In Walnut Creek, Mayor Loella Haskew released the following statement after the California Supreme Court ruled to removed a potential ballot imitative.

Walnut Creek Mayor’s statement regarding California Supreme Court’s decision regarding potential November ballot initiative

Cities, school districts and special districts are applauding the State Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today to block the measure known as the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act from appearing on the November ballot. The Court ruled that the proposed measure would amount to an illegal constitutional revision. 

“This is incredibly huge news for the City of Walnut Creek,” said Mayor Loella Haskew. “Not only would this have made it difficult to deal directly with our voters to make decisions impacting our City funds, but it would also have been retroactive to January of 2022. The initiative would have invalidated our voter-approved Measure O, which passed in November 2022 with 65% of Walnut Creek voters supporting it. We look forward to continuing to have the resources needed to deliver exceptional services to our community.”

Measure O, a ten-year half-cent sales tax increase, has already been funding key programs and projects, including the addition of five police officers dedicated to downtown patrol, school crossing guards, expanded library hours, contributions to the CORE team supporting homeless services, planned synthetic turf on two ballfields at Heather Farm Park, and lights for the Tice Valley soccer fields. Measure O also is making possible the replacement of the aging aquatic and community center at Heather Park Farm. Replacing the 50-year-old pools and community center would not have been possible without Measure O.

The proposed initiative would have changed the threshold for general local tax initiatives to a two-thirds vote rather than a simple majority. The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that only the Legislature has the constitutional authority to put a proposed revision on the ballot.

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Related:

Court Rules to Remove “Taxpayer Protection Act” From Ballot

The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act would:

• Increase accountability and transparency so politicians spend our tax dollars more efficiently.
• Empower voters with the right to approve or reject all new state and local taxes, ensuring that elected officials are held accountable for spending public funds.
• Stop government agencies from using “hidden taxes” disguised as fees to drive up the cost of government services.

The measure had more than 1.6 million signatures, however,  Governor Gavin Newsom sued to block the measure from the ballot