ballot measures

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The Week in Public Finance: Amid Rising Home Prices, 2 States Take Property Tax Proposals to Voters

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Ballot measures in California and Louisiana seek to protect homeowners from huge property tax spikes.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018
For Sale sign outside of a home.
(Shutterstock)

 

SPEED READ:

  • Voters in California and Louisiana face ballot measures that would reduce their property taxes at a time when the median U.S. home price has risen by 40 percent in five years
  • California's Proposition 5 would help seniors, the disabled or people who are homeless as the result of a natural disaster.
  • Louisiana's Amendment 6 would phase in homeowners’ new property taxes over four years.
 

Home prices have risen, but when voters in two states head to the polls in November, they could at least reduce their property taxes.

The median home price has risen by 40 percent nationwide in the past five years and is still rapidly rising. The increase is blamed largely on a housing shortage. The problem has been especially acute in California, which -- along with Louisiana -- is considering property tax reductions this fall. 

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The Week in Public Finance: Do Income Tax Caps Only Benefit the Wealthy?

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North Carolina voters will weigh in on the rare policy in November.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 7, 2018
The North Carolina Capitol (David Kidd)

For a summary of November's most important ballot measures, click here.

A proposed income tax cap in North Carolina survived a court challenge this week, leaving it to the voters to decide whether to lean in to what is a rare policy in state government.

The November ballot measure would lower the state’s income tax rate cap from 10 percent to 7 percent. That’s still above the state’s current flat income tax rate of just under 5.5 percent. But in the past, the rate has been as high as 8.25 percent for high-income earners.

Capping income tax rates is unusual. Georgia is the only other state that does so, with a 6 percent cap approved by voters in 2014.

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While Feds Loosen Payday Loan Regulations, Colorado Voters Could Clamp Down

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In a year when the federal government is dialing back financial regulations, Colorado could become the 16th state to limit the notoriously high interest rates on payday loans.
BY  | AUGUST 30, 2018
(Shutterstock)

For a summary of November's most important ballot measures, click here.

As the federal government walks back historic regulations on payday lending, Colorado voters this fall will be asked to tighten them -- a sign that strong consumer protections are increasingly being left to the states.

Short-term loans, often called payday loans because they’re due on the borrower’s next payday, have average interest rates of 129 percent in Colorado. Nationally, rates average between 150 percent and more than 600 percent a year. A ballot proposal, which was certified as Initiative 126 by the secretary of state on Tuesday, would cap those rates at 36 percent. If passed, Colorado would be the 16th state, plus the District of Columbia, to limit payday loan rates.

Bilingual Education Will Make a Comeback in California

The state, which has more English-language learners than any other, restricted bilingual education in the '90s. Voters are bringing it back.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Nearly two decades after voters made California one of the most restrictive states for bilingual education in public schools, residents on Tuesday reversed that decision.

In California -- which has the nation's highest rate of students who speak a non-English language at home -- fewer than 5 percent of public schools now offer multilingual programs. But by approving Proposition 58, school districts can now offer regular dual-language programs.

In 1998, voters approved Prop. 227, a law passed amid anti-immigrant fervor that said students whose first language isn't English can only take one year of intensive English instruction before transitioning to English-only classes. Parents who wanted bilingual classes for their kids beyond that had to sign a waiver each year.

Prop. 58 essentially repeals the waiver system but keeps intact the part of the law requiring proficiency in English. It cruised to victory Tuesday night by a nearly three-to-one margin.

Voters Give Georgia's Plan to Take Over Failing Schools an "F"

As other states launch similar plans to improve education, Georgia is back to the drawing board.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Georgians have rejected Gov. Nathan Deal's plan to take over chronically failing schools amid concerns that the proposal was too vague and alienated local officials.

The ballot measure, which would have led to a new state agency with its own state school superintendent appointed by the governor, failed by a 3-to-2 margin.

The result was largely expected as polling showed public opinion moving against the idea in recent months.

Lisa-Marie Haygood, president of the Georgia PTA, celebrated with other opponents of the measure on Tuesday night. Opponents also included teachers, school boards and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.

“We did it,” Young told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We all wanted to stop a bad law from taking effect.”

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New Jersey Voters Refuse to Build Casinos Outside Atlantic City

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With Atlantic City in financial crisis because of casino closures, the state's voters aren't willing to take any more gambles.
BY  | NOVEMBER 8, 2016

Atlantic City will keep its monopoly on New Jersey's gambling industry. Voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have added two new casino sites in the northern part of the state.

The results are a rare win for the struggling seaside resort town, which has met repeated disappointment in recent years as casinos have closed and pushed the city into a fiscal crisis.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, polling showed the measure headed for defeat. With about half of precincts reporting on Tuesday night, results showed the referendum failing 78 percent to 22 percent.

Although the measure said about one-third of any new casino revenue would have gone to Atlantic City for 15 years for economic revitalization, opponents said they doubted the revenue-sharing proposal would generate enough money to make a difference. Opponents included casino worker unions and Atlantic City-area stakeholders.

In California, the Battle Over Bilingual Education Is Back

The state has more English-language learners than any other and also some of the country's most restrictions on bilingual education. November could change that.
BY  | OCTOBER 6, 2016

As research shows the benefits of a bilingual education, dual-language immersion programs are becoming more popular and not just for English-language learners. But in California -- which has the nation's highest rate of students who speak a non-English language at home -- getting a bilingual education is harder than in most states.

That could change in November, though, as voters have a chance to repeal a 1998 law that passed amid anti-immigrant fervor and severely limited access to bilingual education in the state. If approved, Prop. 58 would allow school districts to offer regular dual-language programs.

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Is Ending Atlantic City's Casino Monopoly Worth the Gamble?

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The closure of casinos in Atlantic City has left the municipality in financial crisis. Now New Jersey wants to build more in other places.
BY  | SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

A proposal to end Atlantic City’s casino monopoly in New Jersey would spell the end for the struggling seaside resort town. At least that's what opponents of the idea say.

Backers of the ballot measure, however, say it's the city's best hope for revitalizing its downtown and diversifying its economy beyond gaming.

This November, New Jersey voters will decide whether to allow two new casinos to be built in the state. About one-third of any new casino revenue would go to Atlantic City for 15 years for economic revitalization.

The vote comes as Atlantic City, once the East Coast’s gaming capital, has struggled in the face of increased competition in neighboring states. In the past 15 years, more than a dozen casinos have opened in Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania