Incorporation is Infeasible

I’d like to respond to Brian Foster’s Forum letter of Sept. 6, criticizing my earlier anti-incorporation Forum letter.

1) I didn’t mean to imply that property taxes would go up to fill a city revenue gap, but sales taxes likely would, and these affect everyone, homeowners and renters. Also, city fees would probably go up because while these only affect a few people at a time, over time these costs spread through the community.

2) Mr. Foster says that the County takes more money out of CV than it spends on us. Numerous people have said this, but they never provide any numbers. If you have the numbers, write to LAFCO and tell them that the Birkson Report is wrong. That’s what the comment period is for.

3) Mr. Foster says that the $7 million CV city budget gap is an artifact of state law. Artifact or not, there it is. Incorporation supporters need to go to Sacramento and convince the Legislature and the Governor to change the law.

4) The author claims that Nate Miley is sympathetic to CV cityhood and will work with the Supervisors to find the money needed to make incorporation feasible. Great!  Yet  I’m skeptical. What one Board of Supervisors can give, another, future Board can take away, especially in bad times.

5) Finally, Mr. Foster recognizes that CV has a limited commercial tax base. He suggests  that we could use one or two auto dealerships to pour sales tax money into a city. I say go for it!

What points 3,4, & 5 share is a cart before the horse approach. We don’t incorporate and then beat the bushes for more tax revenue. We secure the revenue base and then decide whether to incorporate. As of today, the Birkson Report rules, and incorporation is infeasible.

–Steve Rosenberg, Castro Valley