{"id":6819,"date":"2017-11-20T23:14:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T07:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=6819"},"modified":"2025-12-08T23:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T07:14:43","slug":"the-history-and-analysis-of-proposition-90-in-el-dorado-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2017\/11\/20\/the-history-and-analysis-of-proposition-90-in-el-dorado-county\/","title":{"rendered":"The History and Analysis of Proposition 90 in El Dorado County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen J. Ferry]<\/em><\/p>\n

Late in 2008 while working on the General Plan we were meeting in a local Civil Engineer\u2019s office and it was there that I met a local land use attorney. \u00a0I asked him if he knew about Prop 90 and he said no, so I explained it to him and he said, \u201cthat will never happen in El Dorado County.\u201d \u00a0Following that, in early 2009 our new Supervisor John Knight attended a meeting and I took him aside and asked if he knew about Prop 90. \u00a0Again, he did not know either so I explained it to him and he took interest and wanted to help.<\/p>\n

Following that, a group was created to support Prop 90, including the real estate industry and the chambers. \u00a0We met with Tim Holcomb and Karl Weiland, from the Assessor\u2019s office to discuss this and they took a very neutral view of what we were doing and did not offer their support.<\/p>\n

I was the interim (2009) Chairman for the El Dorado County Association of Realtors Political Action Committee. \u00a0I took on the responsibility of creating the \u201cWhite Papers\u201d for the presentations to the county \u00a0and created the Stop the Drop (dropping property prices) campaign. \u00a0Basically the Assessor was required by Proposition 8 to reduce the values of properties as those values fell from 2007-2013. \u00a0The problem, of course was that the Prop 13 tax revenues were dropping and they were the major revenue for the county\u2019s General Fund. \u00a0El Dorado County was entering deep financial straits.<\/p>\n

With great support from Katie De\u2019Gunther (a local title executive now deceased and missed) rallying folks to the Board Chambers, the Board of Supervisors approved the first participation for a period of two years but after a couple of weeks we were notified that the County Council had made a mistake. \u00a0We had to do it all over again and a couple of the members of the board seemed to be stuck on the two year limit. \u00a0Prop 90 prevailed again being approved on a 5-0 vote to be put in place for five (5) years. \u00a0 The reading of the ordinance had to occur and that was approved again by a 5-0 vote. \u00a0The Prop 90 Ordinance became effective on February 12, 2010 [sic]. \u00a0Karl Weiland had inherited the Assessor\u2019s Post from Tim Holcomb and he has done a wonderful job administering this program.<\/p>\n

After the five years had passed the board extended Prop 90 for 18 months. \u00a0There was opposition building that did not want seniors coming to El Dorado County and seemed to extend past seniors. \u00a0But after the 18 months the Board of Supervisors re-approved Prop 90 for another five years. \u00a0(I do not remember the vote.) \u00a0And now just one year later the Board voted to rescind the five year approval and cancel Prop 90 altogether.<\/p>\n

Let me speak to the benefit of senior housing that home builders like. \u00a0It is the traffic component that is so difficult to get past the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). \u00a0Of course there is less commute traffic with Senior Housing therefore making the constraint less onerous. \u00a0To maintain a Level of Service E (no stop and go on EDC freeways and other roads) becomes very difficult with new family or workforce housing. \u00a0Those folks have to commute.<\/p>\n

Has anyone seen the \u201celephant\u201d in the room yet. \u00a0I only saw it a couple of weeks ago and this elephant is HUGE to coin a phrase. \u00a0Not through any of this did anyone say \u201cWhat are the Economic Benefits attending to Prop 90 and what are the Economic Faults coming from Prop 90? \u00a0Ok, they did ask the question but they answered with \u201cwe can determine the actual tax benefit to the participating seniors (cost to the county) but we cannot determine the benefits to the county.\u201d \u00a0Why is this important? \u00a0There has never been a Professional Economic Analysis of these two questions as regards Prop 90, only amateur answers. \u00a0I have a college degree but not in Economics. \u00a0El Dorado County needs to hire an Economist to do a paper on this subject. \u00a0Not to reinstate Prop 90 (although that would be nice), but to get a determination of the actual financial impact of any Economic Development Program. \u00a0You can bet the City of Sacramento got an Economist\u2019s Report for the building of Golden One Center but, to my knowledge, El Dorado County has never done this. \u00a0We cannot allow El Dorado County to wallow in Economic Ignorance!!<\/p>\n

Many people have said we no longer need Prop 90 because the financial crisis is over. \u00a0Although that crisis was the instigating cause of passing Prop 90 it is not the reason counties or other jurisdictions enter into Economic Development Programs. \u00a0Jurisdictions compete with one another for programs that bring money from one area into their target area (again, Golden One Center) to expand the local money supply and economy. \u00a0Money supply expands and contracts, pick which one you like.<\/p>\n

So, what are the final figures on Prop 90? \u00a0Almost 700 seniors and their spouses will have made use of EDC\u2019s Prop 90 program. \u00a0These seniors have to be 55 years of age or older. \u00a0The detriment of senior housing always comes down to emergency services, particularly ambulance service. \u00a0This is provided by the Fire Services within the county. \u00a0El Dorado Hills Fire Department says they are losing revenue because of Prop 90 and having to take on the seniors medical emergency problems and expenses. \u00a0The department is very organized and could certainly publish the numbers of Prop 90 seniors that have required services. \u00a0All they have to do is note the address involved in the emergency (not the recipient of services) \u00a0and cross reference it to the county assessor\u2019s office. \u00a0Then the emergency services cost analysis would be complete and without violating HIPPA. \u00a0These questions would\/should be answered in the Professional Economic Analysis.<\/p>\n

The Professional Economic Analysis would also address basic Economic questions and theories. \u00a0 The theory of the \u201cGross Multiplication of Money\u201d and the \u201cVelocity of Money.\u201d \u00a0These theories are real and need to be addressed along with many others.
\nhttp:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/exam-guide\/cfa-level-1\/macroeconomics\/multiplier-effect.asp<\/a>\u2014 \u00a0http:\/\/econbrowser.com\/archives\/2010\/12\/velocity_of_mon<\/a><\/p>\n

Last, for those seniors who have come here, welcome to El Dorado County and when you get your hair done, or have a meal out, buy some clothes, become active in a place of worship, or buy a car, let the folks know that you came to El Dorado County proudly and that Prop 90 was a real help. \u00a0I\u2019m glad you are here\u2026. \u00a0and so are the people who have invested their life savings in small businesses that you patronize.<\/p>\n

Respectfully, Stephen J. Ferry.
\nEl Dorado Hills<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen J. Ferry] Late in 2008 while working on the General Plan we were meeting in a local<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","darknews-slider-full":"","darknews-featured":"","darknews-medium":"","darknews-medium-square":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"News MoLo","author_link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/author\/admin\/"},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6819"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6820,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6819\/revisions\/6820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}