Click here to view a list of local governments and others who have passed resolutions supporting Prop. 13.
This resolution honors Proposition 13 for the benefits it provides to individual homeowners, renters, local governments and to the state’s overall economy.
WHEREAS: On June 6, 1978, Proposition 13, officially titled the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation,” and popularly known as the “Jarvis-Gann Initiative,” was overwhelmingly approved by California’s voters, reducing property tax rates on homes, businesses and farms, and capping the rate of increase in the future; and
WHEREAS: Prior to the adoption of Proposition 13, California’s raging inflation had sent property tax bills in California soaring so high that many families had to sell their homes because they could not afford to pay their taxes; and
WHEREAS: Prior to the adoption of Proposition 13, property tax assessments showed wider divergences than assessment disparities under the current acquisition-value system; and
WHEREAS: With the approval of Proposition 13, real property values were adjusted to a base value equal to the 1976 assessed value of that real property, thereby introducing an objective standard upon which real property would be taxed and ending the previous subjective standard for assessment that engendered the property tax assessment abuses that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s; and
WHEREAS: With the passage of Proposition 13, taxpayers, for the first time, were provided a measure of certainty with respect to their property taxes; and
WHEREAS: Following the passage of Proposition 13, the average homeowner has saved tens of thousands of dollars in property tax payments, money that was able to be spent in the economy to create jobs and foster economic development; and
WHEREAS: Following the passage of Proposition 13, renters also benefitted as the reduction in taxes reduced upward pressure on rents; and
WHEREAS: The volatility of income and sales tax revenue to the state and local governments is a major flaw in California’s tax system, while Proposition 13 has rendered California’s property taxes as a stable and predictable source of public revenue, even during economic downturns, which has provided a major benefit to local governments throughout California; and
WHEREAS: Since the passage of Proposition 13, proposed alternatives to Proposition 13 would have had a variety of unwelcome effects, including substantial tax increases for low-income and elderly homeowners; and
WHEREAS: Voters intended Proposition 13 to protect all property owners, and they had rejected previous attempts to impose higher taxes on small businesses, knowing that these so-called “split roll” proposals would inflict irreparable harm on California’s economy; and
WHEREAS: Proposition 13 has become a nationwide symbol for taxpayer revolt and for citizens exercising control and power over their governance;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that in recognition of the positive impact Proposition 13 has had on the State of California, we formally reaffirm our support for Proposition 13 and the benefit that it provides to individual homeowners, renters, local governments and to the state’s overall economy.
