Small Property Versus Big Government

Small Property Versus Big Government

Author: Clarence Y. H. Lo

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780520200289

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Tax reformers, take note. Clarence Lo's investigation of California's Proposition 13 and other tax reduction bills is both a tribute and a warning to people who get "mad as hell" and try to do something about being pushed around by government. Homeowners in California, faced with impossible property tax bills in the 1970s, got mad and pushed back, starting an avalanche that swept tax limitation measures into state after state. What we learn is that, although the property tax was slashed, two-thirds of the benefits went to business owners rather than homeowners. How did a crusade launched by homeowning consumers seeking tax relief end up as a pro-business, supply-side political program? To trace the transformation, Lo uses the firsthand recollections of 120 activists in the movement, going back to the 1950s. He shows how their protests were ignored, until a suburban alliance of upper-middle-class property owners and business owners took charge. It was the program of that latter group, not the plight of the moderate-income homeowner, which inspired tax revolts across the nation and shaped the economic policies of the Reagan administration. Tax reformers, take note. Clarence Lo's investigation of California's Proposition 13 and other tax reduction bills is both a tribute and a warning to people who get "mad as hell" and try to do something about being pushed around by government. Homeowners in California, faced with impossible property tax bills in the 1970s, got mad and pushed back, starting an avalanche that swept tax limitation measures into state after state. What we learn is that, although the property tax was slashed, two-thirds of the benefits went to business owners rather than homeowners. How did a crusade launched by homeowning consumers seeking tax relief end up as a pro-business, supply-side political program? To trace the transformation, Lo uses the firsthand recollections of 120 activists in the movement, going back to the 1950s. He shows how their protests were ignored, until a suburban alliance of upper-middle-class property owners and business owners took charge. It was the program of that latter group, not the plight of the moderate-income homeowner, which inspired tax revolts across the nation and shaped the economic policies of the Reagan administration.


A Good Tax

A Good Tax

Author: Joan Youngman

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781558443426

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In A Good Tax, tax expert Joan Youngman skillfully considers how to improve the operation of the property tax and supply the information that is often missing in public debate. She analyzes the legal, administrative, and political challenges to the property tax in the United States and offers recommendations for its improvement. The book is accessibly written for policy analysts and public officials who are dealing with specific property tax issues and for those concerned with property tax issues in general.


Tax Revolt

Tax Revolt

Author: David O. Sears

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9780674868359

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A tax revolt almost as momentous as the Boston Tea Party erupted in California in 1978. Its reverberations are still being felt, yet no one is quite sure what general lessons can be drawn from observing its course. this book is an in-depth study of this most recent and notable taxpayer's rebellion: Howard Jarvis and Proposition 13, the Gann measure of 1979, and Proposition (Jarvis II) of 1980.


The Permanent Tax Revolt

The Permanent Tax Revolt

Author: Isaac William Martin

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2008-03-05

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0804763178

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Tax cuts are such a pervasive feature of the American political landscape that the political establishment rarely questions them. Since 2001, Congress has abolished the tax on inherited wealth and passed a major income tax cut every year, including two of the three largest income tax cuts in American history despite a long drawn-out war and massive budget deficits. The Permanent Tax Revolt traces the origins of this anti-tax campaign to the 1970s, in particular, to the influence of grassroots tax rebellions as homeowners across the United States rallied to protest their local property taxes. Isaac William Martin advances the provocative new argument that the property tax revolt was not a conservative backlash against big government, but instead a defensive movement for government protection from the market. The tax privilege that the tax rebels were defending was in fact one of the largest government social programs in the postwar era. While the movement to defend homeowners' tax breaks drew much of its inspiration—and many of its early leaders—from the progressive movement for welfare rights, politicians on both sides of the aisle quickly learned that supporting big tax cuts was good politics. In time, American political institutions and the strategic choices made by the protesters ultimately channeled the movement toward the kind of tax relief favored by the political right, with dramatic consequences for American politics today.


California and the American Tax Revolt

California and the American Tax Revolt

Author: Terry Schwadron

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-11-10

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0520311493

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In Spring 1983 the Los Angeles Times set out to produce is own "State of the State" report, five years after the passage of the notorious and widely imitated Proportion 13. Price Waterhouse and the Times poll conducted an immense survey of both the public and private sector. A team of eighteen specialist reports looked into every area of public service: police and fire protection, roads and public works, parks, public health, libraries, schools, and more. The results, published in a nine0part series in June 1983, remain by far the most up-to-date synthesis of what, for better and worse, the 1970s tax revolt has achieved. The original Time reports is here supplemented by an introductory essay placing hte California revolt in national context, comparing it with later, parallel actions in other states, notably Massachusetts, and placing all these actions in illuminating historical perspective. A detailed statistical abstract completes the volume. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.


The Property Tax, School Funding Dilemma

The Property Tax, School Funding Dilemma

Author: Daphne A. Kenyon

Publisher: Lincoln Inst of Land Policy

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 63

ISBN-13: 9781558441682

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States experiencing taxpayer revolts among homeowners are tempted to reduce reliance on the property tax to fund schools. But a more targeted approach can provide property tax relief and improve state funding for public education. This policy focus report includes a comprehensive review of recent research on both property tax and school funding, and summarizes case studies of seven states-- California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas. The majority of these states are heavily reliant on property tax revenues to fund schools. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, the report recommends addressing property taxes and school funding separately.