Stop Blaming Proposition 13 for Financial Woes
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The news media continually let pass a statement that Proposition 13 stripped so many dollars from local counties and cities that they cannot possibly maintain the services they are chartered to do.
Now, in the Jan. 24 Real Estate section, we read that the median price for a Southland home went up 8.9% in 1998.
Think what that did to the property tax rolls as the turnover raised the assessed values of hundreds of thousands of properties.
The county and local governments have “suffered” a gain, on average, of about 8% a year in gross property tax revenues since Proposition 13 was passed.
Publish the total property tax revenues, annually, since 1978, by Southland county, and please stop wailing about the effects of Proposition 13, which saved many thousands of us from having to default our mortgages.
LORNE E. O’BRIEN
Palos Verdes Estates
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