Because Prop. 13 Worked!
My fellow Fox and Hounds blogger Brendan Huffman asks in a post today, “Why is Prop 13 off limits?” The simple answer: because it worked. Prop. 13 continues to make property taxes predictable for both homeowners and policymakers. (It also keeps people from being taxed out of their homes.)
Because many readers may be unfamiliar with California’s property tax system pre-Prop 13, allow me to offer a brief refresher. Better yet, here’s a description from Joel Fox.
“Prior to Proposition 13, the tax rate throughout California averaged a little less than 3% of market value, and there were no limits on increases either for the tax rate or property value assessments. Some properties were reassessed 50% to 100% in just one year and their owners’ tax bills jumped correspondingly.”
Prior to Proposition 13, property taxes were left up to the whims of county assessors and uncontrollable fluctuations in the housing market. Homeowners were left in the dark as to what this year’s tax burden would be. Families could not plan or budget properly. How can you make a family budget if there is a giant question mark for your property taxes?
Why is Prop. 13 off limits?
California does not need another study on tax reform. Nonetheless, with term limits having reduced lawmakers’ institutional memories in Sacramento I’ll go along with Assembly Speaker Karen Bass’s call for a blue ribbon task force on this topic.
At the risk of being permanently blacklisted from Fox & Hounds, I am disappointed that Speaker Bass told the Los Angeles Times’ George Skelton that Prop. 13 is off the table because it’s “too divisive.”
I was in second grade in LAUSD when Prop. 13 passed and remember the quality of the schools I attended somehow eroding after that (obviously due to a lot more than just Prop. 13). At the same time, I appreciate that many members of my family have been able to retire in the homes they purchased before Prop. 13 due to affordable property taxes. I also appreciate that Prop. 13 has helped commercial property owners stay in business. For me, however, Prop. 13 means that my generation is paying far more in property taxes for homes smaller than older property owners (and usually empty nesters) living in larger houses.
Oil and Politics Don’t Mix Well
Folks in the oil patch probably cheered when President Bush made his pitch for increased off-shore drilling as a means of fighting high fuel costs. In reality, they probably should have groaned. The President’s ringing endorsement of off-shore petroleum development and his criticism of the Democratic Congress will just make it that much harder to gain approval for extracting oil from the ocean floor.
First Senator John McCain did an about face and proposed more off-shore oil production and then, the President jumped in and reignited the partisan fires. With President Bush’s approval rating a virtual dry hole, how could he possibly think that his pronouncement will advance the cause? The President keeps pressing the issue with his latest gambit being to lift the Executive Order limiting off-shore drilling and challenging Congress to follow suit.
The fall-out is predictable. Democrats like Senators Boxer and Feinstein have responded with vigorous dissents. Even Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has blasted the proposal. Environmentalists were given a boatload of air time to articulate all of the reasons we shouldn’t drill. And Senator Barack Obama has dug in further in his opposition.
Funding Students Should Be the Focus of Higher Ed Finance System
This morning I received an email that exposes one of the roots of one of the foundations of the funding crisis in California higher education. It was an electronic newsletter from Cary Nelson, the President of the American Association of University Professors calling for national unity in support of the efforts by the University of California, the California State University and the California Community Colleges to fight state efforts to reduce their budgets.
The column discusses the potential reduction in the number of students who will possibly be able to attend the state’s public universities and calls for all faculty members across the nation to rise up, sign a petition and enlist their friends to fight the cuts to higher education in this year’s budget. Its primary focus—making sure that the public subsidy in higher education is maintained at its current or even higher levels.