In 1978 California voters passed Proposition 13. This measure was sold as a way to protect homeowners and capped property taxes at 1% of the purchase price of the property. What many voters did not know, and still don’t know today, is that this property tax cap also applies to commercial property.

For 40 years, this corporate loophole has robbed our schools and communities of over $150 billion. For example, every year our state allows Disneyland to pocket $50 million. This money would otherwise go directly to Orange County schools and public services. 

Not only has this corporate tax break come at the expense of our children’s education, but when corporations pay less we pay more. To make up for the loss of property tax revenue we’ve had to increasingly rely on parcel taxes, bond measures, and sales taxes. These band-aid solutions are regressive, volatile, and don’t even provide minimally acceptable funding. 

California’s budget would have received $14.5 billion more revenue in 2020 had corporations paid the same share of their income in taxes that year as they did in 1981 – more than the state spends on the University of California, the California State University and student aid combined… all without raising taxes on homeowners and renters. This will put our state on par with how the rest of the country taxes commercial property and provide stable funding that future generations of Californians can rely on.