Californians to Protect Local Taxpayer and Vital Services has gathered close to a million signatures in support of the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010.

Support for this bill has been overwhelming throughout California. The number of signatures gathered by late February stood at 500,000. Roughly 320,000 signatures were gathered between the end of February and the end of March.

The act is designed to prevent the Legislature from transferring, borrowing, restricting, taxes imposed by municipalities by amending the California constitution. The coalition list in support of this act ranges from city mayors, public safety, labor groups, transportation, businesses, taxpayer associations and local elected officials.

Kathy Fairbanks the spokesperson for the Save Local Taxpayers Act said “I have heard through the grapevine that cities in the South Bay in the San Mateo/Santa Clara county area are going gangbusters.”

Roughly 150 municipalities have passed resolutions in support of this bill, California is home to about 450 municipalities.

Municipalities are tasked with creating and balancing a budget just like the state is. And when the state fails to meet its obligations, cities and in their inhabitants suffer from lost police officers to increased public transportation fees. Personal safety and basic means of transportation and mobility are compromised.

Fairbanks “I do know that city officials from all over the state are taking their own personal time to collect signatures. That's a big deal since many (most) ballot initiatives are put on the ballot with 100% paid signatures. We, too, are using paid signatures, but our volunteer component is impressive and frankly, unprecedented.

In order to secure voter approval just over a million signatures are required to make sure it gets on the ballot. The number of signatures needed is 1.1 million signatures is gathered to account for false names and verification measures.

In 2004, 84 percent of voters authorized the state to borrow and no longer seize city funds. The state is required to pay this money bask with interest within three years. The question remains as to how this is going to happen.

In an email exchange with Fairbanks when asked whether the California Legislature had any response to this amendment, she replied “The California legislature doesn’t take a position on ballot measures.”

The city of Sacramento was not on the coalition list until recently, but Sacramento kicked off a signature gathering drive in January. Mayor Kevin Johnson was the speaker at the news conference supporting the measure.

More information can be found at www.savelocalservices.com