Tax

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Coast Community College District trustees have come out in support of a proposed statewide tax increase aimed at staving off cuts to classes, programs, services and staff. The Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday in support of Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed tax initiative, which is expected to be placed on the November ballot. Failure of the tax increase would leave the district with a projected $13.7-million deficit in 2013-14 — after using up its reserves to get through 2012-13, Andy Dunn, vice chancellor of finance and administrative services, said during Wednesday's meeting.

Five years ago, you thought you were voting to spend $163 million -- $110 through the Measure A tax and $53 million in matching state funds -- to bring our schools up to the proper health and safety codes. You now know, however, that the school board miscalculated; that it underestimated the amount that was needed to do all the work at all the schools. Of its list of seven priorities established through Measure A five years ago, there is only enough money to get through the top four.

Representatives of several youth organizations have said that Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece’s proposal to tax their proceeds from Fourth of July fireworks sales to pay for heightened enforcement and education measures around the city would take away much-needed funding. An additional tax on top of all the time and effort it takes to run a booth may cause some to reconsider whether they want to operate fireworks stands to raise money for sports equipment, academic supplies and team trips.

Newport Coast grows weary of 7-year query into how county spent money in '80s, '90s.Frustrated by a seven-year search for as much as $20 million in tax money they paid the county, Newport Coast residents are demanding answers and considering litigation. Residents and Newport Beach officials have been trying to find out how Orange County officials spent tax money assessed to Newport Coast homeowners in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A final report on the spending is due out in January, but the Newport Coast Advisory Committee plans to press for legal action against the county if it isn't satisfied.

Paul Clinton NEWPORT-MESA -- A local congressman's bill to protect the Internet from "discriminatory" taxes could face a vote in the Senate as early as this week. The Senate will reconvene for business today, after a Monday closure. The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Cox and passed in the House of Representatives on Oct. 16, has been dwarfed by airport security, economic recovery and other weightier matters. But the possibility of Internet taxation has sparked debate again this month, especially after a moratorium on taxation expired Oct. 21. Cox and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.

Last week Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece proposed a tax on fireworks sales to cover the cost of policing the city during the July Fourth celebration period. The initial report was that this tax would be 20% but Leece was later quoted in the Daily Pilot as saying it probably would not have to be that high. The idea was endorsed by Mayor Alan Mansoor and opposed by council members Gary Monahan and Katrina Foley. Mayor Eric Bever was not at the meeting March 10. My first thought was that Leece and Mansoor are either ignorant or insensitive.

COSTA MESA — A gigantic ATM machine towered over the entrance to the Orange County Market Place Saturday morning, but it didn’t have any cash inside. Instead, the 12-foot inflatable ATM was there to provide a message to customers heading in to do their morning shopping. The grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity has transported the portable display to more than 20 locations statewide this year to urge voters to sign a petition opposing higher taxes — and, according to the group, the ATM symbolizes the state’s willingness to draw taxpayers’ money to solve budget problems.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D- Los Angeles) is expected to call on Assembly Republicans to vote on a bill today aimed at closing a tax loophole that allows yacht owners to avoid taxes by stowing their boats out of the state for 90 days. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore was one of few Republican lawmakers in the Assembly to vote in favor of a similar version of the bill last week, which would have required people who buy private jets and large yachts and RVs to store the luxury items out of state for an entire year to avoid state sales and use taxes.

As most Americans receive tax rebate checks designed to stimulate the economy, some controversy has developed as hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel, foreign high-tech workers, and other U.S. citizens and legal immigrants aren’t eligible. Congress limited the rebates to Social Security cardholders to keep them out of the hands of illegal immigrants. Was that a mistake? Should Congress seek to get rebate checks to those living or working here legally who are otherwise disqualified?

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Coast Community College District trustees have come out in support of a proposed statewide tax increase aimed at staving off cuts to classes, programs, services and staff. The Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday in support of Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed tax initiative, which is expected to be placed on the November ballot. Failure of the tax increase would leave the district with a projected $13.7-million deficit in 2013-14 — after using up its reserves to get through 2012-13, Andy Dunn, vice chancellor of finance and administrative services, said during Wednesday's meeting.

