California got into the mess it's in financially by way of the old 2000 deregulation of energy and outsourcing offshoring of capital craze the GOP had foisted upon us. Read between the lines of this article:
State Losing Millions in Tax Revenue
Assessed value of businesses, utilities slashed
Bernadette Tansey, Kenneth Howe, Chronicle Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
(09-13) 04:00 PDT STATE -- A state board is quietly granting utilities and large businesses millions of dollars in tax breaks as part of a policy shift that critics warn could drain billions from police, fire departments, roads, health clinics and schools. Across California, property tax values set by county assessors on homes and commercial property are skyrocketing, jumping as much as 20 percent in some areas. But the opposite is happening with electric utilities, telecommunications giants, oil pipeline operators and other private companies assessed by the state Board of Equalization -- even as the businesses profit in the red-hot economy.
The property roll assessments of these companies, which include Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Pacific Bell, are $12 billion less than they were 10 years ago. In the past year alone, the total has plummeted by $5.3 billion, which has the effect of reducing these businesses' tax bills by tens of millions of dollars.
The trend reflects a new tax-assessment philosophy by the Board of Equalization, which was established in 1879 to standardize or ``equalize'' appraisal practices across the state. County assessors have openly revolted against the board, which is led by antitax stalwart Dean Andal, saying that the board is undermining California's property tax base by improperly granting big breaks to businesses. Critics contend that those breaks, coupled with new directives given to county assessors, are slowly shifting the burden of supporting public services onto homeowners and smaller firms with less clout.
see full article at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/09/13/MN13640.DTL&type=printable
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