Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jul 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

POT INITIATIVE'S CONSEQUENCES RUNNING WILD

Think a few votes or a few thousand voters' signatures on a petition 
don't matter much? Think again, because a voters' petition in Upland 
has blown up into a case before the California Supreme Court that 
could determine how taxes get raised in the state.

Not only that, but the initiative might even determine the Chargers' 
future in San Diego.

No one saw any of this coming when an initiative that would legalize 
medical marijuana sales in Upland got enough signatures to make it to 
an election ballot. And it took only about 6,000 verified voters' 
signatures to qualify.

The ballot measure would repeal Upland's ban on medical marijuana 
dispensaries, allowing up to three dispensaries and setting 
regulations on their operations. "Each permit holder would be 
required to pay an annual fee to the city of $75,000," the measure's 
summary states  and that provision is what has caused it to 
reverberate throughout California.

Lawyers for Upland and the California Cannabis Coalition, the 
initiative's sponsor, battled over whether that $75,000 "fee" was 
actually a tax  because that would determine whether the city would 
have to call a special election for the measure or place it on the 
November ballot.

In March, the Fourth District Appellate Court sided with the 
coalition, finding the fee to be a fee and not a tax. The city was 
going to call it quits on the legal battle, but then the Howard 
Jarvis Taxpayers Association agreed to represent Upland's argument at 
no cost to the city. On June 30, the Supreme Court said it would hear 
the association's appeal.

The Jarvis group - and nine others that filed "friend of the court" 
briefs, including the National Taxpayers Association and the Pacific 
Legal Foundation - fear that this case could undo voter tax 
protections guaranteed by Propositions 13 and 218. The public 
agencies could sidestep voters "by colluding with outside interests 
to propose taxes in the form of an initiative, then adopting the 
initiative without a vote," wrote Jon Coupal, president of the Jarvis 
association.

The appellate ruling could undo Prop. 13's requirement of a 
two-thirds vote of the electorate to impose a special tax for a 
specific purpose. That's why San Diego's city attorney asked the 
state Supreme Court to expedite the case, noting it could affect two 
November measures on the San Diego ballot. One would raise the hotel 
tax to fund a new stadium, and the other would raise the tax for 
other purposes. Whether they need 50 percent-plus-one or two-thirds 
of the vote could hinge on Upland's case.

When they signed the cannabis group's petition  whether because they 
thought the city should have dispensaries or they thought 
cash-strapped Upland needed the fees, or whatever else they thought 
voters couldn't have known they might be changing the way taxes are 
raised or determining where an NFL team might play.

It's an amazing demonstration of the unintended consequences of 
initiative measures. With at least 17 on the statewide November 
ballot, look out.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom