Carpenter’s Folly

The politicization of the state Board of Equalization has not occurred overnight. With its four sprawling districts and its dealings with the very visible subject of taxes, the board now is seen as a possible stepping stone to higher office. Running for the board has become a big-bucks operation, with the exception of long-time 1st District member William M. Bennett, a curmudgeon from Marin County who has gotten reelected so far without taking any money.

Fourth District member Paul B. Carpenter, however, has made fund-raising a low art during his first term on the board, which oversees property-tax assessments in California and administers the collection of billions of dollars in sales and gasoline taxes. As detailed in The Times by Glenn F. Bunting and Daniel M. Weintraub, Carpenter has voted on 34 tax cases affecting firms that have donated more than $50,000 to his campaign fund in the past three years. In 25 of those cases Carpenter voted to reduce the firms’ tax liability.

The day is not far off when it will take $1 million to win a board seat. The problem with having an elected board is that potential conflict of interest is almost endemic and the temptation to shake down firms for a contribution could become irresistible--whether the member ultimately votes for or against the givers, or even abstains. The board sets the property-tax assessments for all of California’s utilities and railroads, and handles appeals of income-tax and bank- and corporation-tax decisions from the Franchise Tax Board.

Passing a conflict-of-interest law might help, but it would not get at the root of the problem. Rather, California, the only state that still has an elected tax board, should abolish this archaic creature dating from 1879 and do what other states have done: Create a state Department of Revenue to administer the entire tax system, with disputes decided by an appeals board or a tax court.