Taxes: Change California "Prop 13"

Prop. 13 was sold to California as a way to keep people in their homes, [Phil Ting] said in Santa Barbara last week. But today, what has happened is that its primary beneficiaries really aren't homeowners; they're commercial property owners and corporations.

Citing state revenue studies, Ting estimates that assessing commercial property at market rate, instead of older, Prop. 13-enabled values, would generate an additional $7.5 billion in tax revenue — a big chunk of recent budget shortfalls.

Before Prop. 13, commercial property owners in San Francisco paid about 60 percent of the city's property taxes, and homeowners about 40 percent; three decades later, the ratio has been reversed, a trend also seen elsewhere.

For more, see Third-Rail Man by Jerry Roberts, October 14, 2010 at The Santa Barbara Independent.