Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association - HJTA News

Help save the home mortgage interest deduction!

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:50:36 -0800

Taxpayer Alert

January 28, 2008

California faces a $14.5 billion budget deficit because the free-spending politicians in Sacramento have spent too much for too long.

Instead of cutting wasteful spending in state government to pay down the deficit and balance the budget once and for all, the tax-and-spend majority in the Legislature wants to punish you and every California homeowner by repealing the state home mortgage interest deduction.

They think that this important tax savings, relied upon by millions of Californians, is a "tax loophole" that must be closed.

California faces a $14.5 billion budget deficit because the free-spending politicians in Sacramento have spent too much for too long. But instead of cutting wasteful spending in state government to pay down the deficit and balance the budget once and for all, the tax-and-spend majority in the Legislature wants to punish you and every California homeowner by repealing the state home mortgage interest deduction.

Kill Prop. 13 at your own risk

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:28:49 -0800

A column in The Orange County Register by Steven Greenhut

January 13, 2008

Imagine a (scary) world where Prop. 13 doesn't exist.

This will be hard to do, but let's pretend I'm wrong.

The government isn't too big. Public-sector unions aren't too greedy. Every last penny in California's $100 billion budget is necessary. We certainly can't fix the state's $14 billion budget deficit by cutting any government programs, jobs, services or agencies. And the only reason public schools, which consume more than 40 percent of the state's general-fund budget, are so malfunctioning is because taxpayers are stingy. As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday in his State of the State speech, "Government can work. It can be efficient. It can lead." As many politicians seem to believe, it is government, not the private sector that is the prime generator of the state's high quality of life.

Eliminate Prop. 13, and your tax bill will soar, so that government (whose workers are paid more than most of us and who enjoy pensions far in excess of what most of us receive) won't have to live within its means. Many people would soon be taxed out of their homes.

California Eminent Domain Reform Ballot Measure Turns in More Than One Million Signatures

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:40:00 -0800

November 20, 2007

SACRAMENTO -- Californians for Property Rights Protection announced today that they are submitting more than one million signatures to qualify the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA) for the June 2008 ballot. This eminent domain reform measure will stop government from taking homes, family farms, small business and places of worship and giving the land to other private interests.

"We are submitting this ballot measure to prevent government from snatching private property from unwilling sellers to benefit wealthy and politically connected developers," said former Senator Jim Nielsen and chairman of the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights. "California law needs to be changed to protect all California property owners from eminent domain abuse."

Proposed Ballot Measure Would Prohibit Use of Taxpayer Dollars for Political Activity

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:19:36 -0800

November 15, 2007

Opposition to Eminent Domain Reform Funded by Anonymous Campaign Fund

SACRAMENTO -- Today, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the National Taxpayer Limitation Committee and the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights announced that they have introduced the "Taxpayer Protection Act of 2008," a ballot measure that strengthens existing laws that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for political activity by making it illegal for taxpayer financed organizations, such as the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Redevelopment Association to finance their political activities through anonymous campaign accounts.

Today, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the National Taxpayer Limitation Committee and the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights announced that they have introduced the "Taxpayer Protection Act of 2008," a ballot measure that strengthens existing laws that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for political activity by making it illegal for taxpayer financed organizations, such as the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Redevelopment Association to finance their political activities through anonymous campaign accounts.

Is Utah next for a cap on property taxes fashioned after Proposition 13?

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:38:44 -0700

By Joseph M. Dougherty, Deseret Morning News

August 28, 2007

Many Utah residents argue that a solution to escalating property taxes would be for the Legislature to enact a Proposition 13-type law that would cap the rate at which local governments can tax properties.

Prop. 13, as it's commonly known, was passed by 65 percent of California voters in 1978 following a wave of rising values and windfall revenues for local governments. One of its proponents was a Utah native named Howard Jarvis.

To read the complete article, click here.

Prop. 13 Not Unfair to New Buyers

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:57:58 -0700

A column in The Orange County Register by Gary M. Galles

June 5, 2007

Proposition 13 tomorrow marks its 29th anniversary. Each year, the anniversary of the landmark 1978 voter rebellion against rising property taxes inspires commentary, including some analysis that attempts to blame Prop. 13 for virtually every state and local government problem that has arisen in California since it passed. Such efforts almost always end with a call to raise taxes.

That argument keeps getting harder to make, however, since California's pre-Prop. 13 peaks in real per capita revenue and expenditures were exceeded long ago, and there has hardly been a miserly trend in recent years in the size of California's government. One typical complaint seems to be a perennial: that Prop. 13 it is inherently unfair to more-recent homebuyers. That criticism, however, is based on an economic misconception.

No-new-tax vow opens annual rite in Sacramento

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:55:34 -0700

By political columnist Dan Walters in The Sacramento Bee

April 10, 2007

". . . conservatives may be correct in asserting, as Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association did Monday, that raising taxes to give the Capitol more money to spend is 'like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.'"

To read the entire column, click here.

Another assault on Prop. 13

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:56:07 -0700

An editorial from The Orange County Register

April 6, 2007

Proposed constitutional change would lower
supermajority requirement to 55 percent

California voters in 1978 amended the state constitution to set the bar high for increasing property taxes. Tax bills in those years had been increasing at such rates that many people, especially those on fixed incomes, were priced out of their homes.

