High-Tech Campaign Targets Property Tax : Finance: Earl Carraway uses Internet to push for elimination of levy. Schools would lose primary funding source.

Earl H. Carraway, a self-described political “loner,” is waging an electronic age campaign via the Internet and a World Wide Web site to eliminate the property tax in California.

The 64-year-old mortgage banker and former Marine got approval to begin his quest from the California secretary of state’s office earlier this month. He has until March 20 to gather 693,230 voter signatures to qualify the measure for the 1996 statewide ballot.

“I believe people are ready,” said Carraway, who lives in a wealthy area of Laguna Hills known as Nellie Gail Ranch. “I think we’ll be able to get enough signatures just in Orange County.”

Since he lacks the backing of an organization, he is using the Internet and a World Wide Web site (https://www.westdat.com/galactic/notax), to conduct his campaign, which he has dubbed “The Quiet Crusade.”

If property taxes were abolished, counties, cities, schools, special districts and redevelopment agencies throughout the state would lose about $20 billion in revenue, said Matt Newman, a spokesman for the state’s legislative analyst’s office.

In addition, eliminating property-tax deductions would increase personal income and business tax revenues by about $1.2 billion, Newman said.

But Carraway doesn’t believe his effort will shut down state and local government. As a former home builder, he believes that keeping the $20 billion in private pockets would help pump up the sagging economy.

“You know, I’ve had conversations with former aerospace workers who have doctorates but have lost their jobs only to work the counter at a 7-Eleven,” Carraway said. “And, I read the other day in a newspaper that in Palmdale, many homes are in foreclosure. It’s sad. And no one in Sacramento is doing anything about it.”

He acknowledges not having a funding solution for public schools if property tax revenue no longer existed.

In Orange County, such a measure would devastate public schools, which receive 50% to 60% of their funding from property taxes, said a spokeswoman from the Orange County Department of Education.

“My first question is, how would they fund education then?” said Wendy Margarita, Orange County Department of Education director of business services. “I wouldn’t mind not paying property taxes too. But I care about education. What’s his proposal?”

Carraway points out it’s the state Legislature’s responsibility to fund public schools, whether by a flat tax on income, a higher sales tax or some other funding mechanism.

“I don’t have answers, I have questions,” he said. “In the case of schools, the state Legislature has the ability to find the money, it doesn’t have to come from property taxes. It might be replaced by state aid. As to the analysis by legislative analyst, they didn’t even look at the prospects of pumping in $20 billion to the economy for one year. But what if you did that for two years? That won’t help the economy?”

*

Already, Carraway has received Internet inquiries from voters wanting petitions to circulate and media calls for interviews. He also has geared his advertising to computer users and has a number for fund raising, (900) 370-9100.

When somebody calls the 900 number, they pay $2.95 for each minute they spend on the line listening to Carraway’s message. His supporters can contact him via the Internet and get a petition sent to them for signature gathering.

His argument for abolishing the property tax, as stated on the Internet, goes like this: “What if the $20 billion . . . were placed in CDs or savings institutions and leveraged five or six times? Would interest rates be lowered? If so, would that stimulate housing starts? Would it be a boon to entrepreneurs? Would the manufacture of furniture and appliances be increased? What about home refinances? How much would the average homeowner save per month?”

Carraway was born in North Carolina, served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War and stayed in California after his discharge from the military. He taught in Westminster schools and has a bachelor and masters degree in public school administration from Long Beach State University.

It’s not the first time that Carraway has entered the political arena. He served for a brief time as a school trustee in Tustin and in 1981 helped sponsor a statewide initiative that would have prohibited most laws limiting development or requiring low densities.

In 1972, he finished third in a congressional GOP primary election and later filed a $2-million lawsuit against various figures involved in that race, alleging that he was the victim of smear tactics.

Carraway was himself named a defendant in 1978 in a $2-million libel lawsuit filed by a Riverside City councilman who supported slow growth and ran unsuccessfully for mayor.

Nothing resulted from either lawsuit.

In 1985, when Carraway’s wife, Sharon MacMillan, headed the teachers’ union at Saddleback College, he was behind a controversial piece of political literature that attacked incumbents on the Saddleback Community College District board and other candidates.

“It was a vicious attack filled with statements that didn’t even qualify as lies, they were so bad,” said Mike Eggers, who is an aide to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), and was running for the Saddleback board at the time.

Carraway insists he did nothing improper in connection with the campaign.