Enough, already.
That’s the clear finding from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies’ latest poll of California voters. By a margin of 78 percent to 16 percent, voters agreed “that taxes in California were already so high that they were driving many people and businesses out of the state,” reported Berkeley IGS director Mark DiCamillo.
The poll has bad news for the proponents of Proposition 15, some of whom have expressed a desire to try again to pass the measure. Prop. 15 would have repealed part of Proposition 13, the 1978 tax reform that caps increases in the assessed value of property at a maximum of 2 percent per year until there is a change of ownership. Proposition 15 would have created a split tax roll and required the reassessment of non-residential property to market value at least every three years, with some exceptions.
Voters rejected Prop. 15 by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.
It turns out that Proposition 13 is strongly popular, even after 42 years. Among voters who expressed an opinion, Prop. 13 had the support of 53 percent, compared to only 19 percent who said they did not support it. Voters “would endorse its passage by a wide margin if it were up for a vote again today,” DiCamillo wrote.
The poll found that majorities or pluralities of every sub-group of voters would support Proposition 13 if it was on the ballot today with the exception of voters who describe themselves as “very liberal in politics.” Prop. 13 has the support of registered Democrats, No Party Preference voters and political moderates. It is supported by renters. It has the backing of voters “across all age, race, gender and regions of the state.”
Voters who said they support Proposition 13 were opposed to Proposition 15 by a margin of eight-to-one, 76 percent to 9 percent.
The poll also had bad news for elected officials and interest groups who are hoping to pass new tax increases in the coming legislative session. “An historically large proportion of voters (81 percent) now feels the level of state and local taxes paid by the average Californian is high, while just 19 percent consider taxes in the state to be low or about right,” DiCamillo reported.
Between two-thirds and three-quarters of voters described gasoline taxes, state income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes as “high.”
They’re right. California now has the highest gasoline taxes in the nation. The top marginal state income tax rate, 13.3 percent, is also the highest in the nation, and so is the state sales tax rate of 7.25 percent. Even with Proposition 13’s limits in place, California ranks in the upper half of all states in per-capita property tax collections.
If state leaders want to continue to increase spending on new and expanded programs, they will have to do one of two things: cut spending somewhere else, or pursue policies that dramatically boost economic growth and job creation.
There’s no shortage of good candidates for cuts in government spending. State lawmakers who are serious about funding budget priorities should take action to immediately stop the ridiculously wasteful high-speed rail project. Any lawmaker who proposes a tax increase should first explain why even one dollar is being spent on the bullet train.
Ultimately, the state’s fiscal fix will have to be found in economic growth. We’ve tried high taxes. They’re not working for us.
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November 30, 2020 at 12:19AM
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Californians have had enough of high taxes - OCRegister
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