Measure Q fails

“Measure Q fails,” Monterey Herald—Oct. 12, 2022

Measure Q promises: Safe, affordable, quality childcare in Monterey County. It will be anything but that.

Why do our public servants think another property tax will solve the problem of the high cost of raising a family in Monterey County? Has no one connected the dots between ballooning property taxes and housing that keeps drifting further out of reach? I have 14 assessments and fees added to my property tax base this year! But the authors of Measure Q exempted 43,000 parcels from the tax, 1/3 of all parcels, including all agriculture, from strawberries to cannabis. Others not expected to contribute to the $5.5M price tag? All nonprofits, MBARI properties, and The Monterey Bay Aquarium.

• Measure Q has no written plan – They say you must pass it before they will develop a plan.
• Measure Q is not Quantifiable – They tout “outcomes”; safe, affordable, quality, but there are NO metrics to measure those promises.
• County counsel removed the promise of an audit, which was part of the Title and Summary page used to gather petition signatures.

Affordable? At the taxpayer’s expense. Safe and quality? There’s no way to measure. Measure Q leaves taxpayers with a hefty bill and many more questions.

— Rosemarie Barnard, Prunedale