Behind the Ad Wars: Why You Should Ignore the Fear Mongering and Vote Yes on Proposition 15
By Jim Miller
By now you’ve seen them all: the litany of ads and mailers against Proposition 15 featuring worried small business owners, angst-filled barbers, and other advocates for hire trying to scare you that Proposition 15 is aimed at small businesses. You’ve even seen a handful of craven local politicians parroting corporate talking points and throwing their communities under the bus in an effort to court the Chamber of Commerce set during campaign season by opposing a measure that would bring billions of dollars into education and vital social services.
What does Proposition 15 actually do? It will require that commercial property valued at more than $3 million be reassessed at fair market value every three years.
- This closes a loophole that large corporations have used for decades to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes.
- The richest 10% of corporate properties will provide 92% of the revenue.
- Prop 15 specifically exempts all residential properties and agricultural land, maintaining full Prop 13 protections for homeowners, renters, and agriculture.
Thus, as I noted in an earlier column on this measure, it’s simply false to say that it will afflict the local Mom and Pop shop or pizza spot.
Why the lie then?
As Bobbi Murry recently observed in “Cash of the Titans: Prop 15’s Big Spending Opposition” in Capital and Main :
Optics are everything in politics, and if you’re a big business interest with a stake in a ballot CONTINUE READING: Behind the Ad Wars: Why You Should Ignore the Fear Mongering and Vote Yes on Proposition 15
