Dear Housing Commission and City Council, I am writing to voice my support for the SCF measure to reform Prop 13. When Prop 13 was passed in 1978, it had the appropriate priority of protecting homeowners from property tax increases. But the unintended consequence was that big corporations disproportionately benefited from protections and did so at the expense of local governments, social programs, and schools. It is inappropriate to prioritize recruiting investors and big corporations into our communities without asking for their investment in those same communities. Their ownership of property removes property from private ownership and, in doing so, entails a cost to the community in which they reside. California has one of the lowest commercial tax rates in the nation (just 1%). We want to recruit business to California but not at the expense of the health and wellbeing of our citizens. This reform would reverse consequences of Prop 13 to communities; consequences were unintentended and that have been born out as unacceptable. Sincerely, Kate Babington Received on Sun Jun 28 2020 - 15:01:46 PDT
