Jeff, clean out your PM box. I don't have your personal email.

Prop 13 was - and is - one of the best things ever to happen in California. First of all, property taxes are reprehensible; you pay over, and over, and over, and... on the same thing. It's like having an appointment for a mugging. Prop 13 is the only recent example I can think of where taxpayers told the parasites that enough was enough, the abuse will stop - and made it stick.

All that said, Prop 13 actually moderated the valuation bubble. Many homeowners (the responsible ones) who bought homes they could afford - including the tax burden - did not participate in chasing inflated housing because it would also inflate their tax burden. The neighborhood I live in is very middle class, but has a very stable ownership base. We don't have a foreclosure issue here like is seen in the McMansion areas nearby because there is a financially responsible mindset here. Prop 13 motivates responsible homeowners to avoid the constant sell/move cycle promoted by the real estate industry.

Very true about the incompetence of state leadership [sic] wrt sustainable funding. Budgeting for max revenues instead of average revenues is foolish and irresponsible, but ops normal for gov't. I have no sympathy until they learn to manage responsibly.

You are also bang on-target about gov't planning being about tax revenues instead of for the good of the community. We have insane developments around here because new construction generates new property tax revenues. We have gov't encouraging the big box operations like Home Depot to move in but disregarding the local business casualties that come with that policy. It goes on and on.

You are also right that it will get worse.

Well, nice to see the narcissism isn't limited to west LA and Hollywood ;)

You have no sympathy. But, man, we are paying for it. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/burn.gif

Too true. All the more reason to stop giving them a blank check.

What's Part II?

"The buffoonish current governor and a legislature divided between hysterical greens, public-employee lackeys and Neanderthal Republicans have turned the state into a fiscal laughingstock. "

Objective Journalism it ain't!

Actually, the data suggests that longer times in place (homeowner of the same home) creates more valuation bubble. Furthermore, it forces younger folks to live farther from their work in the cities, transferring the tax burden to them by making them pay taxes in the form of gas taxes. All over California, time in homes is longer than elsewhere. Higher property taxes would preclude some sitting on their "gold mines" for years, and then cashing in later. The foreclosure rate has little to do with property taxes and more to do with buying too much house, and hoping it appreciates faster than your interest rate.

Whether or not property taxes are "getting mugged routinely", could be argued about almost any tax. We pay income tax, and then are taxed every time we use that money to pay gas, clothing, electronics, and soon labor for automobile repair. We all need these things, sometimes daily, and will pay tax on them. Worst of all is when we pay tax to the state using money that has already been taxed by the feds (love that AMT).

Paul, the prob with the repubs in cali is that they never get characterized as anything other than "no" folks. They are like the unpleasant uncle who is trying to keep the kids in check. Or the kid who always says opposite to what you suggest. Because they don't want to lose votes (IMO) they don't say, "X state jobs must go, and this revenue source should be used", but "we won't raise taxes". While not raising taxes is a very admirable goal, they don't show up with specific alternatives. That's just politics (another example is "anti-abortion" vs "pro-life" - choice of words can carry loaded meaning)