I remember my conservative/blue collar father breathed a huge sigh of relief when prop 13 was passed. Before prop 13 property taxes were kicking older/retired/sick/middle income people out of their homes--yearly.
If you are lucky and can buy a home in the Bay Area--believe me forced retirement comes pretty quick.(This goes 10 fold for non-union workers). Getting old sucks! Having to get rid of a house you maintained for years because you can't afford the property taxes is criminal.
I was a child, but state and local taxes were completely out
of control. Home owners listened to every angry word Howard Jarvis spewed out. Even as a child, I knew that angry man was right.
(To be completely honest; I still think property taxes are too high. All those bonds and temporary scare tactics add up. It's almost like people don't realize just because
some politician's pet project looks good in the ballot box doesn't mean you don't need to pay for it? )
I know rents suck. I don't have any respect for people who make their living off renter either--yes, I think it a horrid
way to make money! If I pissed off a Landlord, all that comes to mind is a image of Eddie Murphy behind bars on SNL--repeating, "I hate my landlord!"
That said, I don't think rents would go down if they got rid of prop 13. Why--because people are greedy bastards! Rah-rah Capitalism!
The problem is when you cap gains at 1-2%, any time inflation is higher, that person is now getting a subsidy.
This is why CA has enormous debt and swaths of areas that have gone bankrupt. It's not sustainable.
Get rid of Prop 13 (or raise the limit) and rent control. I'd say cap it at 5% because if inflation is higher than that, well that's on the Federal Government more than local.
SF isn't making more land and they're also making it impossible to build up. Hell, my buddy looked into adding a deck onto his house. After doing research he figured it wasn't worth it (some people face years of delays getting neighbors to sign off on a deck on their own f'ing property).
I remember my conservative/blue collar father breathed a huge sigh of relief when prop 13 was passed. Before prop 13 property taxes were kicking older/retired/sick/middle income people out of their homes--yearly.
If you are lucky and can buy a home in the Bay Area--believe me forced retirement comes pretty quick.(This goes 10 fold for non-union workers). Getting old sucks! Having to get rid of a house you maintained for years because you can't afford the property taxes is criminal.
I was a child, but state and local taxes were completely out of control. Home owners listened to every angry word Howard Jarvis spewed out. Even as a child, I knew that angry man was right.
(To be completely honest; I still think property taxes are too high. All those bonds and temporary scare tactics add up. It's almost like people don't realize just because some politician's pet project looks good in the ballot box doesn't mean you don't need to pay for it? )
I know rents suck. I don't have any respect for people who make their living off renter either--yes, I think it a horrid way to make money! If I pissed off a Landlord, all that comes to mind is a image of Eddie Murphy behind bars on SNL--repeating, "I hate my landlord!"
That said, I don't think rents would go down if they got rid of prop 13. Why--because people are greedy bastards! Rah-rah Capitalism!