Does Prop. 13 Need Revamping?

Columnist Bill Swann, former press secretary to then-governor Jerry Brown, argues that, over the last 30 years, Prop. 13 has shifted power from local government to California state government while simultaneously shifting key sources of funding from property taxes to sales taxes. Coupled with many subsequent propositions that further muddied the state’s financial waters, Prop. 13 has wreaked havoc on legislators’ ability to hammer out a state budget each year, according to Swann.

“This is a topic of high relevance to CSUEU members,” says CSUEU President Pat Gantt. “There’s a domino effect in play: local governments have increasing difficulty providing basic services, state government takes on the task of funding those services just as sources of state funding become increasingly erratic, legislators therefore decide that state budget cuts must be made in such areas as higher education, and the CSU isn’t provided the basic levels of funding needed to serve its mission. This is the environment within which CSUEU negotiators today bargain for better contracts -- an environment that clearly would be very different had Prop. 13 not become law.”

Additional resources:

• San Jose Mercury News blog about revising Prop. 13
• Amazon.com description of Paradise Lost, a book about Prop. 13 written by veteran Sacramento journalist Peter Schrag
• Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. web site favoring Prop. 13
• Lay-friendly video explanation of Prop. 13 from the homeowner’s point of view by Hemet, Calif.-based realtor John Occhi. Although this was taped before the current housing market crisis, its Prop. 13 information remains relevant. Note that this video is almost 7 minutes long.