Monday, November 16, 2009

Rewriting the Old Script for California’s New Future


Rewriting the Old Script for California’s New Future:

"“What were they thinking in 1978?”

That was one of the questions USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Dowell Myers answered during a presentation about the future implications for California as a result of the recent 40 percent decline in home values.

Myers discussed how the history and future of Proposition 13 are not headed in the same direction as a part of USC’s ongoing Critical Issues in Public Policy series.

Dramatic raises in house prices in the 1970’s fueled shocking increases in property taxes, and the innovations of Prop. 13 provided much needed solutions. Myers told the audience at the California Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento about the need to look at how the demographics of the state have changed in the 31 years since the proposition was passed, as well as the outlook going forward."