A Supreme Court Ruling Deems that Tax Law Must Be Fair

Last week, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that an outdated Minnesota property tax law was unlawful for reasons that echo concerns constantly raised about Prop. 13 in California. In Minnesota, Hennepin County seized and sold the condominium of an elderly Black woman who was behind on property tax payments — and they kept the entire proceeds, not just what she owed. While not exactly the same, concerns about this case reek of the economic and racial injustices Prop. 13 has caused in California; housing discrimination and unfair taxation due to exorbitant tax breaks for those who have been in their homes for longer periods of time. Because of Prop. 13, wealthy, white homeowners and huge corporations have been able to continue paying 1970s level property taxes, while lower and middle income families are effectively excluded from homeownership because of immense market prices. 

The effects of Prop. 13 are violations of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Not only does Prop. 13 prevent those with less accumulated wealth, often low-income Black and brown families, from becoming homeowners, it continues to run state coffers dry and deprive our communities of funding they are entitled to. Beyond that, Prop. 13 protects corporations more than anyone else — why is California prioritizing corporate interests over the wellbeing of its own communities? What happened to Geraldine Tyler in Minnesota was unequivocally unjust — and the Court called it out as such. It’s time we call out Prop. 13 for what it is too. 

Philip Molnar for The San Diego Union-Tribune

A Supreme Court ruling is a warning for Prop. 13 — tax law should be fair.

By Shayak Sarkar and Josh Rosenthal, Los Angeles Times | 5/31/2023