Get Ready For A NEW Annual Vehicle Fee, Higher Gas Taxes, Higher Diesel Taxes, EV Fees -- Fee-Palooza (Orange: price, bill)

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Humm, wonder who appoints them?

All the conservative Republicans and Libertarians in elected office since they hold the power in the state, right?

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

All the conservative Republicans and Libertarians in elected office since they hold the power in the state, right?

Right as CA is a Red State right?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Finper

That is one quiet auditing office. I didn't know they existed. Have they ever found anything abnormal and or hidden? Like the DWP perhaps? Or where all that road money went? Or why do schools cry that they're broke when lottery money is supposed to go to them? I could go on and on

They are quite transparent, all of the results of their audits are accessible right here:
https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Humm, wonder who appoints them?

The State Auditor's office is a bureau of the California Little Hoover Commission which is an independent oversight agency.

"The bicameral Joint Legislative Audit Committee, nominates three qualified individuals to be State Auditor after a majority vote of the committee membership from each house of the Legislature. This list is then submitted to the Governor who appoints the State Auditor to a four-year term. The State Auditor is chosen without reference to party affiliation and solely on the ground of fitness to perform the duties of the office.
California State Auditor - Statutorial Establishment

Elaine Howell is the current State Auditor and was first appointed in 2000. https://www.bsa.ca.gov/aboutus/state_auditor
She was reconfirmed by Schwarzenegger and Brown

[CaliRestoration]

The chair and vice-chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in CA are both Democrats and Democrats have overwhelmingly held those chairs since 1996, aka Auditors are appointed by the political party in power.

[Finper]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

They are quite transparent, all of the results of their audits are accessible right here:
https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports

I'm working so don't have a lot of time but I went to peruse my fav Dept the LA dept of water and power in the year 2014 and it said "no reports available". Hmmmm looking a little foggy instead of transparent with those auditors. Wish I could run my business that way with the IRS

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Finper

I'm working so don't have a lot of time but I went to peruse my fav Dept the LA dept of water and power in the year 2014 and it said "no reports available". Hmmmm looking a little foggy instead of transparent with those auditors. Wish I could run my business that way with the IRS

Huh? You thought the State Auditor conducted audits for all local agencies lol. Here are the LADWP audits and it looks like KPMG LLC (one of the big 4 accounting firms) did most of the recent ones

[phantompilot]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I never said it was good, but here's a question for you. How do you think we should pay for infrastructure repair? Should it be through sales tax, property tax, income tax? I think the only rational way to pay for it is to have the people who use the roads pay for them. Here's a conservative's spin on it:

"We could, of course, just rail about taxes going up. But if we do want things from government like decent roads then someone, somewhere, is going to have to pay for them. And better it be road users than that everyone demand that someone else, that rich guy over there perhaps, pay for it instead." https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#1dfc3e5e3986

The funding FORMULA already includes all those sources. The problem is the money specifically collected from road USERS does not go to the roads.

The state must be forced to stop STEALING these funds and wasting them on unrelated boondoggles.

In addition, everyone benefits from roads. So there still needs to be a component of the formula that continues to fund roads from taxes on income, sales, property, etc.

If you earn income in CA, you benefit from the roads that enable commerce and transportation of goods and services. If you own property, (and even if you don't but reside in CA), then you benefit from the roads that bring goods and services to your location or allow you easy passage to get to the place where you can consume goods and services.

So it shouldn't all just be on road users to pay 100% of the bill. Unlike a closed system like BART, where the only person benefitting is the rider.

[steel7]

With the amount of money (BILLIONS) that the state takes in on auto registration & gas tax the roads should be in excellent condition. Its horrible what they did & from what I have heard on KFI its also illegal.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Come on you freeloaders


California Governor Jerry Brown referred to taxpayers as “freeloaders” last week for objecting to his new gas tax and car fee hikes.

“The freeloaders — I’ve had enough of them … They have a president that doesn’t tell the truth and they’re following suit,” he said. Brown was speaking in Orange County, defending State Assembly newcomer Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who is facing a recall effort after voting for Brown’s new transportation taxes in April.

The new tax raises existing gas taxes — already among the highest in the nation — by 12 cents per gallon, with higher taxes on diesel, and slaps car owners with higher annual registration fees. Critics have pointed out that the burden of the tax falls most heavily on middle-class Californians.

Gov. Jerry Brown Calls California Taxpayers "Freeloaders"