Commentary

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…

By Robert Gutierrez, Director of the California Tax Foundation This column originally appeared in the Bakersfield Californian It was disappointing to read Dolores Huerta’s description of California’s nondiscriminatory property tax law as a “loophole” – a label that misrepresents the facts and slights voters who overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13 to protect all property owners (Community Voices: “Fight to close state’s commercial property tax loophole,” August 18). When Californians went to the polls on June 6, 1978, they saw two competing property…