CITY GOVERNMENT
Voters Get Chance To Abolish Right To Vote
Thanks to the generosity of the Idaho Legislature, voters in November will have a chance to abolish their constitutional right to vote on public debt. Most voters probably won’t be inclined to give up rights they already hold.
Idaho’s constitution currently mandates that all public debt in excess of a single year’s revenues be approved by voters. After GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier won an Idaho Supreme Court decision in 2006 blocking the City of Boise’s attempt to build an airport parking garage without voter approval, banks throughout the state forced cities to follow the constitution and ask voter assent prior to loaning funds. Few cities wanted voter scrutiny and they have now used public money in efforts to lobby for constitutional amendments.
They chopped up the proposals to cover hospitals, airports, and electric generating facilities owned by cities.
Here is an ASSOCIATED PRESS story by John Miller at the Statesman site that explains the issues.
The proposed amendments required 2/3 approval of both the House and Senate. Now all three will appear on the November ballot statewide
We can probably look for one of those deals where yes means NO and No means yes on this effort to bamboozle voters
ReplyDeleteCaldwell's mayor and the rest of the promoters that pushed the uncovering of Indian Creek claimed that "no taxpayer money", would be used, but would be paid for by federal grants. Well I am a Caldwell property tax payer and am stuck paying for the Indian Creek fiasco because the fed grants fell through. I feel like I have been scammed, by the Mayor and his promoters. Urban Renewal, is taking tax payer money from us without a taxpayer vote.
ReplyDeleteThe voters better reject this change to Idaho's constitution, or expect to pay for spending where "no taxpayer money will be used".
If the revenue that is to pay for this wild*** spending by the politicians fails to to appear, taxpayers will be on the hook to pay up. A good example is the Idaho Center in Nampa,being subsidized by the tax payer because it has not generated the revenue promised by that bunch of promoters! The YMCA in Caldwell is in the same sinking boat! If these projects would have honestly been put to the voter,I doubt either one would have passed. Why can't these leaders be honest with the folks. I guess that's why they are politicians.
To steal a line from Arlo Gutherie, "when I die and go to heavan, the won't be any politicians there".