California vs. Texas provides very stark job comparison

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

That may be but employees don't want to move. Ask Boeing who has tried for years to shut down all of their remaining workload in OC. Who would leave OC for Texas? Very few current employees, although I admit that young new employees likely would since they cannot afford a home here.

When NUMMI closed down GM/Toyota production in California and shifted it to Texas and Canada... employees were explicitly told relocating to Texas would not make them eligible for rehire... the package offered was quite specific for rank and file...

Several of my friends were willing to make the move... two were born in Texas and would have followed if they could keep their jobs... it was almost as if Toyota wanted as little residual of California as possible in Texas... no one I knew considered moving to Canada.

[UB50]

Ultrarunner:

Maybe they should tie rent control to Prop 13? As long as the property isn't sold, you can only raise the rent whatever percentage the taxes are raised. That would make it fair to renters.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by UB50

Ultrarunner:

Maybe they should tie rent control to Prop 13? As long as the property isn't sold, you can only raise the rent whatever percentage the taxes are raised. That would make it fair to renters.

It's already tied to the local Consumer Price Index... there is a provision for pass throughs such as mandates... increased taxes, seismic retrofits, etc...

I don't know what the answer is except I would never want to go back to the old system used in the 70's... economic chaos with the back to back energy crisis, gas lines, etc. and double digit tax increases.

As for residential rentals I've slowly been transitioning to commercial... business to business rentals.

In the old days... if a landlord had a problem tenant... all that was necessary was to not renew the lease... now, a Landlord can only ask a tenant to vacate under very specific conditions and the reason must be sent to the rent board for approval to proceed...

I don't know about other... how does an ordinary person prove illegal activity is going on... especially if minors are involved and the police cannot release that information because they are minors?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

There is so much mis-information on Prop 13 it is hard to stay on the sidelines.

Every property owner in California benefits from Prop 13... EVERY ONE

Prop 13 applies equally to all property subject to property tax... nothing more or less.

I also pay the highest property taxes on my street for the smallest home that also happens to be one of the oldest... my senior neighbors pay much less and most built their homes in the 60s and 70's... I don't begrudge my 96 year old widow neighbor paying $2600 on a 2300 square foot home when I pay $9200 on my 1725 square foot home...

To be blunt... it's often a case of sour grapes for those that complain... thanks to Prop 13 anyone buying will know exactly the property tax they will pay... and if they don't sell... maybe in 30 years they will be paying the least in taxes and I fully intend to be one of them...

As stated... I was too young to have voted for Prop 13 when it was on the ballot...

And yes... I have bought homes, moved in, made repairs and then moved onto the next project keeping my old residences as rentals... just looking over rental agreements while working on taxes... my last round of rent increases was in 2003....

I lived in Nevada for 14 years and my house was reappraised every two years, there is a law that caps increases to 3% per year but it offsets tax reductions when property values drop by the amount of increases that were 'abated' when it was increasing, so tax bills never significantly dropped during 2008-2009. Also, the criteria by which they assess property is very vague, they can claim they drove by your home and suddenly noticed you have a great view and increase the assessment value by pretty much whatever they want. When they stuck Incline Village residents with huge increases due to their subjective appraisals the homeowners took them to court and won but the results of the lawsuit was not extended to anyone who was not a party to the action. Being retired I much prefer California, it's easier for me to budget knowing that my taxes won't go up

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Therein comes the rub... California is forbidden by it's constitution to have split tax rolls... in other words all taxable property must be treated the same... the only work around I'm aware is the Home Owner Exemption which could have so easily been updated if the political will was only there.

Instead the legislature put it on the voters to decide so it could wring their collective hands and then said it would never pass and boy were they wrong...

Determining what is investment or mix use can be quite complicated open to many loopholes...

The parents of a friend bought an old Victorian home in Berkeley and put their son on title for 1% ownership... this meant it was owner occupied and not subject to Berkeley rent control... their son and later their daughter paid for their CAL education renting out rooms...

Many SF properties have owners living upstairs and storefronts downstairs...

It sounds like a colossal nightmare of endless appeals and new schemes... just my opinion.

I'm sure those that own investment property in rent control areas could make it work... tax increases are for the most part a passthrough... I know one of the reasons I can keep my rents stabil is because of Prop 13 and only taking out fixed rate mortgages... I can project my costs so I know what I need to make it worthwhile.

On the other hand... governments are routinely giving the biggest of big business tax incentives to set up shop... so even Prop 13 is too little for some to invest in California.

Or the business of farmers where taxes would drive them out because their land became too valuable to farm and then government comes up with things like the Williamson Act so property taxes almost disappear...

One of the reasons Prop 13 has survived is because it is simple... only a couple of paragraphs that anyone can understand... and it works.

I doubt if Prop 13 was tossed that anyone would see a real drop in property tax paid... instead, those long time home owners would see huge increases just because...

Oh yep, right. Shame though. And right, a number of other states dealt with the same concerns by exemptions that are far easier on their state's revenue systems.

Good explanation.