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As inflation spikes, San Diego politicians put 35 new tax hikes on countywide ballot

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1 year ago

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As inflation spikes, San Diego politicians put 35 new tax hikes on countywide ballot


San Diego county already has one of the highest cost-of-living burdens in the nation and working families are being crushed by recent spikes in inflation.

Despite this, San Diego local politicians want to make things even more expensive by putting 35 separate tax hikes on the November 2024 ballot.

What’s worse, many of these tax hikes are hidden behind deceptive ballot titles that the politicians write to fool voters into approving them.

That’s why in each election, Reform California publishes a “Plain English” voter guide to flag all the tax hikes on the ballot and expose the deceptive word games being played on these measures.

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In San Diego county, there is one county-wide sales tax hike on the ballot, 11 city sales tax hikes, and 23 local property tax hikes – mostly tied to bonds.

Measure G is a half-a-percent sales tax hike countywide that backers say will fix our roads. But not a single penny of Measure G is legally earmarked for roads.

Worse, the funds in Measure G will go to SANDAG – the same agency that raised your taxes in 1988 and 2004 promising to fix roads, but has repeatedly raided those road funds ever since.  Recent SANDAG audits have also uncovered millions in waste, fraud and abuse at the agency.

Just like with Measure G, backers of city-specific sales tax hike measures also make false claims on where the funds from their tax hikes would go.  Every city measure has been placed on the ballot claiming the funds will go to specific purposes – with the magic words of “police, fire, 911, road repairs, etc.” being used in almost every measure. Yet none of the city measures contain language legally earmarking the funds for these popular programs.

All of the city tax hike measures go into the general fund of the cities – and politicians can spend the money any way they want. In fact, the fiscal forecasts for each of these cities prove that a massive portion of funds are being diverted by city politicians to cover bloated and overly-generous pension payouts to city workers.

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With the exception of a National City property tax hike for their general fund, the 23 property tax hikes on the ballot across the county are tied to bond measures that include parcel tax assessments.

These bonds are all being sold as improving school facilities – with all kinds of promotional language on improving academic outcomes.

The reality is these bonds and associated increases to your property taxes do nothing to improve the quality of instruction in our schools, but instead simply seek to build fancy new facilities.

What backers of these bonds do not tell you is we have a growing problem of underutilized facilities in school districts across the county. That’s because local public school enrollment has plummeted in the past five years – and is expected to drop even more in the coming years. Only a handful of our rural school districts have had stable or modest increases in enrollment.

Instead of building more facilities during a time of declining student enrollment, school districts should be required to do a comprehensive needs assessment of their existing facilities and right-size – using the proceeds from this process to invest in deferred maintenance and improvement of remaining facilities.

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Several of these bonds are from school districts who have passed requirements that all of their contracts must be awarded using Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).

PLAs allow school districts to avoid fair and open competition on contracts in favor of union-only firms. In doing so, PLA’s discriminate against small and minority-owned businesses.

According to the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), PLAs result in a 25-40% increase in the cost to taxpayers for projects while reducing the chance that hiring will benefit local workers.

Just who benefits from these discriminatory PLA contracts? School district politicians who receive campaign contributions from union political action committees funded by the dues generated by union-only projects.

So what will approving all 35 tax hikes on the San Diego County ballot cost you?

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Our analysis shows the average San Diego household will be impacted by 2-3 of these tax hikes and will end up paying $200-300 more per year in higher cost-of-living. That’s simply too much for San Diegans who already are struggling with their finances.

Vote NO on all 35 tax hikes and tell San Diego county politicians to instead reform their wasteful spending!

Carl DeMaio is a former member of the San Diego City Council and a candidate for the California Assembly.



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San Diego, CA

San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border

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6 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border


The city of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the federal government that alleges the construction of a razor wire fence near the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes trespassing on city property and has caused environmental harm to the land.

The complaint filed Monday in San Diego federal court states that razor wire fencing being constructed by U.S. Marines in the Marron Valley area has harmed protected plant and wildlife habitats and that the presence of federal personnel there represents unpermitted trespassing.

The lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense among its defendants, says that city officials first discovered the presence of Marines and federal employees in the area in December.

The fencing under construction has blocked city officials from accessing the property to assess and manage the land, and the construction efforts have” caused and will continue to cause property damage and adverse environmental impacts,” according to the lawsuit.

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The suit seeks an injunction ordering the defendants to cease and desist from any further trespass or construction in the area.

“The city of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage city property,” City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. “We are taking decisive action to protect sensitive habitats, uphold environmental commitments and ensure that the rights and resources of our community are respected.”



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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song

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19 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song





Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song – San Diego Union-Tribune


















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SUNG-MUN SONG

  • Position(s): Third base, second base
  • Bats / Throws: Left / Right
  • 2026 opening day age: 29
  • Height / Weight: 6-foot / 194 pounds
  • How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2025
  • Contract status: A four-year, $15 million deal will see Song make $2.5 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $3.5 million in 2028 and $4 million in 2029 if he does not opt out of last year; Half of his $1 million signing bonus is due in January 2026 and the other half in 2027; There is a $7 million mutual option for 2030.
  • fWAR in 2025: N/A
  • Key 2025 stats (KBO): .315 AVG, .387 OBP, .530 SLG, 26 HRs, 90 RBIs, 103 runs, 68 walks, 96 strikeouts, 25 steals (144 games, 646 plate appearances)

 

STAT TO NOTE

  • .214 — Song’s isolated power in 2025, a career high as he prepared for a jump to the majors. Isolated power measures a player’s raw power (extra bases per at-bat) and Song had a .190 OPS in 2018, in his third year as a pro in Korea, before it dropped to .101 in 2019 and then a career-low .095 in 2023. Hitting 19 homers pushed Song’s isolated power to .178 in 2024 and then a career-high 26 homers push it even higher in 2025.

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San Diego, CA

Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer

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1 day ago

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January 5, 2026

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Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer


Drivers traveling through the city of Poway may have noticed a dramatic change to the landscape. Since September, more than 1,400 trees — many of them eucalyptus — have been removed as part of the city’s hazardous mitigation grant project aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving public safety.

Poway is spending roughly $3 million on the effort, which focuses on removing trees that are dead, dying or considered dangerous. Much of the cost is being reimbursed by FEMA. Officials say the project is designed to make emergency evacuation routes safer while improving the overall health of trees along major roadways, rights-of-way and open spaces.

“I was relieved that there were some efforts being put into improving our resiliency to wildfire in our community,” said Poway Fire Chief Brian Mitchell.

Mitchell said spacing out trees can slow the spread of a wildfire and prevent roads from becoming blocked during an emergency.

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“That certainly has the potential to block our first responders from accessing somebody’s house in the middle of an emergency,” Mitchell said.

City leaders also point to storm safety as a key reason for removing hazardous trees under controlled conditions rather than risking falling limbs or entire trees during severe weather.

“I don’t want to be driving down that street and just a random limb just happened to collapse, you know, just hit me,” said Poway resident Dawn Davis.

Davis said she also worries about the threat the trees pose to nearby homes.

“I don’t want anybody’s homes here to be damaged, either by them or fire,” Davis said.

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A Poway spokeswoman said a certified arborist evaluated nearly 6,800 trees in Poway. About 2,800 invasive trees were recommended for removal.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.



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