Prop. 13 (San Francisco: home, transfer to, to buy)

[TheFlats]

Or we get to pay for all of the deferred maintenance that was allowed to build up because property taxes were no longer providing the necessary funding.

A better example of people taking advantage of the previous generation's tax spending would be the boomers following the generation that taxed itself at high rates to pay for our interstate system, our major cities subway systems, water, communications, and electrical infrastructure.

The boomers saw these civil institutions and public infrastructure that was handed to them and thought: this is good enough, no need to pay for any improvements. This is why investment in our nation has essentially flat-lined since the mid 70s.

LA has had to raise hundreds of billions of dollars of sales tax revenue to build out a functioning mass transit system. Washington DC, Bay Area, Atlanta, etc got theirs courtesy of a nation that understood investing in its people.

[phantompilot]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Nope, new buyers get to use what older buyers paid for through their taxes.

Prop 13 didn't do that. Moving to a PAYG model would be the answer there if thats a concern...

[evening sun]

Prop 13, doesn't stop all the bond assessments being added on to the property tax bill.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by TheFlats

LA has had to raise hundreds of billions of dollars of sales tax revenue to build out a functioning mass transit system. Washington DC, Bay Area, Atlanta, etc got theirs courtesy of a nation that understood investing in its people.

Charge the users of mass transit what it costs for construction & maintenance. That’s what other cities do.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by evening sun

Prop 13, doesn't stop all the bond assessments being added on to the property tax bill.

Right Mello Roos to get around Prop 13.

And before prop 13 how many HOA's were there charging you to maintain the streets and parks, the city used to take care of? You get taxed one way or another, unless you bought when home and salaries were lower.

[TheFlats]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Charge the users of mass transit what it costs for construction & maintenance. That’s what other cities do.

You have very few (if any, can you find an example?) transit systems that pay for construction costs through fares. New York didn't charge massive fares to use its subway system right after it was opened to pay back the construction costs. Manhattan would not be a global economic hub today without the ability to get 8 million people on and off the island every day.

Either Hong Kong or Tokyo, I forget which, has real estate rights to land around its stations which it uses to generate revenue for construction and maintenance. I doubt you're talking about that though.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by TheFlats

You have very few (if any, can you find an example?) transit systems that pay for construction costs through fares. New York didn't charge massive fares to use its subway system right after it was opened to pay back the construction costs. Manhattan would not be a global economic hub today without the ability to get 8 million people on and off the island every day.

Either Hong Kong or Tokyo, I forget which, has real estate rights to land around its stations which it uses to generate revenue for construction and maintenance. I doubt you're talking about that though.

I was thinking the Washington DC Metro. They seem to increase fare regularly to keep up with maintained and expansion.

[phantompilot]

Public transit is enormously wasteful. It should be privatized.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by phantompilot

Public transit is enormously wasteful. It should be privatized.

It's the lifeblood of New York City and the metropolitan area. That may be a unique case though.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by simbared

Does anyone know what percentage of CA homes still fall under Prop 13? I already tried Google.

All of them. Prop 13 is a proposition that covers every build8ng bought and sold in Ca. It doesn’t have a cutoff date. The reason your neighbor is paying “less” than you are is because they bought 20/30 years ago at x price and you bought this year at y price. And the property tax is based on the amount you paid not when you bought.
So if your neighbor bought 30 years ago for 100,000 dollars and you bought today for 100,000 dollars YOU would actually have a lower rate than he would because his rate increased over the 30 years.
But if he bought 30 years ago for 100,000 and you buy the house next door for 490,000 your taxes are based off 490,000. The size of the house doesn’t matter