California's Proposition 13, the successful 1978 initiative that limited property-tax increases, has long been considered the third rail of the state's politics.
Several trends encouraged public support for the proposition, including the rapid growth of California government, skyrocketing local taxes, and a series of state supreme court decisions that redistributed property taxes in some wealthy districts to poorer areas.
Watching property assessments soar during the inflationary 1970s, older homeowners strongly supported the initiative.
The Tax Foundation also rates California as the third-worst business climate among states because of its combined tax burden-including its corporate, sales, and personal income taxes.
At one rally, they carried signs that read, "Taxing the Wealthy Keeps the Economy Healthy." The problem: the current initiative isn't about reforming the state's taxes by raising some money in exchange for tax relief elsewhere.
"From the point of view of attracting and retaining businesses and jobs, the power of Prop. 13 was in allowing California to tell a business [that] ... [w]ith California, you're safe" from reassessments, former state director of finance Tom Campbell wrote earlier this year.
Advocates of the initiative have already raised nearly $20 million, led by a $6 million contribution by the California Teachers Association and $3.5 million from the SEIU's state council.
https://www.city-journal.org/california-property-tax-ballot-initiative
No comments:
Post a Comment