It’s still unknown whether the Chargers will need 50 percent or 66.6 percent of the San Diego voters to approve a public stadium funding plan. It is known how the Chargers will pitch the tax hike to the citizens: It’s a tax you won’t have to pay.
“We’re very fortunate that we have a solid core of Chargers supporters, and I think a lot of folks (who are open) to the fundamental argument that if you live in the city of San Diego and you don’t stay in a hotel room, you won’t pay a dime to keep the team here,” Chargers stadium advisor Fred Maas recently told Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. “We think anecdotally and empirically those resonate with a majority of voters.”
The question remains whether a majority or a supermajority will need to be persuaded. A pending ruling before the California Supreme Court in a separate case likely will further clarify things -- if the decisions comes before the November vote.
“We plan to bring the San Diego situation to the attention of the Court and ask that the decision be expedited,” San Diego City Attorney spokesman Gerry Braun said. “It is possible that a vote over 50 percent but less than two-thirds may result in uncertainty until the Court acts.”
It still won’t be easy to get to 50 percent, much less 66.7 percent. The “it won’t actually cost you anything” argument obscures the fact that the money being collected through higher hotel taxes could used for reasons like roads, schools, or other truly public projects.
Besides, the notion that local residents will never pay the tax on hotel rooms presumes that hotel rooms are only ever used by out-of-towners. Clearly, that’s not the case, for a wide variety of potential reasons.
Those who vote no on the proposal will likely be motivated by one overriding reason: They don’t want to subsidize one of the 32 branches of a $13 billion-per-year tree. Regardless of how the money would be raised, fewer and fewer want to hand any of it over for these purposes.
