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About the San Diego Taxpayers Educational Foundation
The San Diego Taxpayers Educational Foundation (SDTEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1988 with the purpose of conducting studies and researching activities for the support and benefit of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

The mission of the SDTEF is to conduct fiscal and economic research and analysis of governmental revenue and expenditure policies in San Diego County.

What is the Purpose of this Page?
This wiki aims to provide a publicly accessible repository of information on San Diego County's public policy past and present. It is hosted by the San Diego Taxpayer's Educational Foundation (SDTEF), but all community members are welcome to contribute to this wiki.

San Diego voters are encouraged to use this page as a resource to access non-partisan, evidence-based analyses of important ballot measures and political issues, as well as to understand the context behind those issues

Issues on the November 2022 Ballot in San Diego County
Click the links below to learn about important issues on the November 2022 ballot in San Diego and to see SDTEF's ballot measure analyses!

San Diego County Cannabis Business Tax

Escondido Sales Tax

People's Ordinance

Imperial Beach Transient Occupancy Tax

Geography and Demographics
San Diego County is divided into four regions: North County, Central County, East County, and South County. North county encompasses both coastal and inland areas, and major cities in that region include Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Del Mar, and Escondido. Central County encompasses the entirety of the City of San Diego, which is the most populous city in San Diego County. East County includes cities such as El Cajon, La Mesa, and Santee, and South County is home to Chula Vista and Imperial Beach.
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What are San Diego taxpayers talking about today?
The San Diego Taxpayers Educational Foundation strives to study issues that are the most relevant in the lives of San Diego Taxpayers. This section contains background on some of those issues, as well as actions SDTEF and SDCTA have taken around those issues.
 * Fire Districts


 * Homelessness Services


 * Net Energy Metering
 * Transportation
 * Education
 * Public Safety
 * Cannabis
 * Water
 * Environmental Stewardship
 * Healthcare

Golden Awards: Who won the Watchdog? Who won the Fleece?
The Golden Awards have been long since been instituted in our efforts to provide the public with the Golden Watchdog Award's to honor good government practices and efficient use of public money while the Golden Fleece Award recognizes wasteful, inefficient or downright absurd uses of taxpayer dollars. Feel free to engage below on the awards and fleeces!

How the 2022 Golden Awards Awarded Government During the Covid-19 Pandemic
'''Rapid Reopening For Kids to Go Back to School? Mismanaging of Federal Covid-19 Funds? For the Educational Golden and Fleece Award'''

A category that follows is Education which outlines the good and bad governance of the school districts which shows how the Cajon Valley Union School District won the Watchdog. Due to their rapid reopening while the San Diego County school system was indefinitely closed with no plans to bring children back to school, Cajon Valley Union School District took a brave step to safely reopen its doors to students. While the fleece would be awarded to Sweetwater Union High School District for their Mismanaging of Federal COVID-19 Funds for using pandemic relief dollars to fund teacher raises is a big “no no '' and is making us raise our eyebrows in shock! When the economy is crashing down around us, hospitals are nearing capacity, and students are struggling to connect with their teachers at all - we are curious as to how this seemed like a responsible use of public funds.

'''Prosecuting Edd Fraud Costing Over a Million Dollars? Over One-Hundred Dead in the Sheriff's Departments Custody? For the Public Health and Safety Golden and Fleece Award'''

In the Public Health and Safety category, SDCTA awards the Golden Watchdog to the County of San Diego's District Attorney devotion to prosecuting rampant EDD fraud. In

the Spring of 2021, District Attorney Summer Stephan charged a trio of crooks for fraudulently using the names of 64 inmates to file false unemployment claims with the Employment

Development Department (EDD) totalling $1.3 million! The Golden Fleece also goes to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for the unnecessary deaths of inmates this past year under their custody. Over a ten-year period 141 inmates in San Diego County Sheriff custody have died, well above the reasonable expected rate, and far exceeding the other 11 largest Counties in the State.

'''How the City of Carlsbad is Using Geo AI is to Help Reduce Your Water Pollution? CCA Rate Spikes as a Result of Faulty Energy Procurements Strategies? For the Transportation, Utilities & Infrastructure Golden and Fleece Award'''

In the Transportation, Utilities & Infrastructure category, SDCTA awards the Watchdog to City of Carlsbad for ACTION System's of Reducing Water Pollution using Geo AI. The City of Carlsbad has used innovative, out-of-the-box thinking to harness the power of Geo AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning to maximize the efficiency of their water pollution inspections and operations. The fleece would be awarded City of Solana Beach Councilmembers voted to increase the rates of the Solana Energy Alliance by 2.4% to account for the more than $180k owed to the city for incurred administration costs. Along with failing to account for CPUC-determined SDG&E exit fees for joining a community choice program.

