I did my best to prevent the Board of Equalization from endorsing an incredibly bad bill on Wednesday. In the end, I lost 3-2 with Michelle Steel joining me in voting no. Elective democracy only works well when the citizens push back when the government goes too far. Sadly, this rarely happens. Nonetheless, every business owner in California should take a look at Assembly Bill 852 by Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Mountain View), a bill that would allow county assessors to mandate that businesses file their property tax returns electronically. Not every business, just the ones the assessors pick. Those that are targeted by the assessors must file electronically or get hit by a ten percent penalty. This shows the total falsity of the assessors’ argument that this is good for business. If that were so, there would be no need to mandate it with the threat of a penalty. A reasonable person might think California is so eager for revenue they would allow people to pay their taxes in any way that results in the State getting the money on time. Nope. This bill is all about the assessors making things more convenient for themselves. Under my grilling, the assessors’ representative repeatedly promised to fix the bill, that the assessors would ultimately do the right thing, and so on. Note how the assessors’ representative specifically mentioned Bank of America for targeting, which is totally inappropriate. With nothing more than vague promises that the bill will be amended and that the assessors will be fair to business owners, the Democrat majority on the Board endorsed the bill. If you are outraged by this, I encourage you to contact your county assessor and Assemblyman Fong. Here is an edited video of the discussion:
