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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Steve Lopez, Proposition 13: It's time to tinker with 'untouchable' Prop. 13 - latimes.com

Steve Lopez, Proposition 13: It's time to tinker with 'untouchable' Prop. 13 - latimes.com

It's time to tinker with 'untouchable' Prop. 13

No, older homeowners don't have to be put on the street. The most obvious thing to do, an analyst argues, would be to quit giving owners of commercial property the windfall break they've gotten under the proposition.


Now I've done it. I made a few idle comments last week about rethinking Proposition 13, and the column ticked off hordes of senior citizens — the most loyal of all newspaper readers.

"The question I ask you is, would you have my husband and me homeless in order to balance the state budget?" asked Betty Vanole, 71, of Burbank.

No, Betty, there's no need to start packing.

"May we get together over a cup of coffee and talk about Proposition 13?" asked Barbara Menendez,