Click here to view or download a PDF copy the No on J FAQ.

Measure J on the Palm Springs ballot will hike the local sales tax rate from 7.75% to 8.75% for a period of 25 years. Sales tax revenues, estimated at $8 million annually, will be deposited into the City’s General Fund. City officials have indicated the tax will be pledged for repayment of approximately $83 million in new 20-year revenue bonds. That will allow immediate use of funds but it also means interest and other financing costs may double the amount needed for repayment of the revenue bonds.

The following are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Measure J.

Q: How will the $43 million Sales Tax funds bailout for JohnWessman be used?

A:  The City will deposit $32 million into an escrow to be used for “Phase One” demolition, construction and related costs to renovate a designated portion of the Desert Fashion Plaza. The remaining $11 million will be used for construction of three new streets and to rehabilitate the existing decrepit parking structure on the Plaza property.

Q: How much will Mr. Wessman invest in the Desert Fashion Plaza “Phase One” renovation?

A:  The Wessman share of demolition and construction costs associated with renovation has been estimated at between zero and $28 million. He is not required to spend his own money until the $32 million in taxpayer funds has been spent.

Q: Can John Wessman sell the Desert Fashion Plaza after he receives the $43 million bailout?

A:  Yes. The only requirement is for the plaza owner to finish renovation before 2015. Mr. Wessman or a different owner can sell it before or afterwards.

Q: What happens when plaza renovation is complete and new buildings remain empty?

A:  Who knows?  There are no requirements in the agreement between the City and Mr. Wessman that address this concern.

Q: A portion of the $43 million bailout will be used for construction of a new Cinema Theater as part of plaza renovation. Will the new theater take patrons from existing theater facilities?

A:  Yes. In fact it is possible one and perhaps two theaters in the area may not survive the new city-subsidized competition.

Q: Is John Wessman required to repay his $43 million taxpayer-funded bailout?

A:  No. Neither repayment nor sharing of revenues and/or profits from a future sale is required.

Q: How will the remaining $40 million Sales Tax funds be used?

A:  We do not know.  No specific uses have been determined. The money will be available for any legitimate City purpose. Funds may be used for infrastructure improvements, maintenance and repairs, restoration of budget cuts, hiring additional personnel, or other identified needs.

Q: Who will decide how the $40 million will be used?

A:  The City Council will make all decisions with respect to use of the funds.

Q: Can any of the $40 million be used for city staff salaries, benefits and automobile allowances?

A:  Yes. There are no restrictions on how the funds can be used.

Q: Will Measure J result in 2,500 new jobs?

A:  Nobody knows.  Measure J will only produce revenues. Whether revenues will result in new jobs or any form of employment has not been determined. Measure J does not guaranty any jobs.

Q: Will Measure J result in free parking?

A:  The Desert Fashion Plaza has parking for 1,061 vehicles. The parking facilities are decrepit, in need of extensive rehabilitation, and extremely expensive to maintain. Mr. Wessman will transfer his parking facilities to the City to forever be maintained at taxpayer expense as “free parking”. The City will also spend $11 million on facilities rehabilitation.

Q: Will Measure J result in “increased tourism and property values”?

A:  No. Studies have not been released indicating what affect the Measure J Sales Tax hike will have on tourism or property values. Tax hikes could be a drag on the local economy.

Q: Will Measure J result in “new shopping, restaurants, entertainment and events”?

A:  No. Specific plans or details have not been provided by the Desert Fashion Plaza developer regarding whether there are any committed or prospective tenants for the Plaza.

Q: Is it true non-residents pay 67% of local sales taxes?

A:  Not true.  All sales taxes are collected by merchants and reported to the State Board of Equalization. None are identified as having been collected from “non-residents”. The 67% is a questionable estimate for no substantiating documentation supporting the figure has been released.

Q: How will the Measure J sales tax affect automobile and other DMV registered purchases?

A:  Palm Springs residents will be required to pay the higher 8.75% sales tax rate for vehicle purchases they make anywhere in the state. Sales taxes on vehicle purchases are based on where the purchaser resides and not on where the transaction occurs.

