California Tax Revolt Faces a Retreat, 40 Years Later

Howard Jarvis’ Proposition 13 has harmed California voters by creating “a disparate system in which new buyers pay vastly higher taxes than longtime owners.” Prop. 15, a community initiative to tax wealthy corporations and raise up to $11.5 billion for schools and local governments, aims to topple this regressive policy. The New York Times makes it clear: after 40 years, now is the time for change! 

Retail shops in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. A state ballot measure could raise the taxes of many building owners, and some business tenants would absorb the cost.Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Proposition 13 in 1978 curbed property tax increases. Now voters may strip protection for commercial buildings, helping hard-hit local budgets.

By Conor Dougherty, The New York Times | 10/27/2020

OAKLAND, Calif. — In 1978, a Los Angeles businessman named Howard Jarvis led an insurgent campaign to pass Proposition 13, a ballot measure that limited California property taxes and inspired a nationwide tax revolt. The law has been considered sacrosanct ever since, something California governors and legislators challenge at their peril. Now, as a pandemic tears through local budgets, a well-financed campaign backed by teachers’ unions has mounted a serious challenge to a major portion of the law: its application to commercial property. Read More