SACRAMENTO, CA – Yesterday, Winnie Comstock-Carlson, the president and publisher of Comstock’s Magazine, penned an opinion piece expressing her opposition to the split roll property tax measure that has qualified for the November 2020 ballot. Specifically, she states that the $11 billion property tax hike would have a “devastating impact” on counties and hurt small businesses and the economy.
“This $11 billion a year split roll property tax measure will be a major, multi-billion-dollar tax on all Californians in the form of higher prices on everything we buy – from groceries and gasoline to diapers and day care,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes. “Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes will mount an aggressive, broad-based coalition to fight the measure and keep costs down for all Californians.”
Read excerpts from the Comstock’s Magazine editorial, “A Split-Roll Property Tax Measure Is Bad for Business” below:
“…Next year, voters will be asked to amend Prop. 13 through a ballot measure that will upset more than 40 years of that steadiness and a “no surprises” business environment.”
“…And it’s a tax hit businesses can’t afford, especially in an economy with flat consumer spending and trade tariffs. The Federal Reserve recently noted that U.S. manufacturing has slumped in the first half of this year. That’s a sign of a fragile economy. The timing for a tax increase couldn’t be worse.”
“…the majority of small businesses lease storefronts, offices and other properties valued easily at more than the $3 million threshold this measure puts in place, and the additional taxes would be passed onto them in the form of increased rents, an unintended — but very real — consequence.”
“…The proposed measure would have “a devastating impact” on counties and would overwhelm their ability to assess nearly 650,000 commercial and industrial properties statewide, according to a nonpartisan and independent analysis by Capitol Matrix commissioned by the California Assessors’ Association. The statewide cost to complete the assessment roll, according to the analysis, would increase between $380 million and $470 million annually during the first five to 10 years.”
“…Prop. 13 is working. Splitting it in half is bad for business and a bad deal for counties.”
Read the editorial in its entirety on the Comstock’s Magazine website HERE.