Supporters of Prop 15 Admit Repealing Prop 13 Protections for Homeowners Are Next

No on Prop 15 campaign tells voters the truth: Prop 15 supporters have tried to undermine and repeal Prop 13 for 40+ years

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Amid California’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and cost of living crisis, supporters of Proposition 15 aren’t telling voters their true intentions: homeowners are next. The reality is, supporters of Prop 15 have tried to undermine and repeal Proposition 13 for more than 40 years, which would mean skyrocketing property taxes for all California homeowners.

Supporters of Prop 15 including the California Teachers Association (CTA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), League of Women Voters (LWV), and California Tax Reform Association (CTRA) opposed Prop 13 in 1978, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars against it. Since then, their attacks on Prop 13 have never stopped.

“It’s clear from statements and actions over the years that a full repeal of Prop 13 is the ultimate goal for many of the special interests backing Prop 15,” Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association. “California homeowners and renters should consider themselves warned. If supporters of Prop 15 get their way, the days could be numbered for homeowners’ final taxpayer protection.”

“Prop 15 is the largest property tax increase in California history at more than $11 billion per year, but for some of its supporters that’s not enough to quench their insatiable appetite for higher taxes,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “With millions of Californians facing eviction and struggling to make ends meet, Prop 15 and its supporters embody the tone-deafness of Sacramento.”

Some actions taken in recent years were:

  • After Prop 13’s passage, the CTA, SEIU and CFT unsuccessfully sued to block the implementation of Prop 13 and its taxpayer protections for residential property owners. In its court filings, CTA specifically objected to the 2% cap on assessed value growth for residential property.
  • In 1991, the LWV filed a brief in support of an unsuccessful case that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Prop 13. LWV’s brief criticized Prop 13 as unconstitutional and discriminatory because it created “protections for long-term homeowners.”
  • In 1992, CTA, SEIU, CFT, and CTRA spent more than $600,000 to support Prop 167, a massive tax hike measure that included a split-roll property tax. Opponents of Prop 167 warned that the measure would increase residential rents. Prop 167 failed by a vote of 41% to 59%.
  • In 2014, Lowell Goodman, a former SEIU Local 721 communications director, proposed anti-Prop 13 documentary and included a trailer and 17-page proposal. The 17-page proposal was entitled “A Documentary Film Proposal by Lowell Goodman.” The proposal stated that fully repealing Prop 13 was a “great idea” and outlined a three-part strategy to dismantle Prop 13. The three-part strategy included removing Prop 13 tax caps for homeowners by “periodically” reassessing residential properties to raise residential valuations up to market value. The three-part strategy also included proposals for a split-roll and to eliminate the “absurd” 2/3 requirement to hike taxes.
  • In August 2020 at a Yes on Prop 15 event, UTLA president Cecily Myart-Cruz said, “We’ve got to be able to pass Schools and Communities First, as one measure, and then come back with another measure, and another, so that we make the rich pay their fair share.”

Under Prop 13, both residential and business property taxes are calculated based on 1% of their purchase price, and annual increases in property taxes are capped at 2%, which limits increases in property taxes, especially when property values rise quickly. Prop 15 repeals these protections for commercial and industrial properties. The next step will be to repeal it for residential properties.

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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.