Taxes and Laws Tax policies and laws affect the Estuary's land use patterns. Proposition 13, passed in 1978, greatly reduced local governments' property tax revenue, forcing them to rely more heavily on sales taxes, development fees, redevelopment funding, and land annexation, especially for commercial development. As a result, many local governments favor retail development, which generates sales tax revenues, over housing, which requires additional services. Proposition 4, passed in 1979, set a constitutional limit on government spending, leading to problems in financing construction and maintenance of roads, water, sewer and flood control systems. Current Issues Protecting the Estuary Carefully planned growth and land use change can provide opportunities to protect and enhance the Estuary.
General plans can direct growth away from critical resources such as wetlands.
Development can generate revenues for enhancement and acquisition of key resource areas. Local governments, as the primary regulators of land use, have the ability to reduce impacts from urban development. Of the many available strategies, perhaps the most effective would be a regional planning system that promotes Estuary protection as a factor in local land use decisions. Regional Land Use Planning City and county governments make land use planning decisions based on local objectives and usually do not coordinate these efforts with other agencies. This system offers little protection to a regional resource like the Estuary, and little guidance on important regional concerns such as growth management, jobs, housing, transportation, and quality of life.