February 18, 2025 #1 Local News, Information and Event Source for the Century City/Westwood areas.

We’ll Find Out if Prop. 13 is Still a Sacred Cow

It’s been almost 41 years since Proposition 13 passed in 1978, lowering property taxes for every home, apartment building, commercial structure, farm and parking lot in California.

Through almost all that time, the initiative sponsored by longtime anti-tax gadflies Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann remained a sacred cow, a third rail that election officials and candidates of every stripe feared to touch for fear of political electrocution.

But now it’s suddenly open season on Prop. 13, often vilified these days for taking money from schools and other public services and for some of the obvious inequities it brought. Because Jarvis-Gann limits property taxes to 1 percent of the latest purchase price, plus a 2 percent annual increase, neighbors in identical-seeming homes can pay vastly different tax bills each year.

The landmark measure passed largely because property values rose rapidly through the 1970s, with property taxes also skyrocketing even if homeowners had no intention of selling. Conditions threatened to drive tens of thousands out of their longtime homes.

Prop. 13 quickly changed that. Together with insurance price limits imposed by the 1988 Proposition 103, it’s a key factor keeping life in California affordable for longtime residents who pay income and sales taxes higher than the national averages.

But should Prop. 13’s benefits extend to commercial property as they long have? That’s a question often asked by liberal politicians who like the measure’s tax limits on housing, but resent the fact that business also benefits. Many object most strongly to rules passed in 1979 which embellish Prop. 13 and forbid taxes from rising at the time of sale unless a single new owner holds more than a 50 percent interest in a property.

That’s how, for example, the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium, still 50 percent owned by former team owner Frank McCourt, have evaded tens of millions of dollars in property taxes since he sold the team and the ballpark itself.

Within a few years of Prop. 13’s passage by a margin of almost 2-1, the late Democratic Assemblyman Tom Hannigan of Fairfield began pushing to split off commercial properties from the measure’s tax limits. Unlike homes, Hannigan said, business property should be taxed based on current values.

Other legislators wouldn’t go near Hannigan’s idea, even though he was for years the state Assembly’s majority leader. But voters will have a chance next year to carry out his plan – best known as the “split roll.” Bet on it being a controversial subject right up until that election just over 21 months from now.

The state’s League of Women Voters has qualified a split roll initiative for that ballot, gathering more than 585,000 voter signatures for its planned constitutional amendment, which leads in very early polling.

Already the heirs of Jarvis and Gann are working to beat this back. Jon Coupal, the longtime head of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., sees split roll as a first thrust against the entire Prop. 13. He’s right that it has opened the door to other ideas. For example, some state legislators are toying with eliminating Prop. 13 tax limits when properties of any kind are inherited, instead taxing them based on current values rather than the amount paid for them by parents or others who pass ownership down.

But the often-ambivalent former Gov. Jerry Brown, in one of his last interviews while in office, opined that changing Prop. 13 “isn’t as easy as you think.” Brown, who first opposed the initiative before it passed, but later became a big supporter, noted that “The business community will fight it…we’ll be in a recession by the time (of the 2020 election), so it’s anybody’s guess.”

Meanwhile, new Gov. Gavin Newsom has said Prop. 13 is “on the table” as he considers ways to make the state tax system more fair.

Voters will decide if Prop. 13 is no longer the sacred cow it was for decades, but rather open for discussion like any other concept or policy. If they say yes to split roll, it will be open season on one of the longtime basic underpinnings of California lifestyles.

 

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It,” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net

Related Posts

Culver City Police Seek Suspect in Weekend Battery Incident

February 18, 2025

February 18, 2025

Man Accused of Assaulting a Victim is Still at Large Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a...

Metro LA to Begin Ticketing Bus Lane Violators with Camera Enforcement

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Motorists Parked in Bus Lanes Will Face $293 Fines For Each Infraction Drivers who park in bus lanes will soon...

The Department of Public Health to Hold Virtual Town Hall on Post-Fire Air, Soil, and Water Safety

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

LA County Officials Will Discuss Environmental Testing, Recovery Efforts The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will hold a...

Los Angeles County Launches $32.2 Million Relief Grant for Wildfire Victims

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Eligible Households Affected by the Palisades Fires Can Apply Soon The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs...

(Video) Enjoy Beach Proximity and Prime Amenities at Ocean View Hotel

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

For More Info, Go To Oceanviewsantamonica.com For More Info, Go To https://t.co/mHryynLSBp pic.twitter.com/2ELEuBFeS4 — CCNewsLA (@CCWNNews) February 17, 2025

Iconic Gloria Vanderbilt Estate Hits the Market for the First Time in 72 Years

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Historic Beverly Hills Mansion With Star-Studded Past Listed at $16.5 Million For the first time in 72 years, the historic...

Get Your Collector’s Edition of Anora Screenplay This Week

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Exclusive Giveaway at Top Indie Bookstores in Los Angeles Neon is celebrating the success of Anora by partnering with independent...

Melrose Avenue Businesses Forced to Close After Floodwaters Inundate Stores

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Heavy Rains Turned Melrose Avenue Into a River, Causing Severe Damage  Heavy rainfall in the Fairfax District caused flooding on...

State Farm Faces Scrutiny Over Emergency Rate Hike Request From State Official

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Commissioner Lara Demands Answers on Financial Stability and Consumer Impact California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has responded to State Farm’s...

UCLA Suspends Pro-Palestinian Student Groups Following Protest at UC Regent’s Home

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Chancellor Cites Potential Student Code Violations; Student Groups Reject Allegations UCLA has suspended two pro-Palestinian student organizations following a protest...

Flash Flood Warning Issued for Burn Areas, LAFD Officer Swept off Road by Debris

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Storm Damage Closes Pacific Coast Highway, Officials Urge Caution Not even members of the LAFD are being spared from the...

Culver City Police Investigate Disturbing Incident in Culver City Park

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Police Secure Area as Investigation Unfolds on Thursday Morning The Culver City Police Department received a call around 7:23 a.m....

Here are Your Last Minute Ideas if You Still Haven’t Planned Your Valentine’s Day Date

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Luscious Cookies, Delightful Drinks, Full Dinners at Home or In House, We’ve Got Them Okay, maybe you have been a...

Beloved Baldwin Hills Family-Owned Restaurant Post & Beam to Close After 13 Years

February 12, 2025

February 12, 2025

Community Icon Shuts Doors as Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Redevelopment  In yet another loss for the Los Angeles culinary community,...

Santa Monica Hotel Event Space Offers Affordability, Accessibility

February 12, 2025

February 12, 2025

Elevate Your Events with Versatile Venues and Exceptional Service Coastal stays and eclectic event spaces don’t have to be expensive....