HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC RES 00-128RESOLUTION NO. 00- 128
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, EXPRESSING OPPOSITION
OF PROPOSITION 37 WHICH WILL APPEAR ON THE
NOVEMBER, 2000, STATEWIDE BALLOT
WHEREAS, Proposition 37, the "Two -Thirds Vote Preservation Act of 2000",
which has been placed on the November, 2000, ballot as an initiative, seeks to
overturn the California Supreme Court's "Sinclair Paint Case" decision; and
WHEREAS, in the Sinclair decision, the California Supreme Court
unanimously declared that a fee on manufacturers of lead based paint contributing
to environmental lead contamination and used to pay for a State -program that
evaluates, screens and provides medically necessary follow-up services for children
deemed potential victims of lead poisoning, is a valid regulatory fee and not a tax;
and
WHEREAS, many state and local government fees imposed on businesses
have been found to be proper and legitimate means with which to ensure that
persons responsible pay their fair share of the cost of mitigating the impacts of their
businesses; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 37 would transform these proper state and local fees
into taxes and thus subject future enactment to a two-thirds vote of the Legislature
or local government electorate, as appropriate, thus making it more difficult to
protect communities by raising revenue to mitigate the societal and economic
impacts of these businesses; and
WHEREAS, future enactment of the following types of fees now imposed by
the state or local government, if not a part of an overall regulatory program, would
become taxes under Proposition 37. Fees charged to alcoholic beverage licensees
to mitigate the effects of public nuisances associated with these businesses; fees
imposed at landfills on waste haulers based upon tonnage to encourage recycling;
fees on MTBE production to pay for cleanup of polluted groundwater; the state's Oil
Spill Prevention Fund (if it had been enacted after July 1, 29999); fees on
substandard housing to pay for the cost of inspecting and mitigating the effects of
the substandard housing; Downtown Business Improvement District assessments;
and
WHEREAS, Proposition 37 will also result in costly litigation to determine its
ultimate application; and
RESOLUTION NO. 00- its
WHEREAS, Proposition 37 is supported by the oil, tobacco and alcohol
industry and other business groups that currently pay fees to mitigate the societal
impacts of their products and activity; and
WHEREAS, existing law already clearly distinguishes between fees and
taxes imposed by local governments and requires different procedures to be used
for adopting each; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 37 will interfere with the ability of the City of Palm
Desert to legitimately impose fees to mitigate the specific and particular local
impacts of businesses on the community and instead, shift the burden to taxpayers.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY OF PALM DESERT RESOLVES AND
DECLARES its OPPOSITION of Proposition 37, the "Two -Thirds Vote Preservation
Act of 2000."
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm
Desert City Council held on the 26th day of October. 2000, by the following vote, to
wit:
AYES: BENSON, FERGUSON, KELLY, SPIEGEL, CRITES
NOES: NONE
ABSENT: NONE
ABSTAIN: NONE
ATTEST:
ITY CLERK
, CALIFORNIA
B ORD A. CRITES, MAYOR