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Political Perspective By Nancy Ahlswede
Voters will face two real estate-oriented
propositions on the June 8th primary ballot –
Prop. 13 and Prop. 15. Rental property owners
will be affected by the outcome of each.
Yes on Prop. 13
Currently, seismic retrofits trigger property tax
reassessments. Proposition 13 will ensure that
property owners who provide seismic retrofitting
to their property, whether it is single, multifamily
residential, mixed-use or commercial, are afforded
the same protections as everyone else under the
1978 Proposition 13 tax protection laws.
In some areas of California, municipal codes
mandate specific types of seismic retrofitting that
are outside of the state’s definition of what is
currently exempt from tax reassessment. In those circumstances, property owners are required to
retrofit their buildings, and then pay increased
property taxes as a result of having to comply with
retrofitting codes. This is the unfair tax on property
owners that Prop. 13 seeks to address.
An additional benefit of Prop. 13 is that it provides
exemptions from tax reassessment for additional
new construction, when conducted concurrently
with seismic retrofitting. Under present law, if one
conducts other construction concurrent to seismic
retrofitting (the seismic retrofitting that is currently
exempt from triggering a tax reassessment), this
new construction will still trigger a tax
reassessment. Under Prop. 13, this automatic
trigger would be removed.
No on Prop. 15
Today’s news about the enormous state budget
deficit underscores the urgent need to defeat Prop.
15 on the June 8th ballot. Should this issue pass, the
California Secretary of State future elections will be
publicly financed. If voters think the state can
charge a fee to lobbyists to pay for a harmless pilot
program that might clean up Sacramento politics,
Prop. 15 could pass. If they learn what Prop. 15
would really do, it will fail.
Prop. 15 permanently repeals the ban on public
financing of political campaigns – from city council
to Governor. With a simple majority vote,
legislators can relieve themselves of the burden to
raise money and bill taxpayers for their campaigns.
If the courts uphold the lobbyist tax, that means
our lobbyist Ron Kingston and property owners will
pay the bill. If the courts throw out the tax, Prop. 15
gives legislators the authority to raid the General
Fund, raise taxes, or both to finance campaigns.
It is the intent of Prop. 15 backers to silence the
voice of business interests.
To qualify for public campaign financing,
candidates must collect 7,500 contributions of $5.
And just like four years ago when they put Prop. 89 on the ballot, they wrote Prop. 15 to give the
Legislature authority to impose new taxes and fees
on businesses to pay for campaigns.
Courts in three states have ruled similar lobbyist
taxes unconstitutional, which leaves the General
Fund as the source of revenue for public campaign
financing. Any public program that depends on
General Fund support will be in competition for
funding with an entirely new group – legislators.
Think it won’t happen? Ask any legislator what
he/she likes least about the job and they will all tell
you that they feel like they are always running for
office or trying to raise campaign money.
Legislative News
State Senator Rod Wright has agreed to carry
AACSC’s second bill: SB 1483 which will extend the
sunset to the voluntary creation of a multifamily
improvement district.
The MID will be extended for 10 more years (until
2022) to allow rental property owners to join
together for shared resources (like hiring a security
patrol for the neighborhood). It has been used
several times with the most notable example being
Andy Street in Long Beach. The MID concept is
another tool that landlords can use (voluntarily).
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