Q: Will the Measure J sales tax hike apply to East Valley visitor purchases in Palm Springs?

A:  Yes. However, residents of other valley cities may choose to save money by making their purchases in cities with lower tax rates.

Developer John Wessman’s Yes on Measure J campaign has implied, speculated and promised a vast number of positive results will occur if the Sales Tax hike measure is approved by voters. All are little more than campaign slogans. Unfortunately, campaigns fold after Election Day and their slogans go with them. There is no accountability, no responsibility and little of lasting value once campaigns have left the scene. It is for that reason ballot measure campaigns are able to exaggerate and make wildly speculative statements for despite the false hopes they may raise, their period of existence is very short and they won’t be around to answer when promises and slogans prove to have been hyperbole. Voters should not make decisions based on campaign slogans.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs
November 5, 2011

No Palm Springs Taxpayer-Funded Bailout for Millionaires

“No $43 Million taxpayer-funded bailout for a millionaire developer!” That statement is probably appropriate any place in America except Palm Springs. Congress paved the way for government bailouts of the wealthy using taxpayer funds. Banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, industry business giants and others with hands stretched out all benefited from billions in bailout funds. Palm Springs has been doing the same thing on a smaller scale. City leaders recently decided it is time to become big time players and use taxpayer funds to help the rich get richer.

Palm Springs city leaders, heavily influenced by the downtown business community, are demanding voters tax themselves in order to hand over $43 million to developer John Wessman for renovation of his Desert Fashion Plaza property. It is not an investment of taxpayer funds for he does not have to repay a single penny. The full $43 million will be raised by issuing expensive new revenue bonds. Taxpayers will be in hock for 20 years to repay those bonds. Interest and other financing costs will send the total price of the Wessman bailout skyrocketing upwards of $75 million dollars.

Why would a community consider taxing itself in order to provide funds for a wealthy millionaire? One answer is the smokescreen of half-truths and innuendos surrounding the $43 million gift of taxpayer funds. John Wessman’s Desert Fashion Plaza is currently valued at $20 million. The smokescreen involves transferring certain least desirable segments of the plaza property to the city. That arrangement is being marketed as a reasonable exchange for the $43 million taxpayer dollars. This trade for dollars does not represent an equal value transaction. The transaction will serve to relieve Wessman of huge annual maintenance costs which taxpayers will instead bear. These hidden facts are why it is called a smokescreen.

John Wessman reportedly will not renovate his Desert Fashion Plaza property without financial assistance. He is not turning to private investors for the funds he needs; not asking for a loan from the city; not offering a partnership arrangement with the city; and not asking for a city guarantee of borrowings from other sources. His request is quite simple. Give him $43 million for Desert Fashion Plaza renovation! Repayment is not to be required. Taxpayers will pay all interest and financing costs. John Wessman will be able to sell the project at any time of his choosing and the profits will be his alone. It is a simple arrangement that should serve well to make a rich man richer.

“Yes to a $43 Million taxpayer funded bailout for millionaire developer John Wessman” is the message Palm Springs voters are receiving from city officials, downtown business interests and most of all from developer John Wessman’s Yes on Measure J campaign committee. Will Palm Springs taxpayers listen to the message? Will voters agree to a $43 million bailout for a local millionaire?

Please send a message to the Palm Springs City Manager, the Chamber of Commerce, developer John Wessman and anyone with outstretched hands seeking taxpayer funds. No taxpayer funded bailouts – not for millionaires – not for anyone! Vote NO on Measure J.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs
October 27, 2011

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Palm Springs, California.  In the hour preceding last Wednesday’s Palm Springs city council meeting, the Committee for No on Measure J mounted a peaceful protest demonstration outside the council’s City Hall meeting chambers. Their purpose was to persuade the council to extend its new Oversight Commission’s purview to encompass the entire city budget.

Developer John Wessman’s Yes on J campaign announced last minute plans to mount a counter-demonstration. Email messages from the Yes on J campaign, the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Palm Springs Democratic Club falsely accused the No on J supporters of demonstrating simply to “make a media splash”. They urged their members to meet at City Hall in opposition and “stand strong against ‘fringe’ obstructionists”.

