The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association released a new poll today that shows the majority of California voters oppose lowering the voting requirement for local per parcel property taxes from two-thirds to 55%. More than 53% of voters oppose the change, and only 35% support the change. Approximately 11% were undecided.
Moreover, a majority of those against don’t just oppose the change – they oppose it strongly. The intensity of opposition to lowering the voting threshold was nearly double what it was for those in support. 40% of voters “definitely” oppose the idea of lowering the vote requirement, while just 21% say they would definitely support the change.
Furthermore, opposition to changing the voting threshold was broad-based: 68% of Republicans oppose it, along with nearly 53% of Decline-to-State (DTS) voters, while a plurality (44%) of Democrats also oppose it. In addition, more Democrat women – 50% – also oppose the change.
This poll mirrors what we’ve been hearing from our members who are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. They oppose any further money grab from politicians – whether from Sacramento or the local level – and they oppose it strongly. Prop. 13 was established to protect homeowners from outrageous property tax increases, and that includes parcel taxes, which local politicians now want to expand to pay for their local spending.
The threat from major property tax increases as the result of lowering the vote threshold is currently a significant concern to homeowners. Several such legislative proposals are now pending in the Capitol, including SCA 3 (Leno), SCA 4 (Liu) and SCA 8 (Corbett).
The tax-and-spend lobby has been emboldened by the passage of Prop 30 and it’s clear that the $50 billion tax hike didn’t sate their thirst for more money.
In the survey, the question was posed to voters: “Proposition 13 limits California property taxes to one percent of the taxable value of property. Parcel taxes are property taxes above the regular one percent tax and, under Proposition 13, these parcel taxes require a two-thirds vote of local voters to be passed into law. Do you support or oppose lowering the vote requirement for local parcel taxes from two-thirds to 55%?”
The poll was conducted by Probolsky Research and included 750 voters. The survey yielded a margin of error of +/- 3.7%.
For more information please visit www.HJTA.org.