[jyl]

Jim and Rick, you are mixing/confusing how "much revenue California gets" with "how volatile that revenue is" and "where that revenue comes from".

My objection with prop 13 is not that it reduces potential state revenues.

My first objection is that prop 13 helps cause those revenues to swing up and down more violently, during in economic cycles, making the state's finances more prone to boom and bust. Because the state gets less property tax, it has to lean heavier on income taxes and sales taxes and other taxes, which are very cyclical.

My next objection is that prop 13 forces young/new homeowners to bear a heavier tax load than old homeowners.