Letter: Support Measure U and Proposition 13

When considering your vote on Measure U, please remember how we benefit from Proposition 13. What does the 1978 California property tax limitation law have to do with our local school facility bond measure? Prop 13 keeps our taxes lower by limiting residential property tax assessment to one percent of the actual purchase price and then keeping annual tax increases at two percent per year after that. Our local property taxes on average are much lower than other states around the country. Warren Buffet famously observed that he paid $14,400 in property taxes on his $400,000 house in Omaha while only paying $2,264 on his $4 million house in California because the Omaha house’s assessed value was updated to market value every year while the California property value increase was limited to two percent.

Prop 13’s structure provides just enough tax revenue for basic school operations but not enough for capital improvements and repairs. LTUSD’s facility budget is limited to about three percent per year, not nearly enough for major updates or deferred maintenance. Communities that want to do any significant capital repairs or improvements must fund them from local bond measures periodically. This is also the only way for fiscally smart school districts to get matching funds from the state to get even more ‘bang for the buck.’ The last bond measure 15 years ago showed immediate results in new buildings. Now it’s time to repair the rest of our 40+ year-old structures.

Please join me in voting ‘Yes’ on Measure U to keep our Prop 13 tax structure working AND give our local kids adequate facilities to learn and grow.

- Chris Campion