SACRAMENTO, CA – The Stanford University-based Hoover Institution published an open letter in Eureka yesterday from Robert Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, asking Governor Gavin Newsom to oppose the $12.5 billion-a-year split-roll property tax hike that is headed to the November ballot. The letter urges Newsom to instead focus on strategies that will create long-term job opportunities for middle-class and blue-collar workers as an alternative approach to supporting the largest property tax increase in state history.
Read excerpts from Lapsley’s open letter, “A Suggestion for the Governor: The Best Way to Raise Revenue Is to Allow Businesses to Create New Jobs, Not to Support the Largest Tax Increase in State History” below:
“…why would anyone consider sponsoring or supporting the largest tax increase in state history? A tax increase that strikes at the heart of Proposition 13, the only taxpayer protections we have left in our state constitution?
“Sacramento public employee unions and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative are planning to do just that—they are 100 percent committed to putting a $12.5 billion-a-year property tax increase on the November ballot…
“Just how will this property tax increase exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis? Simply put, there isn’t a business or resident that won’t pay more if businesses pay more in property taxes. The public employee unions insist they have carved out an exemption for small businesses, but most small businesses do not own the properties on which they operate. They pay rent under a standard lease that passes on the property taxes and maintenance costs to the business as a condition of their agreement. The higher property taxes on businesses both large and small will ultimately get passed on to all Californians.
“Governor, we simply ask that you do not go along with this tax increase—for the sake of California businesses and taxpayers who all stand to lose if we go down the ruinous road of higher property taxes.”
About Californians To Save Prop 13 And Stop Higher Property Taxes
Californians to Save Prop 13 and Stop Higher Property Taxes, a coalition of businesses, taxpayers, homeowners and renters, 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.
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