The Yes on J campaign obviously hoped to produce a huge contingent of members in support of their counter-demonstration efforts. They failed in that quest for their numbers barely matched the number of No on J taxpayers who were seeking to exercise their citizenship protest rights.

The actual demonstration event boiled down to citizenship protest rights versus those opposed to citizenship protest rights. According to the next day’s report in The Desert Sun the Yes on J campaign had a bullhorn. Others reported the bullhorn was used to lead Yes on J demonstrators in noisy efforts aimed at silencing the peaceful remarks of the No on J citizen protest. The bullhorn-led effort was unsuccessful and a contingent of police officers kept the Yes on J coterie separate from their No on J targets. The No on J folks were not intimidated! They remained firm in their resolve and continued their peaceful protest.

The Yes on J campaign appears to be entering a desperation mode cycle. They have outspent the No on J opposition by many, many thousands of dollars. The City of Palm Springs has spent more than $70 thousand of taxpayer money to defeat the No on J efforts. The Wessman campaign and allies have resorted to using epithets, including “fringe obstructionists”, in referring to the No on J protestors. And now they seek to “kill the messenger” by silencing citizens who simply wish to exercise their right to engage in peaceful public protests. No on J versus Yes on J is clearly a case, respectively, of David versus Goliath - and allies. Once again Goliath and his allies need to be defeated.

The underlying but rather clear purpose behind the crusade to pass Measure J is the millions of dollars involved and those who will benefit. It is all about a simple word – one that starts with the letter “g”, ends with a “d” and it has a single “r” and two “e” letters in it. Money is not only the Mother’s Milk of Politics; it is the only fuel driving the interests of the downtown business community – and Developer John Wessman’s Yes on J campaign.

When it comes to money, it is claimed to excuse many things. It doesn’t excuse name calling, misuse of taxpayer funds for campaign purposes, and efforts to prevent citizens from exercising their right to peacefully protest. The Yes on J Committee and allies stand guilty of all these offenses. Voters can best show their disgust for such un-American tactics by voting No on Measure J.

Bond Shands
Palm Springs - October 22, 2011

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COMMITTEE FOR NO ON MEASURE J

A recent Valley Voice essay in The Desert Sun was titled “Don’t reject Measure J just because you don’t like John Wessman”. The article correctly identified millionaire developer John Wessman as the central issue in the Measure J – One Percent (1%) Sales Tax hike appearing on the November 8th ballot. The premise that dislike should not be the basis for a No on Measure J vote is also correct. What the author failed to provide is the list of excellent and compelling reasons why a No vote on the Measure is the correct one.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because it is all about John Wessman and his Desert Fashion Plaza quest for $43 million in taxpayer funds.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because its only reason for existence is John Wessman and his requirement that $43 million be handed over to him before he will develop his plaza property.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because the $43 million gift to Wessman does not require repayment.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because taxpayer funds should not be used to enrich anyone and particularly John Wessman who is in no need of additional wealth.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because John Wessman is the only developer receiving free city streets, free restroom facilities on his property, free exemption from providing parking facilities, and free or reduced costs for city services.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because taxpayers will bear the burden of paying it off for the next twenty-five (25) years.

Measure J deserves to be defeated because funds badly needed for infrastructure and other public concerns will be cut in half by diverting $43 million to John Wessman for his plaza renovation plans.

City officials claim failure of Measure J to pass will result in no Desert Fashion Plaza renovation. If persons making such statements don’t have answers, they should simply step aside, resign and let someone else provide solutions. Stiffing taxpayers for such costs is not acceptable!

City officials claim infrastructure needs will suffer if Measure J fails to pass. If responsible officials don’t have solutions, they need to step aside, resign and let someone else provide answers. Piggybacking a $43 million gift to John Wessman on a Measure intended for infrastructure needs is not acceptable! 

Dislike for John Wessman is not a good reason for rejection of Measure J. Hate for the waste of $43 million in taxpayer funds is an excellent reason to reject by voting No on the Measure.

Help prevent a huge waste of taxpayer funds. Vote NO on Measure J.