SACRAMENTO, CA – Opposition continues to build against Proposition 15, the largest property tax increase in California’s history, as the San Diego Union-Tribune and Santa Rosa Press Democrat joined the 17 other newspapers throughout the state in calling for voters to reject the measure.
Read excerpts from the San Diego Union-Tribune “Editorial: No on Proposition 15: Vast tax hike during a deep recession is a crazy idea” below:
“California has among the highest income tax, sales tax, gas tax and corporate tax rates of any state. The only major tax category in which it is near the national norm is property taxes, thanks to Proposition 13, passed in 1978, which limits annual increases in assessed property value to 2 percent.
“Proposition 13 remains a godsend to fixed-income retirees and middle-income workers who can’t pay the increased property tax assessments they would have faced over the last 40 years as California home prices quintupled…
“Now the critics of 1978’s Proposition 13 have qualified Proposition 15 for the November ballot…
“This is a horrible idea for reasons that go beyond the insanity of imposing the largest property tax hike in state history on employers during a deep recession — and beyond the fact that the cost of the tax hikes would be largely passed on to consumers during a deep recession. Approving Proposition 15 is not about preserving essential government services, as advocates assert. It is about preserving generous government pensions that threaten to bankrupt government agencies across the state…
“Send a message that pension reform should precede a massive tax hike and vote no on Proposition 15.”
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ABOUT NO ON PROP 15 – STOP HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES AND SAVE PROP 13
No on Prop 15 – Stop Higher Property Taxes and Save Prop 13, a bipartisan coalition of homeowners, taxpayers, and businesses, has been fighting to protect Prop 13 and oppose a split-roll property tax for more than a decade. For more information, please visit www.NOonProp15.org.