SACRAMENTO, CA – Alice Huffman, president of the California State Conference of the NAACP, and Tecoy Porter, president of the California State National Action Network, penned an op-ed for the Los Angeles Daily News, criticizing the more than $10.5 million Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has donated through his organization, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in support of Proposition 15, the largest property tax increase in state history.
Read excerpts from the Los Angeles Daily News “Why is Mark Zuckerberg spending millions to back harmful Proposition 15” below:
“The other day, we read with open-mouths that the world’s fourth richest person, Mark Zuckerberg, made another contribution to the Yes on Proposition 15 campaign, bringing his total contributions to more than $10.5 million…
“We were disappointed not only in the contributions made to the Prop. 15 campaign but also because he has not asked to meet with us – representatives of California’s minority communities – about this measure’s profound, negative impact…
“Prop. 15 would have a significant and negative impact on the “vulnerable communities” that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative claims it wants to protect. Minority businesses are already struggling. They were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and are even more so since it shut down California’s economy…
“Unlike Facebook or the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, most small businesses do not own their property; they rent their space through a triple-net lease agreement. The property tax increases, maintenance and insurance costs are passed on directly to these small business tenants as a condition of their lease. Nothing in Prop 15 prevents higher rents for small businesses.
“Increasing property taxes on small businesses by up to $11.5 billion a year will hurt female- and minority-owned businesses the most, according to studies by the California State Conference of the NAACP and Berkeley Research Group…
“Prop. 15 will also increase gentrification in vulnerable communities…
“Gentrification may seem like “progress” to Facebook’s founder. But, for our communities, gentrification is real and a growing problem. Prop. 15 will push small minority- and immigrant-owned businesses out of our communities when they can’t afford the initiative’s higher property taxes. The unintended consequence will intensify the gentrification that’s already occurring in much of the Bay Area and Southern California coastal counties.
“While Zuckerberg has the right to spend his vast Facebook wealth as he sees fit, using it to punish small businesses fighting for a fraction of his success is wrong.
“We would be more than happy to recommend better, more effective uses of Zuckerberg’s vast wealth to truly make a difference and to have a real impact on California’s vulnerable populations.”
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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.