Long considered a roadblock to raising the revenues necessary to run California, Prop. 13 is one of the country's most notorious political third rails. Two state senators, however, would roll back Prop 13 protections for commercial properties.
"Two Democratic state senators plan to introduce legislation Wednesday to overhaul Proposition 13, the state's landmark restrictions on property taxes, so local governments can raise more revenue from commercial and industrial properties," reports Chris Megerian.
"The measure would allow for regular reassessments of offices, factories and other buildings, ensuring that they are taxed at closer to current market value. Currently they're reassessed only when there's a change in ownership."
The measure would require approval on the statewide ballot in November 2016. The article by Megerian provides a lot more detail on the tough political battle the measure faces to make it through the legislature and gain approval from the state's voters.
Sens. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) authored the measure, and have also penned on op-ed for the Sacramento Bee calling for reforms to make Prop. 13 fair for homeowners. The crux of that argument: "because of a structural flaw in Proposition 13, big businesses and wealthy commercial landowners are able to take advantage of the same tax protections that were intended to benefit California’s homeowners and renters. Some have even used the law to structure themselves in ways that mean they will never have to pay taxes on the fair value of their land."
FULL STORY: California state senators to propose overhaul of Prop. 13
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