California Dreamin'

Repug PA candidate for governor Lynn Swann FINALLY HAS AN IDEA (I mean, besides trying to link Ed Rendell to the pay raise scandal – and Ed does deserve some blame for that, I’ll admit – and Swann’s stating that “he won’t kiss butt”).

Swann, in effect wants to bring Proposition 13 to Pennsylvania (be very afraid…). As noted in this Inquirer article...

California's Proposition 13 has been criticized for, among other things, giving long-term residents tremendous tax breaks that are subsidized by newcomers who pay taxes based on the sale price of their housing.

It also has been blamed for reductions in school staffing, particularly among librarians and guidance counselors.

"Why anybody would point to California as a positive model for how to structure your tax-budget model surprises me," said Jean Reed, executive director of the California Budget Project, a public-policy research group.

In a state which is experiencing a drain of younger workers leaving to seek better wages elsewhere, why on earth would someone propose this plan which would ultimately place a greater burden on first-time home buyers, thus giving them more of a reason to leave?

And (from this link, concerning what California has experienced)...

Proposition 13 succeeded in its core aim of providing property tax relief to beleaguered property owners alarmed by swiftly rising assessment increases. But it has had many other consequences. It created new inequities in the burden of the property tax. Because properties are fully reassessed only when they are sold, owners of very similar properties can have very different property tax bills. Since commercial property turns over less often than residential property, residential property owners have gradually assumed a larger percentage of the property tax burden. Observers note that Proposition 13 considerably diminished local taxing authority and centralized it in the state, thus undermining home rule. Local jurisdictions are largely at the state's mercy in determining what their actual budgets will be, and local officials complain that the state has not been reliable in its allocation of funds. Observers also note that an unintended consequence of Proposition 13 was that, because of the continuing robustness of the sales tax as a revenue source, Proposition 13 encouraged cities and counties to promote retail development at the expense of housing and job-creating businesses.

Short on specifics and long on rhetoric and empty promises, and no clue regarding the consequences...typical for a Repug.