Nevada County improperly spent $34,614 in tax dollars to encourage a “yes” vote on a sales tax measure on the November 2022 ballot, the Fair Political Practices Commission ruled August 20.
In a stipulated agreement with the county, the FPPC wrote that two pre-election, taxpayer-funded mailers produced by the county – a $17,708 piece mailed October 7 and a $16,906 piece mailed October 26 – advocated for Measure V rather than simply providing neutral material to residents.
“The timing of Mailer No. 1, shortly before the General Election, combined with its affirmative statements, crossed the line from informational content into advocacy,” the stipulation states. “Mailer No. 1 used promotional language that goes beyond neutral description, such as: ‘Measure V is responsive to community priorities such as: Preventing Wildfires, Improving Evacuation Routes, Enhancing Emergency Communications, Enforcing Fire Safety Laws, Helping Low-Income Seniors & People with Disabilities, Providing Free Green Waste Disposal.’ Furthermore, Mailer No. 1 employed emotionally charged statements that invoked concern by stating, ‘As wildfires become more frequent and more destructive … Nevada County must be well prepared for ongoing natural disasters,’ which implied Measure V must pass to address these concerns.”
The FPPC added that “the design choices, like the images of a vulnerable senior and traffic in an evacuation route, are likely to elicit strong, positive sentiments towards Measure V to combat the concerns presented,” while the mailer “obscured the negative aspect, a one-half percent sales tax increase, burying it in the smallest font within the largest bulk of writing.”
“By emphasizing only the positives while obscuring the downsides (like a hidden tax increase), the communication becomes a form of advocacy likely to persuade the reader, not objectively inform them,” the FPPC wrote. “This resulting lack of neutrality makes the presentation unfair and fundamentally promotional.”
The second mailer had similar flaws, the FPPC found, writing: “The formatting was also promotional: benefits are in bullet points and an easy-to-read format, while the only negative mentioned, the $12 million annually from the proposed one-half percent sales tax, is included in a large paragraph. Furthermore, the second side of the mailer does not mention the sales tax increase or any negatives at all.”
The county agreed to an administrative penalty of $31,500, but the penalty can be paid with the county’s tax dollars, leaving the officials responsible for the mailers unscathed.
Measure V needed a majority vote to pass, but received just 48.4 percent of the vote.