The Most Notorious Property-Tax Underpayers in California

For years, Prop. 13 has starved California’s public resources in order to benefit major corporate entities. Thanks to Prop 13, Disney robs Orange County of $19.6 million a year while Chevron, the region’s biggest polluter, underpays Contra Costa County by $4.2 million. Even Trump is involved… his organization cheats Californians out of up to $11 million a year! This is unacceptable. 

Ted Streshinsky/Corbis via Getty Images

Ted Streshinsky/Corbis via Getty Images

In 1978, Californians voted overwhelmingly in support of a consequential ballot measure that would forever change the state

By Alissa Walker, Curbed |10/27/2020

Heralded as a “tax revolt” against Big Government, Proposition 13 essentially froze property taxes at 1975 rates, ensuring that any property is reassessed only when it’s sold. It effectively creates random subsidies based not on need but instead rewarding property owners who were lucky enough to get in early or can dodge the rules. Forty-two years on, some of California’s landowners — including many of the state’s wealthiest and most powerful corporations — continue to pay disco-era taxes on land that carries 2020 values. Read More

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California Tax Revolt Faces a Retreat, 40 Years Later

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Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 15. It’s one small step toward fixing California’s broken tax system