From the perspective of taxpayers, this month was most notable for the April 15th deadline for filing state and local income tax returns. But just two …
California Commentary
Proposition 13 protects home equity
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal should dispel all doubts as to why Prop. 13 is so important to California homeowners. The article, …
UCLA study rips Los Angeles Measure ULA
Property owners outside the city of Los Angeles may not be that familiar with the Measure ULA tax, but they should be prepared to get up to speed. Bad …
Sacramento consistently fails to consider the long-term consequences
Examples of government malfeasance in California are way too many to list. While it is true that fraud plays a significant role in California, far …
How transfer taxes steal your home equity
As a homeowner, you dutifully pay your property taxes every year, no matter how painful. Notwithstanding Proposition 13’s tax limitations, California …
Mission creep inevitably bites taxpayers
“Mission creep” is generally understood to mean the gradual or incremental expansion of a project or mission beyond its original scope. In military …
State Assembly slams the door on dissenters
The attitude of Democrats in the Legislature seems to be that, if it’s bad news, we don’t want to hear it. And if it’s really bad news, we’ll try to …
How property owners can block new fees
San Diego’s proposed trash fee is currently a hot topic for city property owners as city leaders plan community meetings over the next several weeks …
Warriors against waste have their work cut out for them
Readers of this column might recall the name Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Special Services Inc. Along with yours truly, he co-authored two …
Is it the end of the line for California’s high speed rail project?
Everything we predicted about California’s High Speed Rail project (HSR) has come to rotten fruition. Frequent readers of this column know that, …