Property Tax Lightning Update

Monday, February 15, 2010

Property Tax Lightning Update

We just received this email from Mark Boitano. He is one of the main State Legislators who has been fighting this issue. As we read through this we were reminded of several things:

1. Our government (both State and Federal) continues to demonstrate an inability to project what consequences will arise from their half thought out, uneducated decisions. Shame on every one of them, and shame on us if we put up with it.
2. Our government continues to demonstrate a slowness and cluelessness on fixing the problems they created in the first place. As we always say, "You can't help stupid."

That said, we credit Mark for his persistence to try and fix something that was clearly bad, unfair, and unwise from the start. We can hear his frustration in his note; and who could blame the guy when he has to deal with these ignoramuses daily. Fight the good fight, Mark.

Dear Friends of Tax Fairness,
It's 1:45 am and we're still debating bills on the Senate floor. Tonight, we passed two bills aimed at fixing property tax lighting. One bill is better than the other, but neither of them is the perfect solution. Unfortunately, I don't think we are going to pass an ideal bill. So I've decided to support both bills.

SJC Sub SB 160 - Sen.
Neville. This bill brings all properties to a current and correct valuation within 5-years through a phase up for those under accessed and phase down for those hit by tax lightning. After working on this issue for three years and seeing 12+ bills attempting to fix the problem, I believe this is the best we can do to equalize values. The "correct" fix for those hit by tax lightning is *not* something that the entire legislature will pass (plain and simple).

SB 46 - Sen. Eichenberg. This bill says that beginning in 2011 the 3% cap would stay in place regardless of a change in ownership. This bill does nothing to equalize the present disparity, but would prevent future tax lightning.

These bills passed the Senate and are going to the House. Presently, they are positioned to pass a memorial that says we should "study the problem". Please contact the House and strongly encourage them to act on a tax lightning fix and support Sen. Neville's bill. It is the best bet for a tax lightning fix.

Mark Boitano

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