Wilson Joins Bid to Uphold Proposition 13

Gov. Pete Wilson, who opposed Proposition 13 in 1978 when he was mayor of San Diego, joined Republican legislators Thursday in an effort to support the property tax limitations against a challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wilson said that he, the lawmakers and others would submit a friend-of-the-court brief arguing for the constitutionality of Proposition 13.

To throw out the complex tax plan--now Article XIII of the State Constitution--would only create chaos in California’s tax system and exacerbate the state’s fiscal problems, Wilson said.

“What we have now is the threat of an incredible dislocation that would visit terrible unfairness on California taxpayers,” added Wilson during a press conference on the lawn of the modest home of Muriel and Jim MacGregor in Bellflower.

The MacGregors, who are retired, now pay $525 a year in property taxes on the green stucco house they built in 1951, Muriel MacGregor said. She guessed that their tax bill would triple if Proposition 13 were thrown out. If that happened, they might have to sell the house, she said.

Since they owned their home when Proposition 13, the Howard Jarvis-Paul Gann-sponsored initiative, was approved by voters in 1978, the basic assessed value of the house remains frozen at the 1975 level with increases of no more than 2% a year. The tax rate is set at 1% of the assessed value.

The tax law has been challenged on grounds that it is unfair to people who bought their homes after 1978 and thus are assessed and taxed at a higher level. Article XIII requires a reassessment of houses at the purchase price whenever they are sold.

With the escalation of housing values since 1978, people who own homes similar to the MacGregors’, but who bought in a later year, pay a higher tax--five times as much or more in some cases.

On Oct. 7, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by Stephanie Nordlinger against Los Angeles County, which administers the property tax law, challenging Proposition 13 on that basis. The Supreme Court has struck down a multitiered West Virginia tax system that is somewhat similar to California’s, but Wilson argued that the California law meets the fairness test established by the court.

“Proposition 13 has survived challenges before, but never one as serious as it will face early next year when the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an argument to overturn it,” Wilson said.

While the California Supreme Court has invalidated several sections of Proposition 13, it upheld the property tax limits.

Wilson was joined by about a dozen GOP members of the California Assembly in pledging to fight for Proposition 13. The group included several who vigorously fought the state tax increases that Wilson won this year to help balance the state budget.

On Thursday, Wilson said Californians cannot afford any more tax hikes even though the state faces a new budget deficit.