Marshall Thompson, your recent letter to the Malibu Times was a good one regarding our Malibu-Santa Monica school spin on their budget shortfall. However, the ending of your letter putting the blame on Proposition 13 is wrong. You are misguided. Proposition 13 is fair to all existing property owners because it bases tax liability on acquisition value, not on mercurial real estate market. It is fair to local governments because it allows for reassessment of property when it changes ownership. People have to realize in California that total property tax revenues to local governments has increased at a rate exceeding inflation since Proposition 13.
Proposition 13 is fair also to all new home property owners because it gives them two things they otherwise would not have, the benefit of a reasonable maximum property tax of 1% and the reasonable certainty as to what their tax bills will be in future years. No, Marshall Thompson, Proposition 13 gives no one a free ride. It treats equally all property owners purchased property of similar value at the same time. Proposition 13 is not the cause of California’s budget crises, too much reckless spending, together with a national recession, is the cause.
Bob and Jackie Sutton