Watch the report at http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/content/politics/budget-buster-1120110407.html
Reporter: Brian Rooney; Producer: Rebecca Haggerty
Prop 13 was a game changer when it was passed by voters in 1978. Capping property taxes at 1 percent of assessed value, the initiative has protected homeowners, but, say advocates, it has done an even greater job protecting commercial property. Brian Rooney investigates whether legislation intended to help families has instead proven a boon for some businesses which, thanks to Prop 13, are paying property taxes on values far below their market rates.
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Filed under: Commercial Property Tax Reform on April 15th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
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Originally posted at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0403-lopez-prop13supporters-20110328,0,3745941.column
by Steve Lopez
No, older homeowners don’t have to be put on the street. The most obvious thing to do, an analyst argues, would be to quit giving owners of commercial property the windfall break they’ve gotten under the proposition.
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Filed under: Commercial Property Tax Reform on April 15th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
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Our new report documents the county-by-county shift in the property-tax away from commercial property to residential property in part 1, and in part 2 shows how many major properties fail to pay their fair share of property tax. Read the full report (pdf) here. A summary of the examples of corporate mergers and buy-outs which avoided reassessment is available here as well as in the full report.
Executive Summary
As California faces a severe fiscal crisis at the state and local level, all aspects of our tax system, including the property tax, must be examined. This report provides an examination of the property tax system as it applies to commercial property, and provides significant new data which comes to two clear and related conclusions:
1. In virtually every county, commercial property is paying a far smaller share of the property tax since Proposition 13 passed in 1978.
2. Commercial property is able to exploit huge loopholes in the law to avoid reassessment upon change in ownership.
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Filed under: Commercial Property Tax Reform on May 6th, 2010 at 10:41 am
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Open letter to Warren Buffett, written and researched by Jennifer Bestor of Menlo Park. This document is an excellent example of local research which exposes the irrationality of the commercial property tax system.
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Filed under: Commercial Property Tax Reform on May 5th, 2010 at 10:47 am
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10 TAX POLICIES FOR $20 BILLION
Updated for the California Working Families Policy Summit 2010 February 25, 2010
Read the full report in PDF
With the state facing a current deficit and ongoing yearly deficits of $20 billion, the survival of basic services and a healthy public sector is at stake. To address this looming future, the burden of recovery must be shared fairly—in contrast to the current path by which public services, the poor and education have taken the largest cuts and the middle-class has borne the increased tax burden.
The following summarizes 10 measures which will spread the burden in a way which arguably have a minimal impact on economic growth and recovery. These include eliminating new loopholes recently opened, taxing untaxed windfalls, ending tax breaks with no benefits, imposing taxes on the very rich, and increasing sin taxes.
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Filed under: General Tax Reform, Revenue Options on March 10th, 2010 at 11:26 am
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Read the full report in PDF
California’s business tax burden is talked about a lot but most of the debate is based on rhetoric as opposed to empirical research. The business community and lawmakers from both parties, particularly the California Republican Party, have made repeated claims that California businesses are heavily overtaxed.
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Filed under: Business/Corporation Taxes, General Tax Reform on March 10th, 2010 at 11:47 am
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Since a discussion of tax politics begins and ends quickly in the Capitol, let’s try talking economics instead.
Originally posted by Capitol Weekly
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Filed under: General Tax Reform, Press Room on January 20th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
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