Insult to injury
December 8, 2025An economist writes a short article for the Wall Street Journal about taxes in his hometown.
Pacific Grove’s Tax Dollars at Work
The city council hires a consulting firm to help it figure out how to raise my taxes.
…Last month, though, Pacific Grove’s City Council passed a shocking measure that undercuts the warm-and-fuzzy hometown feeling. The majority approved an expenditure of up to $141,530 for a political consulting firm to help it figure out how to raise taxes.
The firm is called Props & Measures, and its proposal isn’t exactly subtle: “We work with our clients to identify shared community priorities and values to identify the elements of a successful revenue proposal. We have built community consensus for revenue measures in hundreds of communities throughout our home state of California and many communities across the country.”
It continues: “The partners and consultants at Props & Measures have experience with numerous successful public finance ballot measures that have raised billions of dollars in voter-approved revenue for public programs, services and facilities.”
In short, Pacific Grove’s City Council voted to use our taxes to come up with a strategy to increase our taxes. …
No Truce With Kings 
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