|
By Jon Coupal
Although election results are not yet official, it is clear that Proposition 15, the $12 billion property tax hike also known as “split roll,” has failed. But, true to form, the proponents are not giving up their 42-year goal of destroying Proposition 13.
Recall that the proponents – mostly public-sector labor interests – had huge advantages in this battle: A massive turnout of Democratic voters who loathed the current president, a deceptive ballot label that was devoid of the words “tax increase,” a presumably vulnerable target in the form of business property owners and a seemingly endless amount of campaign cash.
But even all those advantages were not enough to push split roll over the finish line. So what are tax raisers going to do now? The first and most obvious answer is that they will try again to pass their failed split roll proposal. In fact, it was only moments after the election was called against Prop. 15 that the spokesperson for Evolve California, a far-left nonprofit that advocates for the destruction of Proposition 13 stated, “We’re really close to having a majority of California voters agreeing with us. It took us 42 years to get this point and so if it takes another two to four years to get where we want to be, then that’s what it is.”
It is unclear what makes the proponents of Proposition 15 believe that the results would be any different in a political environment that is unlikely to be as favorable to them as this one. Their excuses for failure don’t make a lot of sense. For example, they blame the pandemic for the defeat and rationalize that, in the next fight, COVID-19 will be far behind us. But this argument runs counter to their own campaign ads which repeatedly relied on the pandemic as a reason why local governments and schools actually needed the funds. Although pundits will speculate endlessly about the impact of the pandemic on Prop. 15’s demise, at best, it was probably a wash for both sides.
To read the entire column, please click here.
|
