Property Tax season (Berkeley, Oakland, Stanford: sale, real estate, home sales)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by damba

Your ignorance on the history and current situation in CA as related to prop 13 is apparent. It is a huge failure in reality. There is no such this as a ‘one size fits all’.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-e...outputType=amp

Very one sided story and yet it states: "Proposition 13 has, as promised, protected homeowners from sharp increases in their property tax bills"

There would have been no Prop 13 or groundswell of support had the legislature passed the buck and left it to voters... never in a million years dreaming it would pass...

Prop 13 is in large part a product of Serrano Decision where the State took over the purse strings for local schools... it was one thing to pay higher taxes for excellent local schools and another when tax money left the district...

In addition... just about every levy is passed in my jurisdiction... under Prop 13 voters must approve new property assessments and they do... only 55% voter approval to renovate or build a new school.

[davidt1]

Yeah, the LA Times is not what people should rely on for honest reporting.

CA Prop 13 is a great protection for home owners. Still, I don't think it does enough, as additional tax assessments are often added on. Other other points made by that tax-and-spend liberal government paid article can be easily refuted.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

A lot of states manage to have good schools and well maintained public infrastructure without taxing people out of their homes. Just a few states run by Democrats can't such as Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. The Dems here think govt exists to provide fat pensions and benefits for them and their cronies. As I said they are nothing but racketeers not public servants. The Republicans think government serves the people, The Democrats think people should serve the government and that government should serve themselves.

I simply have no idea how anyone can think the situation we have here in Illinois is acceptable with a corrupt government literally driving people from their homes.

I do not argue that there are _extremely_ corrupt politicians in IL. Both GOP and Democrats. Something DOES need to be done about that. But there are still plenty of good people who believe in a vision of government for the people that are democrats. Generally, the states with the best schools are clustered at the top of those states that have higher taxes. Sure, there are outliers, but the rule still holds.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ls/1079181001/

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by RJA29

I do not argue that there are _extremely_ corrupt politicians in IL. Both GOP and Democrats. Something DOES need to be done about that. But there are still plenty of good people who believe in a vision of government for the people that are democrats. Generally, the states with the best schools are clustered at the top of those states that have higher taxes. Sure, there are outliers, but the rule still holds.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ls/1079181001/

Article says that "Parent education levels, for example, which are among the best predictors of student success, are among the highest in Massachusetts." So what I take from this statement is, more money does not necessarily mean higher student achievement. CPS and DC public schools spend a ton of money and get little in return.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Article says that "Parent education levels, for example, which are among the best predictors of student success, are among the highest in Massachusetts." So what I take from this statement is, more money does not necessarily mean higher student achievement. CPS and DC public schools spend a ton of money and get little in return.

Agreed. It's not 100% either way.

[damba]

Originally Posted by davidt1

Yeah, the LA Times is not what people should rely on for honest reporting.

CA Prop 13 is a great protection for home owners. Still, I don't think it does enough, as additional tax assessments are often added on. Other other points made by that tax-and-spend liberal government paid article can be easily refuted.

Go ahead and try to refute them, in that case.

You are sticking your head in the sand, like many others in favor of RE taxes being essentially ‘frozen’ for life.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by damba

Go ahead and try to refute them, in that case.

You are sticking your head in the sand, like many others in favor of RE taxes being essentially ‘frozen’ for life.

Lots of misinformation on Prop 13.

Prop 13 establishes a statewide 1% Property Tax with a 2% annual inflation cap.

Even if nothing else changes the increase in 10 years is roughly 22% with compounding... so not even close to frozen.

Also... there are some 600 taxing agencies in California with the power to levy special assessments and they do... mosquito, police, fire, parks, schools, street lights, Oakland Raiders (Which are Leaving), etc...

My single family home tax rate is about 1.7% because Prop 13 lets the voters approve taxes in ADDITION to Prop 13 and in Oakland California the voters are very generous.

Please remember that California has almost every tax known and Property Tax is just one of the big 3... the others being Income and Sales which can each be about 10%...

Then we have new taxes on everything from car tags to cell phone service to a brand new $6,000 annual tax on vacant/unused property... that's right... a 6k annual vacancy tax.

[Hiruko]

As someone who is politically conservative, and whose LA-based grandfather helped bankroll the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, I have to say that I have a problem with Prop 13. I think Prop 13 has been a failure in that it has driven housing costs up by discouraging sales, and it has deprived local schools of funding. I find property taxes to be one of the least offensive taxes. I don't HAVE to own a home or property. We do not need a Prop 13-like law in Illinois. What we need is more accountability for spending. As Illinois voters, we need to stop voting for people who find it more politically advantageous to raise taxes instead of finding savings.

[Ultrarunner]

Schools have more money than ever...

Property tax revenue has been up almost every year since Prop 13 passed.

The California Legislature decided to leave it to the voters and at the 11th hour floated a competing Prop which lost to Prop 13.

Had the Legislature simply indexed the Home Owner Exemption for inflation Prop 13 never would have had a chance.

The $7,000 Exemption meant a lot for owners of modest homes back in the day that could be bought for 10 to 15k.

Call me a skeptic but I don't for a minute think politicians can be trusted without constraints... local governments several weeks since election are already putting new property tax measures together...

By the way... I closed on my home less than 90 days ago...

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Schools have more money than ever...

Property tax revenue has been up almost every year since Prop 13 passed.

The California Legislature decided to leave it to the voters and at the 11th hour floated a competing Prop which lost to Prop 13.

Had the Legislature simply indexed the Home Owner Exemption for inflation Prop 13 never would have had a chance.

The $7,000 Exemption meant a lot for owners of modest homes back in the day that could be bought for 10 to 15k.

Call me a skeptic but I don't for a minute think politicians can be trusted without constraints... local governments several weeks since election are already putting new property tax measures together...

By the way... I closed on my home less than 90 days ago...

Compare how much Illinois spends per pupil with California. Compare the performance of Illinois students with those in California. There isn't a direct correlation between the two metrics, but if you look at the academic programs of the best public schools in Illinois with those in California, Illinois blows them out of the water.