Proposition 15 another assault on Prop 13

Proposition 15 - Another assault on Prop 13.

            Proposition 15, is listed on the November ballot: "Increases Funding for Public Schools, Community Colleges and Local Government Services by Changing Tax Assessment of Commercial and Industrial Property."

This is one more assault on Proposition 13 which was passed in 1978 establishing property tax at one percent of purchase price and limiting tax increases to no more than two percent per year. 

Under Proposition 15, commercial properties valued at $3-million or more (including fixtures and equipment) would be deleted from provisions of Prop 13 and taxed at market value. 

Thousands of Californians depend of large business interests for not only their salary but the reporting and collection of Social Security, FUTA, SUTA, disability, health insurance and retirement programs.  Local businesses are often relied upon to offer financial assistance to some worthy local program.

            Our state places a huge burden on larger commercial enterprises with additional obligations such as sick leave, vacation leave, Crime Victim & Domestic Violence leave, emergency duty leave, retirement income , organ and bone marrow donor's leave, paid family leave, pregnancy disability leave, school activities leave, school appearances leave, and volunteer civil service leave just to name a few.  These continued legislated obligations have resulted in self-service counters and the use of independent contractors by many California businesses in a desperate attempt to cut down on employee expense.

            And now Prop 15 removes property tax rights granted under Prop 13 in favor of an unlimited tax burden. 

Ted Harris wrote a piece in the Nevada Journal entitled The Property Tax: The Unfairest Tax of All (Aug. 27, 2005).  He asked the question "What can a property owner do to defend against ever increasing assessed property values and tax rates?  The answer is "Not much."  He points out that Nevada law allows a tax system with virtually no limit as to what cities and counties can extract from the property owner each year.  "Property taxes," he goes on to say, " have become confiscatory."

But there was more to California's Prop 13 than limiting property taxes.  It set up certain rules requiring a public vote prior to any increase in taxes.  Bond issues and tax measures required a two-thirds "super-majority" vote by the public.  In November 2001, the two-thirds voter approval was amended by Proposition 39 to a 55% approval vote for local school bond measures and that was followed by Proposition 218 which allows local governments to impose a general tax by a simple majority vote. 

One wonders at what point big business in California will finally give up and move elsewhere. 

Piper's Papers