A new tax could be on the horizon for Sacramento property owners, as the Sacramento Parks and Recreation Commission begins plans for polling voters on their support for a parcel tax that could appear on the November 2012 ballot. The parcel tax, a form of property tax, requires a two-thirds approval from the voters. The tax is a flat fee for property owners in the district, rather than a property tax that is based on the assessed value of the property. The money will not replace contributions from the General Fund. Currently, the general fund provides 3.9 million for park maintenance costs. The Commission considered a parcel tax between $25 and $30, a number they believe voters will view

The Internal Revenue Service announced June 10 that it revoked the tax-exempt status for more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations in Sacramento, though the majority of them were no longer in existence. Those that still exist, including several Sacramento-area organizations, will have to re-file for their tax-exemption status, said IRS spokesman Jesse Weller. “We believe that most of the organizations on the list are defunct, although some may still be in existence and just didn’t get the word,” he said. Nationwide, the number of nonprofit organizations whose tax-exemption status was revoked was 275,000. The revocation was an automatic action taken after the passing of a pension reform a

Organization is key. If you've kept careful records all year, completing your tax returns and getting those deductions should be a breeze. If you haven't, it is not as easy. But it still might be worth your while to itemize deductions this year, or, at least, think about getting organized for next year. One step at a time. The list of deductions most of us can take is not that long. The first is “Medical and Dental Expenses.” Because this deduction is limited to the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (aka “AGI,” the amount that ends up on line 38 of your Form 1040), not as many people can take this deduction as you might imagine. Let’s look at an example. Assuming your

I felt compelled to write this after reading Brandon Darnell’s report on the Sacramento’s City Council’s 5-4 decision in favor of requiring non-resident drivers to foot emergency bills. You can view his article here I find this to be complete nonsense (not the article, the decision). Especially when reading some of the responses from the City Council and others. The Fire Chief states that it’s not to bring in revenue, but to recover costs? He’s joking right? What else is this but a new revenue stream? Top that off with the old school mentality of budgeting, especially in a government environment. Towards the end of each fiscal year budgets are reviewed to ensure all monies in the budget

Richard Hatch is one of the featured interviewees in the locally produced documentary "Death or Taxes: The Sad Truth About Our American Taxation System" that will be screened as part of the Sacramento Film & Music Festival's WinterFEST this weekend.  Mr. Hatch will be attending the screening in support of the film and a question and answer session with the filmmakers will follow the screening. About the film - from the producers: With a run time of 78 minutes, Death or Taxes takes a hard look at the horrifying realities faced by the millions of taxpayers who owe back taxes, many of whom are forced to make life-changing decisions. Should they pay their rent or pay their back taxes? Put foo

A proposed measure to tax Sacramento property owners to pay for youth job training was derailed Tuesday night. Councilman Ray Tretheway removed the proposal from the City Council’s agenda, which means that it won’t be placed on the November ballot. Tretheway told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting he removed the plan from the agenda because council members were not interested in advancing it to the ballot. The City Council faced a Tuesday night deadline to move the proposal onto the ballot in November. “I think that the respect for the process trumped what I believe is a chronic problem of lack of resources and investment in our youth.” Tretheway said he thought his colleagues were conc

The Sacramento City Council wants to start taxing pot dispensaries and possibly increase a business tax. Expecting California voters to legalize recreational marijuana in November and facing continued financial problems, the council discussed putting a measure on the general election ballot to ask Sacramentans to enact a tax on pot dispensaries and to increase the city's business operations tax (BOT) so bigger companies could pay a more proportionate share. At a public hearing Tuesday afternoon, several council members indicated they're leaning toward alternatives to a 5 percent, across-the-board pot tax after hearing from at least a dozen patients, operators and advocates for the indust

Life. It's good, but it hasn't exactly been all rainbows and butterflies, what with the failing economy, record unemployment, escalating gas prices and health care 'reform'---oh, and lest I forget, Tax Day, which is mere hours away. Nevertheless, no matter how bleak the headlines read with my morning Fruit Loops, I rely on my nightly glass of  'vinous panacea' to ease the sting of the bureaucratic fingers digging deeper into my shallow pockets. Until now, that is. Adding insult to my fiscal injury, a couple from Southern California have proposed an initiative which would levy a massive 12,675% tax increase on alcoholic beverages. No, this is not a belated April Fool's joke. Kent and J

Standing outside of a Sacramento medical cannabis dispensary, you might detect something in the air. No, it's not secondhand THC vapor — public medicating is prohibited in the county. What you sense is a shift in perspective. Public pressure is building for the legalization and regulation of one of the oldest cash crops in America: the plants of genus Cannabis. The US federal government has held since 1970 that cannabis is a danger to public health and safety and listed the annual flowering herb under US code as having "high potential for abuse" and "no accepted medical potential." "A lot of people are thinking that federal drug laws are arbitrary and now we're starting to see the transl

Medical cannabis in California wouldn't be what it is today if it wasn't for Ryan Landers. The Sacramento activist helped to develop the laws, policies and realities of medical marijuana in a career of activism that spans more than a decade. He was there to help roll Proposition 215 into motion in 1996 and had a significant hand in crafting SB 420 in 2003. "I live the cause," he said. "When I'm not out testifying or counseling or negotiating for the cause, I'm just home and sick." He's a 15-year survivor of HIV/AIDS, a personal fact that he doesn't usually publicize partly due to prior experience. Landers, now 37, became a member of Californians for Compassionate Use in 1995. CCU is the