A campaign for a proposed California ballot measure aiming to raise $12 billion annually by changing how large commercial properties are taxed said Thursday it had submitted 1.7 million signatures and expected the measure to qualify for the state ballot, according to Law360.
The Schools and Communities First campaign announced it had submitted the signatures for verification to the county registrars. The measure appears to be ticketed for the Nov. 3 ballot, because it needed to garner 997,139 valid signatures by April 14 to qualify for the general election.
The “split roll” measure proposes to remove some property tax protections enshrined in the state’s landmark Proposition 13 by requiring commercial and industrial properties valued at more than $3 million to be reassessed at fair market value every three years. Currently, Prop 13, approved by California voters in 1978, caps property tax increases at 2% per year. The measure would not apply to residential or agricultural properties, according to a summary from the California secretary of state’s office.
Officially known as the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act of 2020, the measure is estimated to increase property tax revenue by $7.5 billion to $12 billion in most years, with the revenue split between school and local government funding, according to the summary.
Supporters of the measure said the number of signatures they gathered was unprecedented, and alluded to the novel coronavirus pandemic as another reason why they are pushing for more funding for state services.
“Now more than ever, we need to support those heroes on the front lines who have been caring for the most vulnerable, educating our children, and keeping Californians safe,” Alex Stack, a spokesman for the campaign, said in a statement.
The measure would put “more resources back in the hands of local leaders who best know how to address local needs and priorities,” he said.
Stack told Law360 that he believed a change to Prop 13 was “long overdue,” and that every county in the state would benefit from the measure.
But opponents of the initiative called those statements misleading Thursday, saying the measure would enact the largest property tax increase in the state’s history and have a broader reach than advertised.
“Every consumer would be negatively impacted by this,” Michael Bustamante, a spokesman for the Californians to Save Prop 13 campaign, told Law360. “There isn’t a small business or a family farm that won’t be negatively impacted by it.”
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