California taxpayers are celebrating a silver anniversary, as 2003 is the 25th year since the enactment of California's Proposition 13, whose landmark victory in 1978 sparked a national tax revolt. It passed in a landslide vote, with some 65 percent of Californians favoring the measure. The proposition slashed property taxes by limiting property-tax rates to 1 percent of the sales price of a home, and it limited subsequent increases to 2 percent per year -- a radical concept at the time. Previously, tax rates were based on a valuation established by a county assessor. Moreover, voracious local politicians determined the...