Jarvis’ Last Campaign Will Push On, Aides Say

SACRAMENTO —  The ballot initiative campaign on behalf of the late Howard Jarvis’ final anti-tax proposal--a measure that would make it harder for local governments to raise taxes--will press ahead despite his death, Jarvis aides said Wednesday.

“The campaign definitely will go ahead as planned,” said Marsha Tauber, administrative assistant to Jarvis, who died at a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday night.

She and Janet Byers, another Jarvis associate, also said that his California Tax Reform Movement will continue in existence as a political organization. They added that details of the organization’s management without Jarvis at the top will be announced later.

Greater Effort Predicted

Paul Gann, who with Jarvis co-authored the landmark Proposition 13 property tax-limiting ballot initiative in 1978, predicted that Jarvis’ supporters will redouble their efforts to win voter approval of the latest Jarvis tax plan, Proposition 62, on the Nov. 4 ballot.

“We’ll work even harder for a ‘yes’ vote because we owe that to him,” Gann said. “It’s a good (initiative).”

Proposition 62 is designed to overturn a 1982 state Supreme Court decision that Jarvis had insisted punched a hole in Proposition 13.

Would Require Vote

Among other things, Proposition 62 would require that any local taxes imposed for general government purposes receive a majority vote of the electorate. Currently, only some general taxes are subject to voter approval--such as a sales tax increase for transportation.

The measure would also require that a general tax be approved by a two-thirds--rather than simple majority--vote of the governing board, such as a city council. It would maintain an existing requirement for a two-thirds voter ratification of special taxes.

In the state’s official voter pamphlet, the legislative analyst maintains that Proposition 62 would apply only to “general law” cities and not to “charter cities”--like Los Angeles--that were established by means of individual charters from the Legislature. But sponsors claim it would affect charter cities as well. If approved by voters, a court test is expected.