AUTHOR HOLDS UP VOTE ON SPLIT-ROLL MEASURE

Following an hour-long July 7 hearing at which no new ground was broken, Assembly Member Loni Hancock decided not to seek an Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee vote on her split-roll property tax measure (ACA 16).

“I’m not going to ask the committee for a vote today,” Ms. Hancock said, adding that the measure needs further discussion. It was the first time, she said, that the split roll has been heard in a legislative policy committee. “This does not end the debate. I’m in it for the long haul.” The measure is targeted for the March 2004 statewide primary election.

As a proposed constitutional amendment, ACA 16 is not subject to various deadlines coming up for committee actions. However, even if it were to pass committees by majority votes and make it to the Assembly floor, it would require two-thirds approval at that point.

Ms. Hancock’s primary witness was Lenny Goldberg of the California Tax Reform Association, a longtime advocate of a split roll. He sponsored an initiative in 1992 (Proposition 167), which was rejected by voters.

Mr. Goldberg said residential properties have been accounting for more of the property tax roll because houses are bought and sold more often.

Cal-Tax’s Greg Turner defended the current system, noting that billions of dollars in additional taxes would be a drain on the economy. He said the property tax system has proven to be a predictable and “fairly stable revenue source” that has served governments well during boom-and-bust cycles.

Cal-Tax filed a fact sheet with the committee listing points of opposition. Here is a link to the document: http://www.caltax.org/SplitRollACA16FactSheet.pdf