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Proposition 13: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Prop.-13s-howard-jarvis.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Proposition 13 backer Howard Jarvis, 1978]] '''Proposition 13''' (officially named the '''People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation''') was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted in 1978, by means of voter direct [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiative initiative]. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978.
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== Background ==
[from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)#Background Wikipedia: "California Proposition 13 (1978)]."
There are several accounts of the origins of Proposition 13. The evidence for or against these accounts varies.
=== Issue of older, fixed-income Californians ===
One explanation is that older Californians with fixed incomes had increasing difficulty paying property taxes, which were rising as a result of California's population growth, increasing housing demand, and inflation. Due to severe inflation during the 1970s, reassessments of residential property increased property taxes so much, that some retired people could no longer afford to remain in homes they had purchased long before. An academic study found support for this explanation, reporting that older voters, homeowners, and voters expecting a tax increase were more likely to vote for Proposition 13.
=== School funding redistributed to poor districts by Serrano v. Priest rulings ===
Another popular explanation is Proposition 13 drew its impetus from the 1971 and 1976 California Supreme Court rulings in Serrano v. Priest, which somewhat equalized California school funding by redistributing local property taxes from wealthy to poor school districts. According to this explanation, property owners in affluent districts perceived that the taxes they paid were no longer benefiting their local schools, and chose to cap their taxes.<br/> A basic problem with this explanation is that the Serrano decision and school finance equalization were actually quite popular among California voters.
=== Controversies over growth and corruption in public sector ===
Another explanation that has been offered is that spending by California's government had increased dramatically during the years prior to 1978, and taxpayers sought to limit further growth. The evidence supporting this explanation is limited, as there have been no studies relating Californians' views on the size and role of government to their views on Proposition 13. However, it is true that California's government had grown. Between 1973 and 1977, California state and local government expenditures per $1000 of personal income were 8.2 percent higher than the national norm. From 1949 to 1979, public sector employment in California outstripped employment growth in the private sector. By 1978, 14.7 percent of California's civilian work force were state and local government employees, almost double the proportion of the early 1950s.
In addition, during the early 1960s, there were several scandals in California involving county assessors. These assessors were found rewarding friends and allies with artificially low assessments, with tax bills to match. These scandals led to the passage of AB 80 in 1966, which imposed standards to hold assessments to market value, which caused a large number of California homeowners to experience an immediate and drastic rise in valuation, simultaneous with rising tax rates on that assessed value, only to be told that the taxed monies would be redistributed to distant communities. The ensuing anger started to form into a backlash against property taxes which coalesced around Howard Jarvis, a former newspaperman and appliance manufacturer, turned taxpayer activist in retirement.
== <br/> Consequences ==
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== References ==
*Elkind, Ethan. "[http://legal-planet.org/2017/01/12/how-prop-13-has-wrecked-california/ How Prop 13 Has Wrecked California: Time to roll back the 1978 tax measure.]" Legal Planet, January 12, 2017. [http://legal-planet.org/2017/01/12/how-prop-13-has-wrecked-california/.
*Reisenwitz, Cathy. "[http://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/32740/289250/a/a-surprising-suggestion-for-the-prop-13-quagmire-guestopinion A Surprising Suggestion for the Prop 13 Quagmire [GuestOpinion].]" Bay City Beacon, May 22, 2017. [http://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/32740/289250/a/a-surprising-suggestion-for-the-prop-13-quagmire-guestopinion http://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/32740/289250/a/a-surprising-suggestion-for-the-prop-13-quagmire-guestopinion].<br/>
*Wikipedia. "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978) California Proposition 13 (1978)]." accessed 22 May, 2017, portions adapted to create initial version of this article.
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