Proposition 13

By Jay Nitschke, Berkeley | 1/09/2016

As you note in “Record budget ‘in good shape,’” Jan. 8, Gov. Jerry Brown emphasized the vulnerability of the state budget to economic swings. Fortunately, there is an easy solution to minimize the budget roller coaster: Amend Prop. 13 so that corporations pay their fair share of property taxes. When Prop. 13 was enacted in 1978, corporations provided half the state’s property taxes revenue, and individual homeowners paid the other half. Today, corporations pay only one quarter, and that percentage dwindles each year.

Our schools, colleges, highways and other infrastructure deserve predictable funding. Providing a stable base of property tax revenue allows this, and it is only fair that corporations pay their way. The passage of State Constitutional Amendment 5, which has been introduced in the Legislature with the intent of appearing on the November 2016 ballot will do just that. It will generate $9 billion each year without raising taxes on homeowners or renters. It deserves the support of every California organization and voter.