Free Republic

BORREGO SPRINGS ---- Aiming to place a so-called quality-of-life sales tax on the county ballot in 2010, regional politicians gathered Thursday to discuss whether the measure should target ocean pollution, beach sand replenishment, open space or public transit ---- or all of the above. After a full day of airing ideas on the topic at the San Diego Association of Governments' annual retreat in the eastern San Diego County desert town of Borrego Springs, no clear consensus emerged. Many elected officials attending the three-day workshop, which concludes today, agreed that a new sales tax ranging from a quarter cent to...

SAN DIEGO ---- Regional planners are polling San Diego County residents to see if they would support a special "quality of life" tax to fund beach-sand replenishment, open-space purchases, habitat restoration and water-quality programs, an agency official said Thursday. The funding source could come in the form of a sales, property, hotel or rental-car tax, and could appear on the county ballot in 2008, said Rob Rundle, principal planner for the San Diego Association of Governments, the county's regional planning agency. Rundle said results of the telephone poll of 2,000 county registered voters will be reported to the association board...

The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway. What it does have is a wide-open view of nearby hills and distant mountains _ which makes it seven times more valuable than if it had no view, according to the latest townwide property assessment. He expects his property taxes to shoot up accordingly. Bischoff and other Orford residents bitterly call that a "view tax," and they are leading a revolt against it that has gained support in many rural towns in New Hampshire. State...

The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway. What it does have is a wide-open view of nearby hills and distant mountains _ which makes it seven times more valuable than if it had no view, according to the latest townwide property assessment. He expects his property taxes to shoot up accordingly. Bischoff and other Orford residents bitterly call that a "view tax," and they are leading a revolt against it that has gained support in many rural towns in New Hampshire.