This article is from Cal-Tax Digest, published
by the California Taxpayers' Association.
Cal-Tax Home Page | About Cal-Tax | Subscribe

March 1998

Twenty years ago this June, in their zeal to obtain relief from an onerous property tax system, California voters approved Proposition 13, an initiative that made major changes in the way local governments raise revenue.

But all they did, says former legislative analyst A. Alan Post, was replace one unfair tax system with another.

The real tragedy, says Mr. Post, is that California failed to take advantage of the opportunity provided by passage of the initiative pushed by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann to make reforms in its tax-funded revenue and expenditure programs.

"The opportunity was there," he said. "Proposition 13 required that really substantial changes be made not only in the way services provided by local governments were funded, but the degree to which the services should be provided."

And some of the changes were not expected.

"Voters in the city of Claremont, for instance, voted overwhelmingly for Proposition 13, but then found out that because of the enormous decrease in its property tax revenues the city couldn't afford to keep its street lights lit," Mr. Post recalled.

"Other cities had similar problems, with libraries, parks, even law enforcement, being affected. The initiative caused great harm to the authority of local government because it shifted much of the responsibility for funding local programs to the state, but that shifting of responsibility also gave the state license to examine all those programs and how they were funded.

"Clearly, what government did, and how it paid for what it did, had to be looked at."

It was looked at, and Alan Post was given the job of looking at it. Governor Jerry Brown created the California Commission on Government Reform in the summer of 1978 and named Mr. Post, who had retired in 1977 after more than a quarter century as the Legislature's chief fiscal adviser, as its chairman.

Mr. Post, still blessed with an astounding memory at 83, recalled in an interview the efforts of the commission, what became of those efforts, and the state economic and political environment immediately preceding and following passage of Proposition 13.

"To begin with," he said, "the property tax at the time was simply not well-designed. It carried too many programs. Instead of funding services relating primarily to property, such as streets, sewers, and law enforcement, it also funded welfare, health care, courts, and education, among others. And it was not equalized. The poorer counties had the larger welfare caseloads, and to finance that caseload the property tax was higher in those counties than in wealthier counties with smaller caseloads.

"The 1970s were a period of tremendous population growth in California, and consequently there were increased burdens on schools and welfare, and the property tax was increasing at about 10 percent a year to carry those burdens, with both the tax rate and property evaluations going up.

"Poor people, particularly those on fixed incomes, were literally being forced out of their homes because they couldn't afford to pay their property taxes.

"Clearly something had to be done, but many people in local government liked the property tax because it was stable and could be manipulated, and they resisted reform.

Bob Schmidt reported on government and politics for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the San Jose Mercury News for 21 years, retiring in 1993 as one of the most experienced members of the Capitol Press Corps in Sacramento.

"At the same time, the economy was so strong that state government revenues from income and sales taxes created what (then state treasurer) Jesse Unruh called an 'obscene surplus,' and that added to the general dissatisfaction of people.

"The need for reform was obvious, but some liberals wanted too much, and so reform efforts in the Legislature failed. It was left to the initiative process, and the time was right for Jarvis."

Mr. Post said he agreed to a request by Governor Brown to debate Mr. Jarvis, and brought up the inequality that would result if the initiative became law.

"I talked about an intersection with a gas station on each of the four corners. Each had been there a long time, and each would have their property taxes reduced by Proposition 13. But if one of the owners subsequently sold, that property would be reassessed, and the new owner would have to pay considerably more in property taxes than the other three owners. That was unfair.

"Jarvis said 'We've taken care of that problem,' but obviously it never was taken care of."

Mr. Post said he went on the road on behalf of Proposition 8, the Legislature's counter to Jarvis-Gann. "But it was too late. The cat was out of the bag."

So Proposition 13 passed, and what became known as the Post Commission was created.

"It had a lot of really impressive people on it," he recalled. "Cap Weinberger, Tom Bradley, William Matson Roth, Helen Copley, Rocco Siciliano, and Wilson Riles, among others. It was very balanced."

Too balanced, he says, "because we couldn't do as much as we should have done. Cap Weinberger, for instance, was adamant that we shouldn't tinker with Proposition 13, and he was a potent force for no significant change.

"Nevertheless, we put together a pretty good report. I still think it's pretty good. A few years ago someone in (former) Speaker (Willie) Brown's office told me the data it contained was still being relied on.

"Rocco Siciliano (the chairman and chief executive officer of Ticor and former undersecretary of labor under President Eisenhower) wanted the commission continued, but we had worked for a full year on it and I was exhausted. I said no.

"I was wrong. We should have kept going, but, frankly, I wasn't getting much help from Jerry Brown or his director of finance, Dick Silberman. We even had a tough time getting the report printed and distributed.

"When the report was finished, I went into Governor Brown's office to deliver it personally, and I told him 'a lot of people have put in a lot of time and effort in the making of this, and I expect you to do something with it.' He said 'I will,' but he didn't. He was busy getting himself re-elected."

Mr. Post was asked to assess the impact of his commission's report.

"Well, as I said, I think it was a good report, but I guess I'd have to say that it was of marginal value because it was never really given a chance to be effective. It was not a success, but I believe it could have led to significant resolutions if the governor had been more helpful."

 Post - a Remarkable Retiree

Alan Post "retired" as head of the California Legislative Analyst's office in 1977 after 27 years on the job, figuring to spend the kind of quality time he wanted on his life-long love, painting. He does paint. The question is, when?

Here, in part, is how he has spent his 21 years of retirement:

He was chairman of the California Commission on Government Reform (1978-79); chairman, California Task Force on California's Water Future (1982); chairman, California Citizens Commission on Ballot Initiatives (1992-93), and chairman, Judicial Council Select Committee to Reform the Judges Retirement System (1992-93).

He also served on the Independent Study Task Force, Regents External Degree Program, University of the State of New York (1983), was a Regents Visiting Professor at the University of California, Davis (1983-84); executive director (interim) and consultant, Commission for Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education (1985-86), the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Canons (1995-96), was a member of eight other commissions, task forces, and boards in California and accepted consultancies on official United States government missions to Iran, Portugal, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Bolivia.

He is currently co-chairman, California Citizens Budget Commission (since 1992); a member of the Senate Advisory Commission on Cost Control in State Government (since 1986); the National Advisory Council, Institute of Government Studies, University of California at Berkeley (since 1989); the National Academy of Public Administration (since 1974); the Advisory Committee, Policy Analysis for California Education (since 1985); the Advisory Committee, California Tomorrow (since 1983), and the Catalonia Sister State Legislative Task Force (since 1988).

He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Policy Institute of California and the Board of Directors of the Central Valley Foundation.

Why does he keep so busy?

"Well," he says, "the panels I served on in the past and the ones I'm active in now all involve subjects I'm interested in. I like to keep involved, and I'm pleased if people think I have something to offer. The taxpayers have paid to give me an absolutely marvelous education down through the years, and I feel obligated to give them something back."

But he does paint. He and his wife, Helen, a well-known and highly regarded sculptor, will have a showing of their works April 2 at the Solomon Dubnick Gallery in Sacramento. - By Bob Schmidt.

Alan Post 

"The taxpayers have paid to give me an absolutely marvelous education down through the years, and I feel obligated to give them something back."