Property Tax Valued on Actual Sales Price

We might have guessed that outside developers, having been slowed down a bit by Proposition 2 (the PRIDE initiative), would contend that the voters were misled and really didn’t understand the consequences of what they were doing. But it’s disturbing to hear false propaganda from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, such as Ann Hight’s statement to The Times (July 2) that Proposition 2 resulted in a $3.5-million Pasadena city budget shortfall because of decreased property tax valuations for vacant land.

Just in case the chamber and Ms. Hight forgot about Howard Jarvis and Proposition 13, may I remind them that real property is not valued on the tax rolls by the potential value that a developer thinks he can make out of it, but rather by the actual sales price. I’ll bet Ms. Hight $10 that she cannot find one single vacant lot in Pasadena that has decreased in value on the tax rolls since the passage of Proposition 2.

DAVID W. STOVER

Pasadena