As reported by Rex Hime in our August Newsletter, there has been a great deal of activity surrounding the idea of split roll this year.  Proponents of removing Proposition 13 property tax protections from commercial properties launched a multi-pronged attack including the introduction of SCA 5 by Senators Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Hancock (D-Oakland), a signature gathering effort to place the change to Prop 13 on the 2016 ballot, and an aggressive outreach program to local governments and school boards to gain endorsements of their proposal.

BOMA Cal and BOMA San Diego, along with a coalition of taxpayer and business advocates, have worked tirelessly to educate leaders and elected officials at the State and Local levels on the devastating impacts this $9 billion tax increase would inflict - with great success.

Proponents’ efforts started unraveling this summer when, after three hearings, SCA 5 failed passage out of its first committee.

Their efforts were dealt another devastating blow in early October when Governor Brown publicly declared that he would not support any efforts to create a split roll taxation system.
 

By the end of the month, leaders of the “Make it Fair” campaign who were driving the signature gathering operation announced that they have abandoned efforts to pursue a ballot measure in 2016.

We must remain vigilant on the issue of split roll property taxation because it’s unlikely to go away any time soon. Senators Hancock and Mitchell have made it clear that they intend to re-engage efforts to move SCA 5 forward in the new legislative year while the “Make it Fair” coalition pledged to continue fundraising efforts in order to fund their efforts against opposition from our industry organizations and allies in the taxpayer and business communities.

To learn more about how you can become or stay engaged, please visit http://stophigherpropertytaxes.org


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