It’s an educational (and scary) exercise to consider what our property taxes would be if Prop 13 had NOT passed in 1978 — and no subsequent reforms in property taxes occurred (a fair assumption, given Democrat dominance of the state legislature since 1970).

Most people have forgotten the following aspect: “In 1977, the average property tax rate in California was 2.67 percent.Proposition 13 fixed the rate at 1 percent of the purchase price[plus a 2% annual increase, or the COL, if less]. On top of the 1% is whatever additional rate is approved to cover voter-approved indebtedness, such as bonds. Although the additional rate varies around the state, it generally runs at about two-tenths of 1 percent, setting the overall Proposition 13 rate at 1.2 percent.” http://www.caltax.org/WhatProposition13Did.pdf— page 1

Looking at my own property tax bill, my annual “1%” tax on our 1993 purchase is $5,300 in 2022. The other taxes for bonds, special districts, etc, (a total… Read More

In the midst of this California blue wave debacle, I found some remarkably GOOD news. Mind you, I’m not a “good news” sort of guy. Let me be clear: California is doomed. I don’t expect that to change for decades, if ever. I write regularly about which states are best for fiscally sane, limited government, liberty loving Californians to flee to. Almost all are better than California, though some are MUCH better than others. If I can talk the rest of my family into departing for another state (Tennessee is my favorite), we’ll be out of here. So far, I’m having no luck. But I digress. Democrats win the overwhelming majority of the partisan races in the state. And by a wide margin. That’s NOT the good news. The good news is the voters’ response to the statepropositions. See the chart below. While the final vote totals will change, the results are generally favorable to REPUBLICAN positions. Even where the GOP position on a prop lost, it was a close contest. This is doubtless a surprise to most of our CA MSM and politicians. It gets more interesting when one looks at the California voter … Read More