Fact check: Did California Assembly candidate try to raise taxes while failing to pay her own?
Housing interest group money is pouring into the District 10 Assembly race, filling airwaves and mailboxes in Elk Grove and south Sacramento to influence the Democrat-on-Democrat contest between two local city council members, Eric Guerra and Stephanie Nguyen.
The wave of advertising includes a PAC-financed television ad attacking Nguyen that is mostly false.
The political action committee behind the ad, funded by the California Apartment Association and the California Association of Realtors, is backing Guerra, a Sacramento city councilman.
The Housing Providers for Responsible Solutions PAC has spent more than $740,000 to support Guerra ahead of the June primary and during the current general election campaign, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The PAC spending is done through independent expenditures, meaning candidates do not control how the money is spent and cannot communicate with the committee.
Housing Providers’ target is Nguyen, an Elk Grove city councilwoman. It has spent more than $600,000 opposing her campaign, including a large October television ad buy. The PAC paid more than $240,000 on Oct. 17 for a TV spot disparaging her candidacy.
Nguyen’s campaign sent Housing Providers a cease and desist letter on Oct. 21, saying the ad makes “false, misleading, defamatory, and unlawful statements regarding Ms. Nguyen.”
Claim: The TV ad claims when Nguyen “was trying to raise our taxes, she wasn’t paying her taxes.” It says she “fought to raise (Sacramento) county sales taxes by $210 million a year.” The spot also asserts that Nguyen used taxpayer money for an “East Coast junket.”
Rating: Mostly false
Details: The ad claims the county put a tax lien on Nguyen’s “business.” Nguyen is the CEO of Asian Resources Inc., a Sacramento-area nonprofit that serves the Asian immigrant community. Nonprofit organizations typically qualify for a series of federal and state tax exemptions.
The lien document shown on-screen is tied to the nonprofit. The Sacramento County Tax Collector did file a tax lien against Asian Resources in March 2019 over a $3,081.84 unpaid property tax bill.
However, the tax collector filed another document in June 2020 releasing the lien and canceling the bill “due to an erroneous assessment.”
Linda Cogburn, chief appraiser in the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office, said Asian Resources had not yet filed a tax exemption claim when the bill was first issued.
After Asian Resources submitted exemption forms, the Assessor’s Office approved them and the Department of Finance removed the lien. The nonprofit also paid the remaining bill left after receiving its exemption.
“This situation is not uncommon with non-profits,” Cogburn said in an email. “Many assume that if they are exempt in one jurisdiction they are automatically exempt in all jurisdictions, but unfortunately, this is not the case. A claim must be filed in each jurisdiction.”
As for the tax hike claim, it seems to be referring to Measure A, a November ballot measure that would raise the county sales tax by one half of 1% for 40 years. The ballot title says it will raise an estimated $213,512,500 every year, putting it in line with the figure the ad cites.
It is unclear whether Nguyen used her platform as an Elk Grove City Councilwoman to advocate for the tax like the ad claims. The council never took an official vote on Measure A, said Kristyn Laurence, Elk Grove’s public affairs manager.
Nguyen did vote in favor of Measure E, a ballot measure that would raise the city’s sales tax by 1% to pay for law enforcement, emergency services, roads and parks. However, that tax would generate about $21.3 million every year, not even close to the amount in the ad.
Finally, Nguyen did go on an “East Coast junket” known as Capitol-to-Capitol, a Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce-organized event that sends Sacramento-area leaders to Washington, D.C. every year.
Nguyen attended Capitol-to-Capitol, also called Cap-to-Cap, in 2017, right after she was appointed to the council. The city did cover the cost of the trip, said Andrew Acosta, Nguyen’s campaign consultant.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Fact check: Did California Assembly candidate try to raise taxes while failing to pay her own?."