Environmentalists Seek a Full Repeal of Proposition 13
California businesses operate under some of the strictest clean air standards in the world, and these regulated businesses have largely continued their operations here thanks to Proposition 13 – the reform measure that provides certainty and affordability in property taxes. Unfortunately, environmentalists recently announced support for a November ballot measure that would repeal property tax […]
Backers of ‘False Claims Act’ Bill Make False Claims of Their Own
The sponsors of AB 2570 – a flawed proposal to deputize profit-seeking attorneys to engage in tax collection – continue to claim that California has a $20 billion “tax gap,” despite being alerted that the that number has no basis in fact. The “tax gap” is the estimated difference between what taxpayers owe under the […]
California Businesses Already Pay Their Fair Share
With news of California companies moving to states where taxes and other operating costs are lower, it’s difficult to believe that some groups want to hit in-state employers with another tax increase. But that is precisely the pitch made by special-interest groups trying to convince voters that California’s business taxes are too low. Taxes must […]
Born Out of a Need for Fairness, California’s Property Tax Laws Still Protect Homeowners and Businesses
June 6 marked the 40th anniversary of voters’ approval of California’s landmark property tax protections. The passage of Proposition 13 was born out of a need for fairness, as runaway inflation, corrupt assessment practices, taxation based on government guesswork, and appraisals that could be influenced by revenue needs caused people to lose confidence in the […]
Lawmakers Offer 269 Billion New Reasons for Taxpayers to Leave California
Most of California’s 39.5 million residents are here because they or their relatives decided at some point to pack up their belongings and head west, leaving behind homes, families and friends for the hope and opportunity that beckoned from the Golden State. Things have changed. Today, domestic immigration statistics and forecasts show that people are […]
Busting the Myth That Proposition 13 Eviscerated Local Revenue
The year 1978 might seem almost like ancient history – a distant memory for most voters, and unimaginable for a growing class of lawmakers who were not yet born then. With the passage of time, folklore prevails and myths sometimes come to overshadow facts. It is in this light that opponents of Proposition 13 have […]
$155 Billion a Year in Higher Taxes and Fees Proposed in First Four Months of Legislative Session
In the first four months of the 2017-18 legislative session, California lawmakers introduced $155 billion in higher taxes and fees – a staggering amount that will give pause to every business owner when considering expansion, and cause families to reflect on California’s affordability. This week, the California Tax Foundation released the third edition of Tax Watch: […]