Reasons for Proposition 13

Re “Prop. 13 Still Has Lessons to Teach,” June 14.

A lot of recent articles in The Times have carried the tone that it’s all the voters’ fault for passing Proposition 13. This is one of the first articles to hint at the real reasons for Prop. 13.

The reason was the failure of politicians to recognize the inequities building up in the property tax system and then do anything about it. Government at all levels was only too glad to ride the gravy train of increasing property values and not worry about who was paying the bill. A homeowner could not predict the future value of his or her property tax. Neither was there a link between ability to pay and property tax. In the mid-’70s, Los Angeles County became very efficient at raising property values. One could look forward to property assessments doubling every two to three years. The property tax became a tax on the paper value of property rather than a realized gain or profit.

Under Prop. 13, property tax became predictable. If one bought a new house, one knew going in what the property tax would be.

The question to be asked in the wake of Prop. 13 and the myriad of other propositions since is why has the political system failed to detect and resolve these issues? Can the system respond or do the issues affect too many special-interest groups so that only a crisis in terms of a voter-approved proposition will generate a solution?

DAVID G. WILKINS, Lancaster