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February 16, 2004

The Case Against 13

Found over at Howard Owens, a sensible rant against Proposition 13. The Republican party should be on notice that it's old fetishes aren't going to work a whole lot longer. This is a sacred cow ripe for sacrifice. With arguments like these, it's hard to shrug it off.


Prop. 13 is filled with loopholes that make it easy for businesses to avoid reassessment (which would increase property taxes) when the businesses change hands.

Meanwhile, individual Californians are overburdened with income and sales taxes that could and should be lower (stimulating growth), and corporations pay one of the highest tax rates in the nation (lower corporate taxes would help keep jobs in the state), and state and local governments are grossly under funded.

There are ways to fix Prop. 13 that would still protect home ownership, but also help the state fix the structural deficiencies in its budget. These changes could increase government revenue by $5 billion to $10 billion annually, minus any reduction in other taxes.

Posted by mbowen at February 16, 2004 09:39 PM

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Give them an inch... from The Mulatto Advocate
Cobb links to Howard Owens tome on reforming Prop 13. As one who is opposed to property taxes in any form, I will always come down squarely on the side of anyone who is opposed to higher property taxes. In... [Read More]

Tracked on February 17, 2004 12:12 PM