Tax Rebels Take Note: Prop. 13 Is Here to Stay

As Proposition 13’s 20th anniversary approaches, expect a plethora of studies, seminars and retrospectives on the famous property tax cutting measure.

If the past 20 years is a guide, there will be a study to fit every taste. On the question of whether California governments collect more tax revenue in constant dollars than they did before Proposition 13, expect to find some that say yes and others that say no, along with disputes about what actually constitutes a tax.

There will be seminars on how government works or doesn’t work under Proposition 13’s provisions. And, new proposals for changes in government and tax structure will make the rounds, especially by those who found managing under the old tax system more to their liking. Remembrances of older people of how their home ownership was in jeopardy before 1978 undoubtedly will make television retrospectives.

A catalog of woes attributed to Proposition 13 will be circulated. In biblical times, unfortunate occurrences and unexpected terrors came from the hand of God. In 20th century California, it seems, modern plagues are the result of Proposition 13.

Consider:

* When the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a Los Angeles Times editorial cartoon by Paul Conrad showed a car crushed by a freeway. The license plate of the car read “Prop. 13.”

* When 12-year-old Polly Klaas was abducted from her home in Petaluma and brutally murdered, Proposition 13 was judged culpable in the crime by columnist Richard Reeves in a Money magazine article. Reeves wrote that the killer might have been apprehended before the murder took place if only the police had advanced communication equipment, which surely was denied them by the Proposition 13 tax cuts.

* The property tax cut measure even made an appearance just after the so-called trial of the century. In his TRB column in the New Republic, Robert Wright proclaimed that the No. 1 reason the O.J. Simpson criminal trial ended without a conviction was because of Howard Jarvis and Proposition 13. His theory had something to do with reduced municipal resources so that there wasn’t enough money to hire competent investigators.

Despite all this and the comments about Proposition 13’s effect on schools and other public services, Proposition 13 has been found not guilty in the court of public opinion.

California’s population has nearly doubled since the initiative was approved by voters in June, 1978. More than two-thirds of the people have moved from homes they owned in 1978, thereby allowing the property taxes on those homes to rise to market levels. But Proposition 13 is still supported by the public.

While Proposition 13 opponents vilified it during the recent recession because government revenue was limited and new revenues were harder to get, the Proposition 13 system again is working its magic. Some counties are running surpluses, while homeowners are protected against the high inflation in the housing market that is starting to sweep across the Golden State and would bring with it a tax shock under the pre-Proposition 13 system.

Before all the reminiscing occurs, however, let’s realize that Proposition 13 is more than a tax law. It has become a symbol for people taking control of government and having a stronger voice in tax matters. That is why it will be difficult to dislodge. Passed in the shadow of Watergate and still going strong in full view of government fiscal follies such as those at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, that concept is something to hold onto.

An obscure but sensible piece of American political philosophy says that nothing much happens until the status quo becomes more painful than change. This was certainly true when Proposition 13 passed. Voters risked difficult cuts in the public sector to prevent the real possibility that they might lose their homes.

Aging tax rebels recognize that Proposition 13 is now the status quo. The people will remove it if they fear the status quo more than any proposed change. That does not appear to be the case as Californians prepare to commemorate--or simply to acknowledge--Proposition 13’s 20th anniversary.