Retro Friday: The Passage of Prop 13

What a fascinating find: An NBC News report from 1978, right before California voters approved Proposition 13 in an infamous tax revolt that still has a major impact on the state today. (Check out LA City Beat’s recent coverage of Prop. 13′s lasting effects here.)

Retro Friday: The Passage of Prop 13

What a fascinating find: An NBC News report from 1978, right before California voters approved Proposition 13 in an infamous tax revolt that still has a major impact on the state today. (Check out LA City Beat’s recent coverage of Prop. 13′s lasting effects here.)

Taxing Times

It’s that time of year… a friendly letter from Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector Mark Saladino that it’s time for the first installment of your property tax bill.

For those of us who bought our house in the past few years, that’s a pretty hefty bill. It doesn’t help things that thanks to the infamous Prop. 13, I pay more tax on my tiny house than I know plenty of people pay on beautiful, large homes three times the size of mine in more ritzy neighborhoods. Bastards.

That’s why I’m starting to wonder whether it’s time yet to evoke the “decline in value” statute in the assessment process:

“If you have evidence that the market value of your property on January 1, 2007 is less than the assessed value shown on this tax bill, you may request a review for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The filing period is January 1 through December 31, 2007.”

Well, because it falls on Jan. 1, probably not. The housing market didn’t really collapse until this summer. And besides, with so few homes selling right now, I’m not even sure how an appraiser would go about determining house value.

Now, next year, the county should probably brace for a whole lotta “decline in value” submissions. Because if the market continues to decline, I’m sure as hell not going to continue to reward the county just because I had the unfortunate luck of finally having enough money to buy a house in 2004.