taxed Amount Tax Amount

CALIFORNIA 6.25 whatever you bought $x

San Luis OB 0.50 whatever you bought $x

San Luis OB 1.25 whatever you bought $x

San Luis OB 0.50 whatever you bought $x


This is how it adds up to 8.5% when you buy.


IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH


only answer is to spend less and revise our overall budget and not feed those that benefit and keep our government grabbing our hard earned $


Vote NO on Measure J


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People are driving more fuel efficient cars and trucks so they are buying less gas but still driving the same miles. Our gas taxes are levied per gallon so taxes for road repair haven’t kept up with the needs as inflation has progressed. And remember the Gov. Schwarzenegger cut back the vehicle licensing fee after replacing Davis. The State isn’t going to give back our property tax money so money for road repairs must come from us. We can get more state and federal matching funds and that multiplies the effect of the new tax; almost doubling the money.


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Your approach is to be a victim and take it.


I say stand up and say no and push back on the bully the State of California.


We have the state as a bully, Adam Hill is a Bully.


The state always bribes you because you do not want to do what they have decided you MUST do to allow CA – Sacramento to continue to take from us and then change our behavior and ethics to get it back.


The government has found a way to bribe you into submission and agree to bad things….they take your money that is yours and says I will give it back under these conditions that are not negotiable. That is extortion.


Vote NO on Measure J and fight back the bully we have already been feeding and is FAT and money thirsty


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“road repair haven’t kept up”, indeed but salaries, benefits and pensions certainly have. First cut those, then who knows maybe there would be some money for repairs and maintenance


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The overpaid Oligarchy in charge of SLO County doesn’t want us serfs to know how it is wasting our tax dollars.


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When is the SLO County Board of Supervisors going to eliminate the fraud, waste and abuse from their irresponsible spending?


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When Peschong and Carpenter get elected.


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It is neither 1/2 cent nor 1/2%.


It is actually a 6.25% increase.


.5/8 = .0625.


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Over the period of a year, a 6.25% increase in sales tax adds up to big dollars.


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Our county government needs to scrub our budget and find the $ to fix our roads. There is so much money wasted on consultants instead of doing the work on road repair. Re-prioritize the budget.


SLOCOG had excess $ and did not chose to fix our roads with that money.


SLO city had more money come in than expected on Measure G and they did not chose to fix their roads with that money…


Clean house and stop lining pockets of special interests.


Maybe nothing good will happen until we swap out the county board majority in November!


Vote wisely remove Adam Hill and elect John Peschong.


Then everyone get ready for common sense and problem solving and ROAD REPAIRS…


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