by Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters
Updated 21 July, 2017 – updated for 2016-17 property tax revenues
Phone: 858-530-3027 Email: RRider92131@GMail.com Blog: www.RiderRants.BlogSpot.com
When it comes to gathering sufficient property taxes, Prop 13 is no problem at all – except for profligate spenders. Look at the history of my San Diego County – a history which pretty much reflects the history of property taxes in the urban/suburban counties that hold over 85% of California’s population.
According to San Diego County, in 1977 – the year BEFORE Prop 13 took effect (when everything was working great, according to Prop 13 critics) – our countywide property tax revenue was about $639 million. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, our county reports property tax revenues of $6.013 BILLION. Hence for every property tax dollar collected in 1977, the county in 2016-17 collected $9.42. And BTW, according to the County Assessor, since Prop 13 passed, 97% of the pre-Prop 13 county owner-occupied homes have changed hands (and been reassessed) at least once.
During that time frame, our county population has grown about 96%, and inflation has gone up about 292%. Thus property tax revenues today are higher than in the bloated PRE-Prop 13 year, even after adjusting for inflation and population growth.
California in 2014 ranked 17th highest in per capita property taxes (including commercial) – the only major tax where we are not in the worst ten states. But CA property taxes per owner-occupied home were the 10th highest in the nation in 2009. Indeed, the CA median homeowner property tax bill is 93% higher than the average of the other 49 states!
http://riderrants.blogspot.com/2015/12/ca-homeowner-median-property-tax-10th.html
and
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/1913.html (2009 latest year available on homes)
and
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/TaxFoundation_2015_SBTCI.pdf page 73
Not one person in a thousand knows about this revenue stability. The press has not covered these amazing facts.
NOTE: Statistics provided above – plus a year-by-year summary since 1975 – are on my verifiable spreadsheet posted at: http://tinyurl.com/History-CA-Prop-Tax-1975-2017
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Additional Thoughts about Prop 13
by Richard Rider
Why? For one of two reasons. And ONLY one.
1. They don’t know the figures. Never checked. Even supposed financial gurus haven’t a clue what the numbers are. They just INTUITIVELY know that the revenues are woefully inadequate. After all, this “massive revenue shortfall” has been endlessly cited by fellow leading California progressives for decades, so most liberals mindlessly conclude that it MUST be true.
2. They DO know the figures. But they intentionally omit them, as such figures DESTROY their argument. For it turns out – compared to property tax revenue collected the year BEFORE Prop 13 passed – such tax revenues have grown faster than inflation and population COMBINED.
Much of the complaining about Prop 13 has to do with its lack of “fairness.” Property is taxed by a formula that caps the yearly tax increases, resulting over time in long-time property holders paying less property tax than newer purchasers of similarly valued property. But is “fairness” the issue? I think not.
We could have this discussion if the idea were to somehow “equalize” the property taxes in a revenue neutral fashion (though I still disagree with the change). But the proponents’ goal is to make the senior property owners and commercial properties pay MORE property taxes – with little or no relief for the newer residential property purchasers. Obviously this “fairness” objection is just a ruse to further raise property taxes – and, as I’ve demonstrated above, Californians pay quite enough property taxes, thank you very much.
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As to commercial property which “turns over” less often than residential property, a discussion of raising property taxes faster needs to include consideration of our plethora of business “fees” and our already high state corporate income tax – highest west of the Mississippi (except for Alaska) – our economic competitors. Our state’s businesses are viewed as ATM machines by our greedy California state and local governments. Raising commercial property taxes faster would only accelerate the business migration out of the state – while further deterring any business from considering relocating IN to California.
Still think our California property taxes are too low? Consider this: The average impact fee in CA for single-family residence in 2012 was $31,100 per unit, nearly 90 percent higher than the next most expensive state and 265 percent higher [more than TRIPLE!] the norm among jurisdictions that levy such fees, which typically pay for capital improvements, like water and wastewater facilities, required by a new development. Many states and localities on the eastern side of the Sierras have no such fees at all. To add insult to injury, that “fee” becomes part of the price of the home or apartment – the base on which your annual property taxes are calculated.
These fees also impact multifamily housing; the state’s fees on multifamily units averaged $18,800 – 290 percent [almost quadruple!] above the average outside California – again, not counting the states and cities where such fees are not levied at all.
http://www.newgeography.com/content/003882-california-homes-require-real-reach
NOTE: For the latest online version of this article, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/Defense-of-Prop-13-updated
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