BILL NUMBER: SCR 25	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wyland

                        MARCH 14, 2013

   Relative to the 35th anniversary of Proposition 13.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 25, as introduced, Wyland. The 35th anniversary of the
enactment of Proposition 13.
   This measure would commemorate June 6, 2013, as the 35th
anniversary of the approval of Proposition 13 by California voters.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, On June 6, 1978, Proposition 13, officially titled the
"People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation," and popularly known
as the "Jarvis-Gann Initiative," was overwhelmingly approved by
California's voters, reducing property tax rates on homes,
businesses, and farms, and capping the rate of increase in the
future; and
   WHEREAS, Prior to the adoption of Proposition 13, California's
raging inflation had sent property tax bills in California soaring so
high that many families had to sell their homes because they could
not afford to pay their taxes; and
   WHEREAS, Prior to the adoption of Proposition 13, property tax
assessments showed wider divergences than assessment disparities
under the current acquisition-value system; and
   WHEREAS, With the approval of Proposition 13, real property values
were adjusted to a base value equal to the 1976 assessed value of
that real property, thereby introducing an objective standard upon
which real property would be taxed and ending the previous subjective
standard for assessment that engendered the property tax assessment
abuses that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s; and
   WHEREAS, With the passage of Proposition 13, taxpayers, for the
first time, were provided a measure of certainty with respect to
their property taxes; and
   WHEREAS, In the 35 years following the passage of Proposition 13,
the average homeowner has saved tens of thousands of dollars in
property tax payments, money that, was able to be spent in the
economy to create jobs and foster economic development; and
   WHEREAS, Since the passage of Proposition 13, proposed
alternatives to Proposition 13 would have had a variety of unwelcome
effects, including substantial tax increases for low-income and
elderly homeowners; and
   WHEREAS, Since the passage of Proposition 13, voters' 2-to-1
rejection in 1992 of Proposition 167 suggests that the split roll
alternative to the current system, in which business would pay
property taxes at a rate higher than that imposed on residential
properties, finds little favor with voters; and
   WHEREAS, Proposition 13 has become a nationwide symbol for
taxpayer revolt and for citizens exercising control and power over
their governance; and
   WHEREAS, Thursday, June 6, 2013, marks the 35th year following the
voters' approval of Proposition 13; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature, in recognition of the
impact Proposition 13 has had on the State of California, formally
commemorates June 6, 2013, as the 35th anniversary date of
Proposition 13; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature reaffirm its support for
Proposition 13 and the benefit that it provides to individual
homeowners and to the state's overall economy; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Governor of the State of California, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.