As Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero was terming out of his office he doomed Santa Ana with a parting gift – a massive sales tax increase known as Measure X.
Measure X increased the local sales tax by an extra 1.5 percent, with a promise that the new money would go toward things like neighborhood safety, homeless prevention and essential city services such as street and park maintenance, according to the O.C. Register.
The increase pushed our local sales tax in Santa Ana to a whopping 9.25 percent, the highest in Orange County!
Over the next ten years the new tax is projected to increase the city’s general fund by about $60 million a year. But guess what? It turns out Measure X was a shell game. Most of the money, about $43 million a year, is being used to pay down city debts.
The City of Santa Ana also spends more than half of its taxpayer-funded general fund on public safety, specifically the police department, which this fiscal year accounts for $133 million in city spending and includes salaries for employees, according to the Voice of OC.
The taxpayers were fooled by Tinajero, who signed the ballot statement in favor of Measure X.
Tinajero is running in this November’s general election for the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees seat that was vacated by Nelida Mendoza, who is now on the Santa Ana City Council.
Tinajero is a public school teacher so no doubt many voters will be swayed to vote for him but take a moment and ponder if it is a good idea to vote for a guy who totally screwed Santa Ana residents with Measure X?
Fortunately Tinajero will have an opponent this November, local businessman Mike Gonzalez. Unlike Tinajero, who has spent his whole adult life working for the government, Gonzalez has opened, bought and managed quite a few businesses over the years. He is a job creator and right now that is the mindset we need at Santa Ana College.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left a terrible mark on Santa Ana with thousands of people out of work, hundreds of business bankrupt and students unable to attend classes. What we need now is visionary leaders who can help our institutions to make their way in this uncertain world, not bureaucrats who always resort to raising taxes instead of corralling waste or trying to improve government services.
