The Conservatives Who Gutted the Voting Rights Act Are Now Challenging ‘One Person, One Vote’

[KamaAina]

4. Believe it or not, it's also under attack in liberal Marin County

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_27898597/marin-tax-more-parcels-you-own-more-votes

Landowners facing the biggest bite from a proposed Marin mosquito tax have a leg up on deciding its fate because the more parcels they own, the more votes they get.

The premise of a tax planned by the Marin Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District is that property benefiting the most from vermin services should be billed accordingly. Property owners may cast a vote for each parcel they own....

Asked to describe how taxes owed by disparate properties was determined, district publicist, Nizza Sequeira emailed this explanation: "The method used for apportioning the assessment is based upon the proportional special benefits to be derived by the properties in the assessment area over and above general benefits conferred on real property or to the public at large...The first step is to identify the types of special benefit arising from the improvements or services, the second step is to estimate the general and special benefits, and the third step is to allocate the assessment to property based on the estimated relative special benefit for each type of property."

In short, the procedure used by consulting engineers to calculate who owes what was a complicated best guess. "Each property was assigned an estimated level of special benefit relative to a single family home," the explanation continued. "After the level of benefit for each property was estimated, the total cost of the mosquito control services and other improvements to be funded by the proposed assessment was allocated to each property based on the estimated special benefit received." Those interested in details may consult the district's website at www.msmosquito.com