Today, our Association was notified by the Secretary of State's office that the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 has officially qualified for the November ballot. This takes us one step closer to protecting billions of public transit dollars in the future.

The initiative campaign submitted over a million signatures to the Secretary of State for verification, much more than the required 694,354 valid signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for the statewide ballot.

If passed in November, the measure would:

• Prohibit the state from borrowing local government property tax funds which are vital for public safety and other local services.

• Prohibit the state from borrowing or taking gasoline taxes which are dedicated to transportation and transit improvements and services.

• Prevent the taking of locally levied taxes, including parcel taxes, sales taxes, and other locally imposed taxes that are currently dedicated to cities, counties, transit agencies, and other special districts.

• Prohibit the state from taking, borrowing or redirecting existing funding for public transit, including existing taxes on diesel fuel dedicated to the Public Transportation Account.

• Add additional constitutional protections to prevent the state from raiding redevelopment funds or shifting redevelopment funds to other state purposes.

Please click here to see the press release issued today by the campaign.