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New Save Proposition 13 Ballot Measure

By Denise Kalm

Back on June 6, 1978, California voters approved Howard Jarvis’ Prop 13 rolling back property taxes and enshrining protections to ensure that state and local governments would no longer be able to force people out of their homes through excessive taxation.  One critical protection was the requirement that new taxes could only be imposed with a 2/3 vote.

So popular is Prop 13 that the Sacramento politicians knew they couldn’t abolish it fully.  Instead, they have tried to chop it into bits to allow them to continue to levy more and more taxes on California residents so they could keep funding pet projects like High-Speed Rail.

One of the most insidious was the ruling in California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland that if a “citizen initiative” put a tax increase on the ballot, it didn’t need to follow Prop 13 rules.  However, this meant that special interests, often backed by politicians, could push through increases that weren’t all that popular.  Too often, bills that cause property tax to increase are popular with renters and kids living at home, as they don’t think it applies to them.  (It does.) And Upland has also been applied to a variety of other taxes, including sales taxes which hit poorer residents the hardest.

The Taxpayer Protection Act of 2024

Not content with twisting the law to its own ends, when the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association got over one million signatures on the Taxpayer Protection Act, the political establishment got it taken off the ballot by getting the CA Supreme Court to rule it was a revision of the Constitution. 

Despite it being a clear citizen initiative, we never got a vote.

The Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13

This new initiative will restore the requirement for ALL special local taxes that 2/3 of the voters approve the measure.  No exceptions.  New real estate transfer taxes are also forbidden and ones enacted after Prop 13 are repealed effective 12/31/28.  This was another sneaky way to gouge people.  The original 0.11% state property transfer tax stands.

Will we see this on the ballot?  Well, yes, if enough people sign the petition, which I’m asking you to do, as well as pass it around. Unlike prior ones, you can print it on 8 ½ x 11 paper.  And the writers of this Act carefully constructed it based on what they learned from the Supreme Court decision.

The new Act only addresses one section of the Constitution.  The court concluded that the 2024 measure was too broad.  This new measure only closes the loophole in Prop 13 created by the Upland decision. 

We’d love to see more taxpayer protection in the Act, but that would give the politicians the excuse to axe it.  The Act only deals with taxes on real property or ownership, not on other taxes and fees.   I know—I want to see real taxpayer protection, but we have to take smaller bites to have a chance to succeed.

Easy or Hard to Raise Taxes

Which do you choose?  It’s really that simple.  We all have to pay taxes, but the bar should be high to increase them over our already high tax rates. 

Sign the petition at SaveProp13.com.  It only requires your signature, though you can get one other person to sign as well.  Better yet, as I’m doing, print off a bunch of them. We need every signature.  We deserve the right to have a say about taxes.  This Act is that important.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, September 20th at 10am (virtual). Legislative update from SHIFT-Bay Area and Our Neighborhood Voices. Connect via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83197207027?pwd=kdtGyxcada6nufS6ADiKYbq4j2m7yF.1

Thursday, September 25^th at 6pm (note different day, time, and location) – Learn about Contra Costa County local government fiscal health with California Policy Center’s Boomer Shannon. And hear from Lafayette School District Superintendent Brent Stephens. We’ll be at the Chicken Pie House on Arroyo Way in Walnut Creek. Sign up here: https://cocotax.org/event-6308471

Save the Date – October 24^th at 11:45am – Hear Pacific Research Institute’s Steven Greenhut discuss his new book, The War on Suburbia.