Amen to that!
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Posted on 05/11/2003 12:26:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Edited on 04/13/2004 3:31:11 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Twenty-five years ago, as Californians debated the merits and madness of Proposition 13, neighbors soaking at a block party in Sunnyvale nearly came to blows over the property-tax revolt.
It happened to be in the neighborhood of Larry Stone, now the Santa Clara County assessor and a staunch foe of the tax break that changed life forever in this state.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
Amen to that!
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Hell, there's something definitely un-American about being forced to pay taxes on something you OWN and is NOT a source of revenue!!
-Jay
Yea right I bet this guy Stone is for an across the board flat income tax and thinks the progressive income tax system is inherently un-American /Sarcasm off
Meet Ed and Ernie.
Ed Edelman hates Proposition 13. Always has, always will. As a Los Angeles County supervisor in 1978, he warned that passage would mean the end of civilized California as we know it. He debated its sponsor Howard Jarvis so often and so vigorously that he fell ill. ``Jarvis Pneumonia,'' he called it.
Ernie Dynda still finds Proposition 13 as beautiful a piece of tax reform as he did back when he was collecting signatures to get it on the ballot. In Dynda's mind, putting the brakes on inflation-fueled property taxes was the best thing that ever happened to runaway state government. Regrets? Zip.
The two men, now 73 and 68 respectively, never knew each other personally. Which did not stop Dynda from once calling Edelman ``Porky of the Month'' in his column for the Agoura Valley News. But for the past 25 years, the two have embodied Proposition 13's yin and yang.
On a recent tour of the Hollywood Courthouse that he lobbied to have built in 1986, Edelman uses the empty holding cells to make his point. They are vacant, he says, because the county has cut seven deputy positions at the building since November. No jailers, no jailbirds, no more local control over criminal cases emanating from surrounding streets. Instead, some clueless judge downtown springs the perpetrators and they're right back being bad in Hollywood.
And it's all because of guess what?
``I'm angry, and this all goes back to Proposition 13,'' says Edelman, now an attorney. ``After 13 passed, we had to look to the state to help us fund local government because two-thirds of our property taxes were suddenly cut. Property taxes had been the bedrock of financing local government and schools.''
The loss of home rule still infuriates Edelman. ``Proposition 13 shifted the ballgame to Sacramento,'' he said, ``and Sacramento is too far removed to deal with local problems like this.''
Edelman's peeve list doesn't stop there. He says that because Proposition 13 used a shotgun approach to bring relief to homeowners, it gave the same breaks to mega-corporations like Macy's and Mobil ``which didn't need their property taxes cut.'' And it favored Jarvis' buddies in the apartment-owners lobby, who got a windfall when taxes froze but rents did not.
So now what? ``Proposition 13 was not drafted by god,'' he says, his anti-13 rhetoric showing no sign of old age. ``It can be changed by man to fit the needs of today.''
Political leaders know what Edelman has in mind: appoint a special bipartisan state commission to examine Proposition 13's inequities. Float a ballot measure to assess commercial and industrial properties more fairly. ``And,'' he says, ``return the ability to raise revenues by giving local elected officials the power to tax. If they tax too much, vote them out.''
Edelman isn't giving up any time soon. ``As long as I'm still breathing, I will raise my voice to try and fix this mess we've created.''
Twenty-nine miles to the northwest, Ernie Dynda sees a much different creation. He sits in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel (an inn he helped bring to town) in Agoura Hills (a town he helped incorporate as a city in 1982). This hotel and the nearby houses, roads and parks are Dynda's Proposition 13 babies.
Here's Dynda's tax-reform résumé: Cities, counties and schools were jacking up tax rates 10 to 15 percent a year. Guys down at the local chamber of commerce started talking. Before long, he joined Jarvis' United Organization of Taxpayers. He opened his home to signature-gatherers. He lost a few friends to arguments. ``But something had to be done. In some cases, people's monthly taxes were going to be higher than their mortgage payment if 13 hadn't passed.''
Proposition 13 flew to victory. Predictability reined in the tax rolls. Home values rose ``because there was less in taxes to pay, so new buyers could leverage more and pay more for houses.'' Local government became more accountable ``because they had to account for every penny they spent and could no longer raise taxes anytime they felt like it.''
Dynda helped turn Agoura Hills into a city because, ``If a city is run right, the money coming in is plenty to do what needs to be done.'' He runs down Agoura Hills' quality-of-life checklist: five new parks in five years; a new road system; more police protection than residents were getting as part of the county. Businesses bloomed, bringing in new sales-tax revenue.
Eventually, Dynda was able to ride off, across the line into Ventura County, where he remains president of Jarvis' old group, sending out newsletters and looking for the next good fight.
Dynda's research has convinced him that ``the total amount of taxes at all levels has steadily increased, so today there's more tax revenues than before 13 on an inflation-adjusted scale.''
Then how does he explain ailing public services and strapped school budgets?
``Blame it on school administration and how they're allocating money in Sacramento,'' he says. ``The money is still coming in from property taxes. Where's it going? That's a good question. But don't blame 13.''
Last year I refinanced. My condo was appraised at $210K. Without Prop. 13, my taxes would have tripled. But my income has not.
The Nazis (they ain't Liberal, Volk) want to take my home away. That's all there is to say. I couldn't afford the higher taxes they want me to pay.
Tough Ship...I pay more in income taxes than my neighbors but receive the same services. What we need to do is apply Prop 13 to Sacramento as well. If we had done it earlier the state wouldn't be in this mess. They are already chipping away at Prop 13 with the new mandate for school bonds that only require a majority vote.
Let's see.... $8,300 divided by $1600 equals.... a little more than 5. And this guy Stone is the Santa Clara County assessor?? Thank God for Prop 13. It has saved the decent, taxpaying homeowners from the likes of Stone.
As far as I can see, the biggest flaw with Prop 13 is that it didn't limit increases resulting from the transfer of a home. I think another Proposition is in order.
LOFL, I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Shouldn't this clown's book be called "Paradise Saved"?
Larry Stone is correct. It is "unfair", that one homeowner has to pay 8 times the property taxes as another homeowner for the same type of property...
Here's a novel idea, make the Property Tax 0.0% and then we can be "fair". And I dare say, a bit more in-line with the principles of our founding fathers who championed the concept of private property, and home ownership. It isn't your property if the sword of the Government is hanging over you to confiscate your property if you're late on the Property Taxes.
I support Larry Stone's quest for "fairness" and the American Way, and the elimination of the Property Tax.
But.... I thought that when you bought a house, it was reassessed based on the sales price? So the new tax bill on any house that you purchase would go way up.... leaving you less money to spend on the
Oh nevermind.... I think this writer's agenda is pretty clear.
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