On election day, this coming Tuesday, February 5th, you will not only be able to vote in the presidential primary, but you will also have an opportunity to vote on certain ballot issues. If you live in the City of Los Angeles, one of the ballot issues is Proposition S, and I urge you to vote NO. This ballot proposal is deceptively billed as a tax reduction, but in reality would expand taxes on telecommunication services and open the door to taxing of your internet services. Don’t let the politicians get away with this deception. It is critical that this proposition be defeated, so please vote NO and email this information to everyone who could potentially vote in Los Angeles. We need your help to get the word out. Please take a moment to read and another few moments to act. YOU can make a difference.

Here’s the Facts

1. Prop S would RAISE your taxes, not lower them.
Prop S would ratify tax hikes City Hall made illegally in the past. City Hall adopted certain taxes on cell phones and land lines without voters' approval, which is illegal under our state constitution and which has been struck down by two court decisions. If Prop S passes, those taxes would stay in force, and would drop from 10% to 9% -- but if Prop S fails, those taxes would disappear altogether, so they would go from 10% to ZERO percent. When coming up with the plan to have voters validate their illegal tax hike through Prop S, Mayor Villaraigosa persuaded council members to seek a 9% tax - just so they could bill it as a tax cut. That's what's so sneaky about Prop S!

Prop S would also impose a BRAND NEW TAX on DSL, wireless, text-messaging, instant-messaging, VoIP and other "new" communications services. The new tax could cover everything from a land-line telephone call to a photograph sent from a cell-phone camera to a text message sent via BlackBerry. And, it’s possible that if Prop S is approved, in the future, the city could impose other taxes on your basic internet access without getting any voter approval.

2. Prop S is unfair.
Prop S would tax YOU at 9%, but telemarketers would pay only 5%. Plus, the L.A. Times and other newspapers and radio stations would pay NO tax on cellular, wireless and internet services.

3. Prop S is unnecessary.
Despite the scare tactics, you can be sure that essential services won’t be cut if Prop S fails. Mayor Villaraigosa has repeatedly said he would protect the Los Angeles Police Department from cuts and press on with the goal of adding 1,000 officers by 2010.
Furthermore, the City of L.A. has higher taxes than any city in the county, and already takes in more revenues than ever in its history: $6.7 billion per year. Even if we repealed all cell phone and land line taxes, and hired 1,000 new police officers, the city's tax revenues would still be 21% higher than they were in 2004-05.

Meanwhile, City Hall wastes YOUR tax money on hundreds of millions of dollars per year on subsidies to downtown developers and on other wasteful spending. For example,
there are only 15 City Council members, but 108 city owned and paid-for cars assigned to those council members' offices. That’s over 7 cars per council member. In addition, $66 million in taxpayer subsidies will go to the out-of-state developers of the Grand Avenue luxury shopping and hotel project downtown and $270 million in tax breaks — the very amount city officials cite as the upcoming budget shortfall — is going to AEG, which developed the ritzy L.A. Live entertainment venue downtown. These are just a few examples of how LA government wastes your tax dollars. So why should you pay higher taxes while the special interests get perks and big tax breaks?
And to add insult to injury, the City is squandering $5.1 million to put Prop S on the ballot as a special election when they could have saved that money and just added Prop S to the next regular municipal election. But that’s not until April of 2009. Apparently, the City Council just can’t wait to get its hands on your hard earned dollars.
Other cities thrive with no phone taxes. Did you know that Beverly Hills, Thousand Oaks and San Diego have no phone tax? The same goes for Atlanta, Boston, and Philadelphia. As for cities that do impose phone taxes, New York’s tax is just 2.4%; Long Beach and Las Vegas charge 5%; and Burbank and Portland charge 7%. So why must we pay 9%?
Prop S is a big rip-off. Vote no, and PLEASE email everyone you know who lives in Los Angeles and tell them to do the same. The special interests behind Prop S have put up $2.3 million for a misleading advertising campaign. We taxpayers, by contrast, have to let one another know. We need to get the word out or the deceptive title and wording of Prop S will probably lead many uninformed voters to vote yes and that means higher taxes for us all.

If you want more information, go to www.NoOnPropS.com.