Brown proposes asking voters to extend billions in taxes

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Gov. Jerry Brown wants voters to extend billions in sales, income and vehicle taxes in a special election this spring. The taxes were first passed as part of the 2009 budget, but are set to expire this year.

Brown will ask legislators to place a plan on the ballot that would give voters a chance to extend a quarter-cent surcharge on state income tax, reduce the dependent credit to $99 from $300, and maintain a half-percent increase in the vehicle license fee and a 1-cent increase in state sales tax. Those moves would provide an estimated $9 billion in the 2011-12 budget year, according to estimates from the governor’s office.

In May 2009, voters rejected a three-year extension of those taxes in a special election called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Brown will ask voters to reconsider, promising to use most of the money to fund a massive decentralization of state government power.

Under Brown’s proposal, billions in sales and vehicle license fees would be used to fund his plan to shift some key state services to cities and counties. The extension in the state income tax would go into the state’s general fund, and would give schools an estimated $10 billion over that five-year period. If voters reject the tax increases, Brown said, there will be billions more in cuts beyond those proposed in Brown’s budget Monday.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

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Document: “The complete text of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget.”