Unfair Property Tax Base
John J. Curtis’ column on Proposition 13 (“Equalize Property Taxes, and California Can Put Humpty Together Again,” Op-Ed Page, March 22) really struck a chord. By taxing properties with the same market value at greatly disparate levels, Proposition 13 rewards those able to buy before property values skyrocketed and punishes latecomers. The young first-time buyer pays not only his share of taxes, but that of the properties that have not changed hands.
Furthermore, Proposition 13 has provided a strong disincentive to sell, since only those unlucky to be young and buying for the first time are willing to pay the current reassessed tax levels. Such a disincentive artificially shrinks the housing supply, thus driving prices even higher.
This scheme has allowed current property owners to pull the ladder up on my generation. A young family today sees the staggering cost of owning a home coupled with Proposition 13’s “reassessed” property tax as a truly insurmountable hurdle.
Up to this point, the young have been quiet. Many are still in school or live at home; our interests in these matters have yet to be vested. But with each passing day it becomes clearer and clearer that our profligate elders have enjoyed 40 post-war years of good living and passed the bill to us.
Soon, we’re not going to take it anymore.
JACK DAVIES
South Pasadena
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