A taxpayers' revolt resulted in voter approval of Proposition 13, limiting taxes to 1 percent of property value, with annual increases held to 2 percent and establishing a two-thirds supermajority standard at the ballot box to change the limits. It reduced property taxes by about 57 percent.

Freshman Democrat Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael wants to make increasing property taxes easier.

Our $1 Water Museum

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:43:20 -0800

An editorial from the Long Beach Press-Telegram

February 15, 2007

It's just a drop in the bucket, but again,
nobody asked us whether we wanted one.

We may not be paying all that much, but The Metropolitan Water District is considering raising its rates next year and, by the way, some of that money will be going to salvage a museum of water history from bankruptcy. This is awkward timing.

As Jon Coupal says, it adds insult to injury. Coupal, head of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, told the L.A. Times the MWD shouldn't be misspending millions of dollars at the same time it is raising its rates.

He's right. Of course the MWD feels it didn't have much choice, since it already has invested $16 million in the Center for Water Education in Hemet. What's another $4.67 million?

The Metropolitan Water District shouldn't be misspending millions of dollars at the same time it is raising its rates, says Jon Coupal, president of HJTA.

Statewide Survey Shows Support for Eminent Domain Reform

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 17:25:36 -0800

February 9, 2007

SACRAMENTO -- A recent survey, commissioned by the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights, shows voters overwhelmingly support a ballot measure to protect property rights from eminent domain abuse.

The survey, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, asked 1,000 likely voters if they would support a proposition that would "add a new law in California designed to protect homeowners and other property owners from having local government take their property, under what is called 'Eminent Domain', in order to use the property for developers to build shopping centers and industrial parks." 67% responded that they would vote for such a measure. Results indicated broad support across party affiliation, region and ethnicity.

A Great Man Passes: Milton Friedman Dies at the Age of 94

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:11:04 -0800

November 16, 2006

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman has passed at the age of 94.

Many know him as a great advocate for the virtues of the free-market economy, but fewer may recall that he was an enthusiastic supporter of Proposition 13. In 1978 he appeared in television spots saying, "Don't let politicians fool you. Proposition 13 will work. It will not force schools to close. It will not cause policemen or firemen to disappear. It will not require increases in other taxes."

Professor Friedman and his wisdom will be sorely missed.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman has passed at the age of 94.

Professor Friedman and his wisdom will be sorely missed.

2006 Issue of California Piglet Book Available Online

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:52:54 -0800

For the fourth year in a row, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation (HJTF) and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) have released the California Piglet Book, the definitive guide for reducing waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the California state government.

Californians are threatened with immense tax increases while the waste and fraud of tax dollars runs rampant. The California Piglet Book gives enough examples to make any California taxpayer cringe, including:

* City and Local Government Abuses -- San Francisco has spent more than $2.3 million of taxpayers’ money in the past four and a half years on bottled water despite owning a pristine reservoir in the Sierra Nevada which touts some of the nation’s best-tasting tap water.

Fifth Annual California Piglet Book Now Available

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:08:58 -0800

For the fifth year in a row, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) have joined forces to publish the California Piglet Book, exposing some of the worst examples of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in California's state and local government.

The California Piglet Book combines elements of two perennial CAGW publications, the Congressional Pig Book and Prime Cuts, with HJTA's knowledge of the California state budget. The report is but a sample of areas in the state budget where wasteful or corrupt spending can be eliminated, providing a valuable resource to legislators, local officials, the media and taxpayers.

The report may be downloaded here on the HJTA site or from the CAGW site.

Storming the Prop. 13 battlements

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:16:32 -0800

Editorial in The Orange County Register

August 27, 2006

Proposition 13 faces one of its most serious challenges on the ballot this fall, in the form of Proposition 88.

Enacted by California voters in 1978, Prop. 13 limited property taxes to 1 percent of the purchase price, with a maximum increase of 2 percent per year for inflation. Changes to Prop. 13 could only be made by state or local voters.

Since then, local voters sometimes have increased property taxes to fund schools, usually through higher percentage taxes on a property's value, but sometimes through a parcel tax -- a tax of a specified amount on each parcel.

Prop. 88 is a statewide parcel tax -- the first such statewide tax in California since 1910. Every parcel in the state, no matter what size, would pay $50 to fund statewide education programs, amounting to $450 million to $500 million a year. A car dealer or Costco would pay $50, the same as for a family home or small business.

Prop. 88's statewide parcel tax would begin to chip away at California's property-tax protections.

The truth about government revenue since the passage of Proposition 13

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:05:55 -0700

Executive Summary

-- Revenues for every category of government in California increased when adjusted for inflation and population growth between FY 1977-78 and FY 2002-03.

-- Total state government revenues adjusted for inflation and population growth grew well over 25% from FY 1977-78 to FY 2002-03 (see page 13). Personal income tax revenues adjusted for inflation and population growth have increased 57 percent over this period (see page 19).

-- County government revenues in California, adjusted for inflation and population growth, grew 8.43 percent from FY 1977-78 to FY 2002-03 (see page 69). During this time, counties became more dependent upon state transfers for revenue, while experiencing a significant drop in property and sales tax revenue (see page 71).

A new study shows that governments at all levels have seen a net increase in revenue since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. Read the executive summary and then download the complete report.