Close the Loophole

By Kitty Calavita, Berkeley | 10/25/2017

Regarding “Candidates clash head-on” (Oct. 25): Kudos to California gubernatorial candidate, Delaine Eastin, for shining a light on the elephant in the room: Large commercial property owners have been exploiting a loophole in Proposition 13 that allows them to avoid increases in their property taxes, because their properties rarely turn over. When Prop. 13 was passed in 1978, homeowners and nonresidential commercial property owners paid about equal shares of the property tax revenue in California. Now, because homes turn over more frequently than large businesses, California homeowners pay the vast majority of property taxes. Closing the loophole for big businesses would not only make it fair; it would provide up to $12 billion in revenue and help fund the first-rate schools California once boasted.