California
Related: About this forumMomentum Builds to Fix Prop. 13
http://capitalandmain.com/latest-news/issues/labor-and-economy/momentum-builds-fix-prop-13/Prop. 13 has been a contentious part of the political landscape for 40 years, says John Kim of the Advancement Project, one of the organizations comprising Make It Fair, a coalition of 22 statewide organizations and 200 endorsers seeking Prop. 13 reforms.
The watershed initiative became synonymous with protecting the little guy after homeowners property tax rates grew so high in the 1970s that people on fixed incomes couldnt afford to pay them. But from the start, a piece of the measure has protected the not-so-little-guys.
The commercial property tax provision of Prop. 13 allows many corporate landowners to pay taxes fixed at 1975 levels, with only modest increases, and deprives the state of more than $9 billion a year in revenues , according to a University of Southern California study. Residential taxpayers shoulder the bulk of the burden of supporting Californias recession-battered budget and infrastructure.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)pay more. My area is full of empty vacation homes for most of the year many owned by out of staters and from foreign countries. If they don't go empty, they make money from them as vacation rentals making even more reason for them to be taxed more.
Keep the 1% for a single family residence. Freeze the property tax for retirees, who have stopped working and are on fixed incomes. Every one else needs to pay more a lot more. All those freeloaders with multiple homes and who are from out of state put a load on our infrastructure and are not paying their fair share.
The flight of businesses is a bogus argument. Some will go but most need to stay to do business with our customer base, who will still live here, the banks, markets hotels, restaurants, retail stores, etc..
On edit. We need to fund our public colleges and universities again, like we used to, to make them tuition free to state residents.
olddots
(10,237 posts)in so many ways that it will take decades to begin to fix the damage .
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)by restricting Prop 13 to residential property, and extending the sales tax to services. That's right. The one-percenters pay no sales tax on their CPAs, attorneys, or plastic surgeons.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)I inherited a small rental property from my parents that was purchased in 1963. I have a disability and can't work so I live off the part of the income ( my brother gets the other half ). I can't imagine our property taxes increasing THAT much. I get about $30K to live on for the year in Los Angeles. It doesn't go that far... What I'm trying to say, is, we are not wealthy, not in the 1% by a long shot.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)if it were crafted so as to classify rental property as residential, so that shopping centers, office buildings, etc. would take the hit.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)and residential bldg.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)And you could pass it on to the tenant.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)that might help you if the tax base were restored - especially at the city level.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)And it would be more than we could afford! This place was last valued at about $1.5M. We are cash poor here. We are a small family owned bldg. We can never afford to sell anyways. This is my home and my income. I'm 51, plan to stay put.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)and who don't have the benefit of owning property like you.
They need something to either stabilize the property inflation (unlikely since Quantitative Easing is designed to push construction and speculation to give boosts to the economy) or protect them via social services aid. The social services aid needs to be paid for via taxes.
There are ameliorations to the problems you may have with your one property that your lucky enough to own. You should take a look around at all the people who aren't even that lucky. What about the 51 year old renter on a low fixed income who has lived in the same place for 30 years, regards that place as their home, but their landlord takes advantage of the current property churn by tripling the rent or selling the property? Is that person any less deserving than you?
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)the details of my life, and I'm not going into that here. I'm ending my side of the conversation here. Please direct your bitterness at the wealthy and greedy.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)I don't disbelieve that you're personally having a tough time making ends meet with your rental properties. I just wish you could expand your mind a bit to the POV of people who don't even have property instead of just lashing out and calling them bitter.
Prop 13 has been a thorn in California's side for decades. How many people have to be thrown under the bus because you have a particular thing going?
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)who was my tenant for 35+ years? I never raised his rent. He had no family and I got him a social worker when he could no longer get up the stairs. The one who was paying $350 a month when the rents in town were $900+? Yeah, I don't care about anyone else. Piss off!
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)Which helps basically everyone but you.
I sincerely congratulate you for helping your poor tenant.
pinto
(106,886 posts)Really.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Our coalition, made up of over 30 member organizations, is dedicated to changing Californias tax code, making it fair to all by phasing out loopholes in Prop. 13 that have allowed a handful of giant corporations and Americas wealthiest commercial property owners to dramatically lower their obligations to California families. By making Californias tax code fair, the state could see as much as $9 billion in additional revenue for schools and other community services.
Anthony Thigpenn, president of California Calls and spokesman for Make It Fair, explained, And those loopholes are giving wealthy commercial property owners a break and short-changing all the rest of us. Chevrons under-assessment alone costs California communities over $100 million per year. Chevron alone. Our proposal is to stop that preferential treatment for this group and reassess their property based on current market values.
While our coalition is working to revise Californias tax code, the legislation will protect homeowners, renters and agricultural land, provide tax relief for most small businesses and include tough transparency and accountability measures so that everyone can see how any additional funds are spent.