By Jeff Lasky

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A new decision by the California Supreme Court could make it easier for cities to raise taxes on its citizens.

​​The ruling does away with the two-thirds majority needed to pass any tax hike proposed by a citizen's initiative. Now those tax hikes will only require a simple majority for approval, known as fifty-plus-one (fifty percent plus one more vote). Taxes proposed by cities themselves will still require a two-thirds vote.

Supporters say the ruling will make it much easier to approve major projects. Experts tell 10News they expect a convention center expansion vote and a vote to raise taxes to support affordable housing to help solve San Diego's homeless crisis.

By Haney Hong & Cameron Gyorffy

The city of San Diego jumped to the forefront of the fight against climate change in late 2015 with adoption of its Climate Action Plan. This commitment earned the city much praise, and we at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association supported it with the caveat that we must achieve these goals cost effectively. Let’s maximize our greenhouse gas reduction with as few dollars as possible; we have many public problems, like homelessness, to tackle with finite resources.

​Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is one option in the Climate Action Plan to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, and because San Diegans have trusted us for three-quarters of a century to do our homework, we have several questions about the CCA proposal before the mayor and City Council. We hope city leaders are searching for the same answers we are — basic fiduciary management demands it.

By Jim Waring and Bob Nelson

Is it too late to stop global warming? We’re not sure, but this is not a drill. Our climate and our planet are too important for us to simply stand by as atmospheric warming poses ever-greater risks.

We need a carbon-free future sustained by clean and renewable energy from solar, wind and geothermal farms — not coal mines and oil wells — to fuel our cars, trucks, homes and businesses. So we enthusiastically embrace new ways to minimize and eliminate fossil fuel consumption.

​California is home to 12 percent of America’s population and the sixth largest economy on the planet, so reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is a big deal. California leads America in the attack on greenhouse gas. In 2002, our state set a goal of 331/3 percent renewable energy by 2020, subsequently increased to 50 percent by 2030. As we write, legislation is pending in Sacramento that seeks to increase renewable electricity usage even further across the state.

By Phillip Molnar

Dale Perry couldn’t make rent.

​In 2013, the Marine Corps veteran was living at the low-income Maplewood Apartments in Lakeside when he lost his job as a grocery clerk, had an issue with his bank account and, in general, struggled to get finances in order after years of being homeless.

“I was just in a run of bad luck,” Perry, 56, recalled Friday.

At the time, his apartment’s owner, Community HousingWorks, had just instituted a program that allowed him to pay rent back later, provided he worked with a financial coach and agreed to a payment plan.

Perry was able to get assistance through Veterans Affairs and cut out expenses, like eating out, and is now a model tenant.

The San Diego-based nonprofit Community HousingWork’s prevention program has worked with 204 renter households to stop them from getting kicked out of their apartments in about the last four years. Of those, 16 renters still ended up getting evicted.