City planners told Eastside Costa Mesa residents this week that their neighborhood is getting a major face-lift. Funded through gas tax and Measure M returns, dozens of the area's residential streets will have their cracks sealed, bumps and dips leveled, and sidewalks redone. More than $8 million in improvements to streets and pavement is scheduled through 2013, of which than $6.3 million in work is scheduled from July to January. "The point of this program is to repair what's there," said city Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz.

State Controller John Chiang continues to uphold the California Great Seal motto, "Eureka, I have found it!" But what Chiang is finding as controller is that California's economy, as measured by tax revenues, is still tanking. State tax collections for February shriveled by $1.2 billion, or 22%, as compared with last year. The cumulative fiscal year decline is $6.1 billion or an 11% decline versus this period in 2011. While Gov. Jerry Brown promises strong economic growth is just around the corner, Chiang proves that the best way for Sacramento politicians to hurt the economy, and thereby generate lower taxes, is to have the highest tax rates in the nation.

The school district has avoided furloughs and reducing the school year, but looming budget cuts threaten its stability, according to a top school official. Newport-Mesa Unified can pay its bills and maintain the mandated 3% reserves for the next two years, but could face as much as $15 million in cuts to remain solvent in 2013-14, district Chief Business Official and Deputy Supt. Paul Reed said during a presentation on the district's second interim report at the March 13 school board meeting.

This week I am going to use a surfing analogy to explain my harbor observations. I hung my surfboard up years ago because I never was very good at surfing. For those of you who do not surf, a set is a group of three waves. Sometimes sets hit the beach with very little time in between them. Quite often, I would find myself riding some small wave in, then turn to look back out to sea and notice a lineup of two huge sets rolling in. There I would be, getting pummeled by the white wash of each breaking wave while paddling back outside, trying to keep my head above water.

If the City Council approves a disbanded city agency's list of debt Tuesday, the act could secure millions for Costa Mesa before state lawmakers funnel that money to Sacramento. The council is slated to approve the Redevelopment Agency's $27 million worth of debt, with the city's original loan to the agency taking up the biggest chunk at $19.5 million. The RDA also has more than $4.8 million in nonhousing project bonds, $1.3 million in housing project loans and assistance, and $525,000 in Davis Field work in the pipeline.

Bonita Canyon residents can expect to save an average of $337 a year in property taxes, thanks to the school district refinancing nearly $40 million in bonds. Newport-Mesa Unified refinanced the bonds last week, Deputy Supt. and Chief Business Official Paul Reed announced Tuesday night. The school district re-funded — a process comparable to refinancing — the 1998 Bonita Canyon Community Facilities District bonds to reduce the Newport Beach neighborhood's property taxes for the next 10 years, Reed said.

A divorced couple has been convicted of failing to pay taxes on more than $180 million in income from their Costa Mesa business that failed to complete multimillion-dollar projects. Richard and Jolene Engel pleaded guilty Friday to charges that they did not provide tax returns for their power plant refurbishing business, Powerplant Maintenance Specialists, Inc., prosecutors said. Jolene Engel served as the company president. Richard Engel, who served as the chief financial officer, faced additional charges for not filing personal tax returns, the Orange County district attorney's office said in a news release.

NEWPORT BEACH — After an audit found that the city visitors bureau was spending public funds without many controls, the City Council approved a contract Tuesday that strengthens its oversight of the private group. The council will now appoint a representative to the executive board of Visit Newport Beach, and will require more reporting on the group's finances and performance. Visit Newport spends about $2.7 million a year in hotel bed tax revenue to promote the city as a business and leisure travel destination.

As a Baby Boomer, I am ashamed and embarrassed by those in my generation who are so selfishly fueling this no-more-taxes, no-matter-what movement. Our parents, and our grandparents, taxed themselves to build all the schools, libraries and highways that we so take for granted, even though it meant forgoing the vacation to Hawaii (forget the south of France) or the new car (forget the vacation home). Now it's our turn. Having enjoyed the benefits of the finest state education system in the country (have we forgotten that in California that is exactly what we used to have?