Californians Back Brown Plan for Vote on Extending Higher Taxes, Poll Says

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bloomberg News

Californians Back Brown Plan for Vote on Extending Higher Taxes, Poll Says
By Alison Vekshin - Apr 23, 2011 8:00 PM CT

A majority of California voters support Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to close a budget gap with spending cuts and increased levies and want to vote on the tax proposal in a special election, a poll shows.

Voters support Brown’s proposal 52 percent to 38 percent, according to a poll released today by the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Times. The survey said 60 percent back a special election on the plan, while 35 percent oppose it.

“Not only do they support a mix of tax increases and spending cuts to balance the budget, but they are adamant about having the opportunity to vote on it themselves,” Dan Schnur, the poll director, said in a statement.

Republican lawmakers have resisted Brown’s proposal to let voters decide in June whether to extend $11.3 billion of expiring tax and fee increases to avert cuts in school and public-safety funds. The governor has said it’s too late for a June referendum on the package, a linchpin of his plan to erase what was a projected $26.6 billion deficit through June 2012.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-24/californians-back-brown-plan-for-vote-on-extending-higher-taxes-poll-says.html

[HankyDubs]

1. Make it happen.

Give us a chance to vote on this damn thing.

[EFerrari]

2. We have a GFO here, with Brown in the state house, to straighten out

how CA does business. I hope it isn't wasted.

[LuckyLib]

3. And a special election on prop 13? Time for property tax reform. And while they're at it,

let's tax churches.

[Mchill17]

6. Prop 13 works for people on fixed incomes

I am old enough to remember when senior citizens were losing their homes due to ever escalating property taxes, now I am one of them and am looking forward to my fixed income and a semi-fixed property tax. Prop 13 is a good thing.

[HankyDubs]

7. 2/3 majority requirement

is not a good thing. It allows a minority to completely shut down the entire process of dealing with the budget in a sensible way. Removing the 2/3 majority requirement does not mean seniors will lose their houses.

[diane in sf]

10. Prop 13 should be taken off commercial properties and homes worth over $2M as well as

getting rid of the 2/3rds majority vote trash that the Repugs use to jerk everybody around.

[JDPriestly]

11. Yes. We would not be able to keep our house if our property taxes went up.

[haele]

13. Prop 13 was a red herring to remove corporate property taxes and vacation home taxes on the wealthy.

Prop 13 needs to be broken up. The dirty little secret about Prop 13 is that it wasn't passed to help poor old Granny keep her home, it was passed to benefit out of state-based corporations that were buying cheap lots and old ranch or farm parcels to help them develop business parks and housing projects without paying an equitable tax increase for improvements on those property simply by creating a subsidiary corporate mail-drop entity in the State to qualify under Prop 13.
Prop 13 can remain as it is to protect primary residences with little impact on the state revenues one way or another, and a different tax structure can be placed on Corporate business properties and second or part-time homes that can make a significant difference. You shouldn't be able to use Prop 13 to lock down property taxes on a massive parking lot or on a corporate park "redevelopment" that's been going nowhere for 20 years thats also being used as a business write-off. Out of state property owners shouldn't be able to profit under Prop 13, and that's what they are currently doing
Ranches and Farms should also have their own category, due to the actual footprint necessary to run their businesses, and the identification of a private owner of record to winnow out the Corporate Farms from family farms be a critical factor in identifying what can fall under Prop 13 and what can't.

We in California need also to get a handle on our real estate and building development bubbles and how property values are assessed on the market. We've been royally screwed over the past 50 years. The average Californian really can't afford their homes at the values the banks are putting on them, even if there was some BS algorithm that indicated the property owner could could, effectively creating debt slavery to whomever holds the note on the house. The only Californians who aren't dependant on a stable income and the good graces of a bank are the ones who own their house free and clear.

More Californian residents are being hurt by Prop 13 as it is now than are being helped by it. It needs to be modified.

Haele

[arbusto_baboso]

21. Precisely. I pay more in property tax for my condo than DIsneyland does for their park.

Thank you Prop 13! :sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

4. Go Jerry Brown!! -- something more of our Dem Governors should be doing!!

[applegrove]

5. Thank god. You don't get something for nothing. Higher taxes are the way to go. Let us

hope that this is the start of a movement for responsible taxation in the USA. You guys need a vat tax.

[taught_me_patience]

8. I back the vote but not higher taxes

We're taxed high enough in California already.

[HankyDubs]

9. So much for shared sacrifice then

It's just the public schools and UC students that should bear the entire burden for the whole state.

[taught_me_patience]

14. Sorry, I already pay a huge share of taxes

I pay very high income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes as a new home owner.

[HankyDubs]

17. you sound like you're

Taxed
Enough
Already

So I guess we need to balance the budget on poor people and UC students, because they are filthy rich unlike yourself.

[JDPriestly]

12. We will have higher taxes. It's just a question of what will be taxed.

I favor increasing sales taxes on non-food items.

[totodeinhere]

15. Sales taxes are regressive and place a disproportionate burden on the poor.

And the poor are the same ones who will bear the brunt of the spending cuts, so that would be a double whammy against them. Not good.

[JDPriestly]

19. What taxes are not regressive?

If your landlord's property taxes go up, your rent will probably rise too.

The only tax that is not regressive, I suspect is the income tax on capital gains.

[No Elephants]

20. Yes

[mountainlion55]

16. Wrong target?

Why don't we end the the war on drugs here in california. That would save billions in prison cost, court cost etc. 70% of all crime in Cali is drug related in one way or another.Hell just listen to a police scanner on the weekend. Legalize Cannabis for all uses. Tax it accordingly. I'm on a fixed income and repealing prop13 would be disastrous for me! We are forced to send huge sums of money to red states that can't support themselves but give tax breaks to every crazy RW idea in the world. There has to be many alternitves to raising property taxes on people on a fixed income!:think:

[Kingofalldems]

18. K and R for the freepers and teabaggers to read