HOWARD JARVIS TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION:
Susan Shelley from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association spoke to the Palisades Optimist Club in December. To see how much you’d be paying in property taxes if Prop. 13 had never passed, visit the Guessing Game tax calculator at www.GuessingGame.org.
One Optimist asked who funded the HJTA, and Shelley said the organization is 100 percent funded by California homeowners, who make a $15 dues donation (hjta.org).
ULA:
Many residents were not aware of the implications of Los Angeles Proposition ULA, which taxes any real estate transaction of more than $5 million with an 8-10% total transaction fee on the sale of their property in addition to other relevant taxes…whether a loss or a gain. Anyone buying a property for $11 million, and selling it for $10 million in a year, will be required to pay a $550,000 tax on a $1 million loss.” People may have helped pass it because they failed to read between the lines and the measure was sold as a way to help the homeless.
Lawmakers Try to Skirt State Constitution:
A group of businesses “Save Local Restaurants” sued to block the state from implementing a new law on January 1 that would create a state council to dictate wages, working conditions and benefits for fast-food workers.
No matter how you feel about fast-food workers and wages, here’s the more important issue – legislators failing to follow the state constitution.
The group “Save Local Restaurants” filed a referendum petition with more than 1 million signatures (only 623,212 were required) to place it on the November 2024 ballot. Under the state constitution, which voters amended in 1911, if there is a valid referendum, a law is required to be put on hold.
But state officials say the law will take place January 1 – until signatures are verified. In the state’s history no law has been allowed to “temporarily” take place once a referendum petition has been filed.
Even if you don’t have a feeling about this particular issue, it could set a bad precedent for something in the future that does matter to you.
A state judge issued a prohibition December 30 prohibiting enforcement until a hearing is held the second week in January.
I moved to the Palisades about a year and a half ago. I noticed last year as well as the past few weeks of the flooding on PCH at Potero park when it rains. Is there a plan for drainage?
I am a bit confused I thought that the egregious ULA tax was 4% on sales over 5 million. I saw that you indicated that it was 8-10% on top of other taxes. This is an unfair tax to put it mildly, most especially if there is a loss. I am hoping to find a group who is interested in a repeal.
Denise,
The flooding by Potrero seems to be a recent phenomena. L.A. County recently finished a waterworks project along PCH in that area and I’ve contacted Caltrans and the City (January 2) and asked them to investigate.
Sue