Proposition 13

I was in high school when Proposition 13 passed. Immediately, teachers were concerned about losing their jobs and parents were concerned about the future of public education.

What’s happened since? High schools don’t offer summer school to all of the students. Do you remember summer school? Typing classes, writing classes, taking classes that you didn’t have time for during the year. And enjoying them.

Instead, summer school, except for those who need the classes to graduate, is gone. The enjoyable classes, such as music, art, dance are disappearing, if not gone. All of the focus is on testing and meeting test score goals. Do you really think that an 18 year old student who is not interested in academics is going to stay in school if all of the fun things go away? Art, music, dance are all things that keep borderline students in school.

Our inability to resolve our tax problems is what creates this lack of school programs.

Prop 13 was passed to save grandma from losing her home as property values and property taxes rise. Right? Actually, businesses and property owners who wanted to keep tax rates low backed Prop 13.

The Prop 13 tax limitations include all types of property: everything from grandma’s house to the Safeway that’s been there for 25 years. Both are protected in the same way under Prop 13.

As local areas have gotten more desperate for income, parcel taxes have become more and more popular. When the voters approve the tax, each parcel has to pay a set amount for the support of specific needs in the community. Your home is probably on one parcel. Your neighborhood strip mall is probably on one parcel.  Yes, that’s the strip mall that has ten different shops. It is probably on one parcel. There are exceptions, but generally, commercial parcels are larger than residential parcels. So for the size of your property, you are paying the same parcel tax as any other parcel. No matter how many stores, shops, or much rent is collected each year.

Is this fair? No. The advantage is with the business owners. Just like Prop 13.

We need to reconsider Prop 13. It has protected property owners. But it shouldn’t be protecting business.

Yes, if you increase the amount of property tax that each strip mall pays, prices will go up. But somewhere we need to get the money to repair our roads, fix our schools and make California great again.

What if we don’t fix things? What if we don’t find a way to increase the state and local revenue?

Without adequate revenues, the schools will continue to flounder. Our children will graduate from high school without the education they need to succeed. The tuition for public colleges, state colleges and the UC system will continue to rise. And since the increase in tuition won’t be enough to keep up with the actual costs, the faculty and facilities at these institutions will decline. Our roads will continue to deteriorate. Public transit will continue to suffer. Commute times and pollution will rise. Home values will fall due to the increase in crime and the deterioration in public facilities. The best and brightest businesses won’t settle here and long established businesses will leave. This isn’t what any of us want for California.

We need to find a way to permanently fix the budget crisis. Prop 13 hasn’t worked. It’s time to look it over and improve it.

Copyright 2008 by Judy Kane