Taxes can now be paid online or by phone, with check or credit card as well by
going to the Tax Assessor’s website at
http://www.co.amador.ca.us/depts/treasurer/. Also the tax collector’s
office is offering an opportunity to all property owners to participate in the
Amador County Children’s Trust Fund. The fund was established pursuant to the California Children and Families
Commission, created by Proposition 10, which supports children from prenatal to
age 5 by creating a comprehensive and integrated system of information
and services to promote early childhood development and school readiness. The
initiative, approved by voters
in November 1998, added a 50 cent-per-pack tax to cigarettes and a comparable
tax to other tobacco products.
This commission also administrates the
First Five and Children’s Trust Fund which is funded through this tobacco tax. Eighty percent of the
approximately $700 million collected each year is allocated to community trust
funds, like the Amador County Children’s Trust Fund, established by each County
Commission. Allocations to each county are based on the number of births,
according to the birth mother’s county of residence. Locally, the outreach efforts of the Amador
County Child Abuse Prevention Council are funded by the Children’s Trust Fund
and the local Amador County Children’s’ Trust Fund. One caveat of the
1998 law allows property owners to designate an additional amount, on top of
their property taxes, to go to the local trust fund. This money is then
forwarded by Amador County Treasurer-Tax Collector Mike Ryan to the Amador
County Child Abuse Prevention Council to fund the council’s continuing efforts
to reduce the number of reported child abuse incidents, as well as, educational
outreach activities to local families.