Commission to consider canceling tax election

October 05, 2009

The Valencia County Commission on Wednesday will consider canceling a tax election that citizens compelled by submitting a petition.

In July, the county commission passed a new correctional facility gross receipts tax to fund an expansion of the Valencia County Detention Center. At the time, several commissioners and the head of the center said it’s in urgent need of more room to address overcrowding.

Citizens upset the tax would be permanent instead of focusing only on paying off debt from the expansion and concerned it could be used for things like landscaping, gathered 3,219 valid signatures to compel an election, letting citizens decide whether or not the tax should be imposed.

Last week the county’s bureau of elections confirmed citizens had gathered enough signatures to guarantee an election.

Later last week, however, the county put out an agenda showing one or more commissioners will attempt to cancel the election by repealing the tax ordinance commissioners’ approved by a 3-2 vote in July.

If the commissioners repeal the ordinance, they are potentially in violation of state statute, which says an election must be held within 60 days of the county clerk certifying enough signatures were received by the bureau of elections. The county’s attorneys will likely provide explanations of what is and isn’t legal during Wednesday’s debate of the issue.

Commissioners have expressed fears during recent weeks that the tax could be defeated by citizens should the election be held, partly because the election would be held around the same time county residents will receive their annual tax bills.

The citizens who gathered the signatures said over the weekend they gathered the signatures to have the tax issue placed on a ballot. They will continue to ask the county to hold an election in compliance with state law.

Posted in: Archive