Commentary

Production Equipment

Equipment Tax Is Hobbling State’s Manufacturers

By CalTax President Robert Gutierrez and California Manufacturers & Technology Association President Lance Hastings This commentary was originally published by CalMatters.org and appeared in the Marin Independent Journal, Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, and other newspapers. California, which leads the nation in innovation, attracts no more than 1 percent of new manufacturing investment in the United States. Why? Because it double-taxes production. By that we mean our state taxes both the production equipment and the product. California can…

Read More

Californians Can’t Afford the Largest Tax Hike in State History

By CalTax President Robert Gutierrez (This column was published January 25 in the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, Riverside Press-Enterprise and other newspapers operated by the Southern California News Group.) State lawmakers are poised to vote on legislation that would require the largest tax increase in California’s history to fund a government-run “single-payer” healthcare system. A “no” vote is the only reasonable option. This state already is unaffordable for far too many residents, and this tax hike would…

Read More

The Capitol Annex Will Soon Be Gone, but Not Forgotten

By CalTax Chief Tax Consultant David R. Doerr It has been called ugly, old, inflexible, and not up to snuff with current code requirements, so the California Capitol Annex is awaiting the death penalty. It is scheduled to be torn down within days or weeks and replaced with a new structure that likely will cost more than $1 billion. Yet the old structure (which still is much younger than the other half of the statehouse, the Old State Capitol) has…

Read More

Local Zoning Changes May Trigger Higher Property Taxes for Some Homeowners

By CalTax Chief Tax Consultant David R. Doerr Berkeley’s City Council recently voted to eliminate single-family zoning at the end of 2022, and other local governments may be tempted to follow suit as they look for ways to address California’s housing shortage. As the pros and cons are discussed, homeowners should be aware that zoning changes can trigger higher property taxes. Before delving into the details, a refresher on Proposition 13 might be useful. Under the 1978 property tax limitation…

Read More

California Must Focus on Jobs and Economic Growth to Rebound From COVID-19

By CalTax Policy and Communications Associate Dustin Weatherby Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, California had record-low unemployment of 3.5 percent in September 2019 and record reserves to weather an economic recession. The sudden economic shutdown on Friday the 13th of March 2020 led to millions of Californians waiting in unemployment call-center hotlines and a sharp tax revenue decrease for the state government. Unemployment peaked at 16.2 percent in April and improved only moderately to 11 percent in September, 3.1 percent…

Read More

Looming Local Taxes Could Force Many Employers to Close Forever

By CalTax Policy and Communications Associate Dustin Weatherby Californians rejected 142 of 237 local tax and bond measures on the March ballot. Normally, this would suggest that voters are signaling that taxes are too high, giving pause to local leaders contemplating tax hikes this fall. However, everything has changed. With the COVID-19 global pandemic’s impact on business and employment, many local governments are contemplating higher taxes to address their fiscal challenges. Rather than enjoying the continued record economic expansion and…

Read More

CalTax Commentary: What Los Angeles County’s ‘Educational’ Materials Won’t Tell You About Measure FD

By CalTax President Robert Gutierrez This commentary was published this week in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Los Angeles Daily News, Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Torrance Daily Breeze and Whittier Daily News. Los Angeles County officials are doing what they always do when county-sponsored tax increases are on the ballot – using your tax dollars to campaign for the tax hike under the fiction that they are just trying to educate voters. The County Fire Department’s “impartial” slideshow on…

Read More

CalTax Commentary: Why Are Voters Facing 234 Local Tax Measures With Government Revenue at Record High?

By CalTax Policy and Communications Associate Dustin Weatherby This column was published this week by the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise. When Californians go to the polls in March, they will narrow the field of presidential candidates, decide a $15 billion school bond and face hundreds of local tax measures. There are 234 local tax and bond measures on the March ballot, a 169 percent increase compared to the 2016 presidential primary election. In the June 2016…

Read More

CalTax Commentary: Column by Split-Roll Supporter Ignored the Reality of the Proposition 13 Vote

By David Kline, CalTax Vice President of Communications and Research (This column was published in the Ventura County Star, Napa Valley Register and Porterville Recorder.) In a recent syndicated column supporting property tax increases in California, Thomas Elias envisioned time travelers going back to view the 1978 property tax reform debate and not hearing much about commercial property taxes. Not so fast! Unless the time travelers were too busy disco dancing and buying bell-bottoms, they would notice a healthy debate…

Read More

Commentary: Thank Proposition 13 When You Get Your Property Tax Bill

By David Kline, Vice President of Communications and Research This column was published October 30 in the San Francisco Chronicle. With property tax bills showing up in mailboxes throughout California, it’s the perfect time to thank voters for approving Proposition 13. Prior to the reform initiative’s passage in 1978, opening the property tax envelope was a frightening experience: How much did the tax go up this time? Now when you buy a home or business, you know what the tax…

Read More