Amended in Senate May 7, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25

Introduced by Senator Wyland

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(Coauthors: Senators Anderson, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Knight, Nielsen, and Walters)

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March 14, 2013

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25—Relative to the 35th anniversary of Proposition 13.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 25, as amended, 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 begin delete that, end delete begin insert that end insert was able to be spent in
the economy to create jobs and foster economic development; and

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WHEREAS, The volatility of income and sales tax revenue to
the state and local governments is a major flaw in California’s
tax system, while Proposition 13 has rendered California’s
property taxes as a stable and predictable source of public revenue,
even during economic downturns, that has provided a major benefit
to local governments throughout California; and

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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.