How the 2018 Golden Awards was a Focal Point Towards the City of San Diego

'''How was San Diego able to improve water quality at Chollas Creek? How the Whole of California is to be Scrutinized for their Actions on the Hepatitis A Prevention & Response? For the Grand Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the Grand Golden Award would be to the City of San Diego for their Chollas Creek Project Cost Savings which resulted in cost savings avoiding unnecessary expenditures can now be directed toward addressing other pollutants to improve water quality at the Chollas Creek watershed and Citywide. The Grand Golden Fleece was granted to County of San Diego, City of San Diego, City of Carlsbad, City of Chula Vista, City of Coronado, City of Del Mar, City of El Cajon, City of Encinitas, City of Escondido, City of Imperial Beach, City of La Mesa, City of Lemon Grove, City of National City, City of Oceanside, City of Poway, City of San Marcos, City of Santee, City of Solana Beach, City of Vista even to the whole of California for the Hepatitis A Prevention & Response. It shouldn’t be a fantasy to have the various jurisdictions live up to their respective responsibilities, collaborate and work together to ensure the most vulnerable San Diegans aren’t sickened or killed by preventable diseases.

'''How San Diego Was Ready for The Commercialization of Cannabis in The City of San Diego? How a Disgruntle over the Consensus on Short Term Vacation Rentals Impacted STVR Regulations? Metro Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the Metro Golden Award the City of San Diego for their Adult-Use Cannabis Regulations. The City of San Diego was ready to collect taxes on cannabis products the first day retail shops were able to sell recreational cannabis. By proactively tackling development of a regulatory structure, the City ensured permitted dispensaries would be in place, reducing the chance a black market would flourish — and also saving City staff time and money by reducing the number of hearings. The Metro Golden Fleece Award would be granted to the City of San Diego for San Diego’s policy makers have failed to reach consensus on how to regulate Short Term Vacation Rentals. Dozens of hearings have San Diego still waiting... and wishing upon a star for decisive STVR regulations!

'''What happens when Two School Districts Come Together? Why Biking in San Diego Has Gone Severely Down Hill? For the Regional Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the Regional Golden Award to the San Dieguito Union High School District & Solana Beach School District as these districts worked collaboratively to create a partnership whereby SBSD would be a tenant of SDUHSD during the 2017-18 school year required to rebuild Skyline School. The Regional Golden Fleece would be granted to the San Diego Regional Association of Governments for their spending of $61 million on its Bike Early Action Program — but to date, the agency has completed less than four miles of bike lanes. The agency has spent so much money and time trying to achieve consensus that bike lane costs have amounted to $15.25 million per mile. SANDAG has also pushed several project start dates into 2019 and 2020 — failing to live up to a January promise to start eight projects before the end of 2018.

How the 2012 Golden Awards Shaped the Monetary Aspects Towards the City of San Diego

'''Ways that the County of San Diego Has Lowered Your Taxes by Over 1.46 Billion. Are Voting Rights Still an Ongoing Issue Still Happening Check Out How A Suit Claims Voter Disenfranchisement? For the Grand Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the Grand Golden Award to the County of San Diego as a result of cost saving measures over the past decade, the County of San Diego Capital Program will save taxpayers approximately $1.46 billion over the next 30 years. The fleece was awarded to the Tri-City Healthcare District for the suit claims that voters are being disenfranchised after the seven-member board began excluding two members from closed-session meetings after passing censures against them.

'''How the City of San Diego Prompted for Healthcare Liabilities? How Deadlines Have Affected the School Districts Early Childhood Education Program? For the Regional Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the City of San Diego and labor unions approved a healthcare reform agreement projected to cut millions from the City’s $1.1 billion unfunded retiree healthcare liabilities. The fleece would be granted to the San Diego Unified School District’s Early Childhood Education Program as it failed to meet filing deadlines under its contract with the Neighborhood House Association

How One of Our First Golden Awards in 1996 Changed the Outlook on Awarding Good and Bad Governance

'''How 3.2 billion Dollars was Saved Due to the Sewage Outfall Waiver? How 20,000 Dollars was Mismanaged for a State Primary? For the Golden Award and Fleece'''

The SDCTA awards the Golden Award to the City of San Diego and Local Congressional Delegation for their Sewage Outfall Waiver which helped save taxpayers $3.2 billion in capital expenses. The City of Del Mar would receive the Golden Fleece for their holding of municipal election two weeks after state primary at a cost of $20,000. __INDEX__
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