Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/08/post_234.php" target="_blank">http://www.laobserved.com/biz/..._234.php</a> When you're out of touch, it shows.
Originally Posted By fkurucz "Entrepreneurs and business people around the world and here at home think that at some point America is going to become like Greece or like Spain or Italy ... or like California" Never mind that California is the home to that commie, job killing hotbed of Marxism: Silicon Valley.
Originally Posted By 182 California debt clock look at the revenue/debt <a href="http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-california-debt-clock.html" target="_blank">http://www.usdebtclock.org/sta...ock.html</a>
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "California debt clock look at the revenue/debt" If you can't articulate a point, why bother posting?
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 California is way in debt, you can't really argue that point..The state is a complete wreck...
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Eliminate Prop 13 once and for all. Problem solved." It'll never be eliminated, but there are certainly many aspects of it that need to be either eliminated or revised. The problem is, most people only associate with protecting them from a sudden rise in property taxes, and don't realize all the other harm it now does to the state. Just to pick one thing- since noone has a right to inherit anything, if I do happen to inherit my mother's house, why do I get to inherit her comparatively ridiculously low tax rate? All her neighbors have to pay the going rate of $4K to $6K a year in property tax because they purchased their homes within the last 10 or so years (or less), but because she bought in 1974 I only have to pay $1200? I mean, sure, that's a deal, but it also isn't equitable. I understand the principle behind her low rate, but not mine. And then there's the business aspects of Prop 13. Holy cow.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "California is way in debt, you can't really argue that point..The state is a complete wreck..." I'll argue it. It's a wreck because of 13. Another thing that got thrown into 13 was that no tax can be implemented without a 2/3's approval vote of both legislative bodies or the voting public. That's insane and guarantees the gridlock we've seen here for years now. California's problems are easily fixable, but it's a tyranny of the minority. It's why I laugh when people call it a hotbed of Democratic, liberal hippie moonbeam weirdos. Far from it. It's controlled by a small group of tight ass black suited GOP ideologues who refuse to compromise on one damn thing. Sound familiar?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox My previous landlord and my current landlord both earn six figures each year from their rental properties alone. And every single one of their properties was either inherited or bought over 30 years ago when the tax rates were insanely low. These people are making hundreds of thousands in rent but paying less than $1000 per property in annual taxes. And there are several million just like them, being disproportionally undertaxed when they can easily afford to pay more. How is that fair when our state is drowning in debt?
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Yet another aspect of 13 that has to go.<< You like to blame everything on Republicans but Prop 13 was voted for by voters... So your theory( conspiracy) about a select few rich Republicans plotting the demise of California is BS.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Yet another aspect of 13 that has to go.<< You like to blame everything on Republicans but Prop 13 was voted for by voters... So your theory( conspiracy) about a select few rich Republicans plotting the demise of California is BS.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "You like to blame everything on Republicans but Prop 13 was voted for by voters... So your theory( conspiracy) about a select few rich Republicans plotting the demise of California is BS." You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. 13 was voted upon in 1978. Times and economies change. It was spear-headed by Howard Jarvis, a noted anti-tax advocate. The GOP hsd stopped every attempt to change it since. I voted against it. I'm going to guess you might not have even been born then.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Agreed, SPP. When Prop 13 was passed, small bungalows in San Francisco (like the one I live in) were worth less than six figures. Now, they're worth over a million. Yet the property tax rates did not change as the housing prices continued to inflate. Average rents for these million-dollar homes run between $3000 to $6000 per month, depending upon the location. Yet a huge percentage of the property owners acquired these homes prior to Prop 13's passage, which means they're still paying tax rates from the seventies, when the properties and rents were one-tenth as much as they are today. Over 70% of San Francisco residences are rental properties. And most of those residences are paying the old pre-Prop 13 tax rates. These landlords are making a killing in rent but giving back virtually nothing for maintaining the infrastructure their tenants continue to use, which is also aging at an alarming rate. How is that fair to the city and county? It's not. Prop 13 needs to be abolished.
Originally Posted By fkurucz But back to the original point. There is a TON of entrepreneurship happening in California.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< My previous landlord and my current landlord both earn six figures each year from their rental properties alone. And every single one of their properties was either inherited or bought over 30 years ago when the tax rates were insanely low. These people are making hundreds of thousands in rent but paying less than $1000 per property in annual taxes. And there are several million just like them, being disproportionally undertaxed when they can easily afford to pay more. >>> Interesting. Here in Texas, we have protection from skyrocketing assessments causing skyrocketing property tax increases, but they are far more reasonable than CA's Prop 13. Specifically, in Texas: - Assessment increases are capped at 10% annually, not 2% as in California. - The 10% annual cap applies ONLY to your declared "homestead." That is, it does NOT apply to vacation homes or investment properties, which are assessed and taxed annually at their market value. We also have protection for the elderly through a law that says your primary residence cannot be foreclosed upon for failure to pay property tax if you're over 65. These rules provide consumer protection, but have not resulted in the widespread disparity and unfairness in property tax bills as has happened in California.
