SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, the proponents of a split roll property tax measure that qualified for the November 2020 statewide ballot acknowledged the significant flaws in their existing measure and filed a new measure they hope to qualify for the November 2020 ballot. The measure has repeatedly received less than 50 percent support in statewide surveys, providing a clear indication that the measure was doomed from the start.
“This is just another, equally flawed measure aimed at dismantling Proposition 13. Proponents should at least withdraw their existing measure, which they now acknowledge is fatally flawed,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes. “However, there are no tweaks or amendments that can be made to this split roll measure that will prevent it from being 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. Should either measure appear on the November 2020 ballot, an aggressive, broad-based coalition will fight it.”
“For decades, these same special interests have attempted to erode Proposition 13’s protections,” said Rex Hime, President and CEO of the California Business Properties Association and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes. “This last-ditch attempt to tinker with the details is like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. No matter how you shuffle, dismantling Proposition 13 will result in disaster for California families, workers and the economy.”
“Split roll proponents have known for a year and a half that their ballot measure was flawed, yet they spent nearly $3.5 million to qualify the measure and refused to withdraw it from the ballot,” said John Kabateck, State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business – California and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes. “How are we supposed to trust them with something as important as our property taxes?”
“This reboot doesn’t fix the initiative’s fatal error, which is that it would make property taxes completely unpredictable for owners and local governments alike,” said Robert Gutierrez, President of the California Taxpayers Association and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes. “Under Proposition 13, property taxes provide growing revenue for local government, while property owners have certainty about their taxes and are protected from unmanageable increases. Any attempt to repeal Prop 13 protections will be met with strong opposition, no matter how it might be repackaged.”
“It is no secret that split roll proponents have had their eye on unraveling Proposition 13 protections for decades. Homeowners will not tolerate any changes to Proposition 13 now or in the future,” said Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and co-chair of Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes.
Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes, a coalition of businesses, taxpayers, homeowners and renters, has been fighting to protect Proposition 13 and oppose a split roll for more than a decade.