SB 1021 (Wolk; D-Davis) passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee — over our strong objections – on a 5-2, party-line vote with the Democrats supporting the measure.
SB 1021 would authorize more than 1,000 California school districts to impose unlimited tax increases on select property owners by allowing the imposition of nonuniform parcel taxes, further complicating an already complex tax regime.
School districts could split parcel tax assessments within a district based on one or more of the following rates: a flat amount, the square footage of a parcel, the square footage of improvements on a parcel, or according to the property’s classification – commercial, industrial, single-family residential or multifamily residential – so long as the same tax rate is levied on all properties within the same classification.
Aside from the creation of a split roll on parcel taxes, residential taxpayers would lose their federal income tax deduction for nonuniform parcel taxes.
The bill now moves directly to the Senate floor, where it will only take a majority vote (21 votes) to pass. There currently are 25 Democrats in the Senate, so our SB 1021 coalitions will be meeting with as many legislators as possible to educate them about the ill effects of SB 1021. We ask that you too contact your Senators and let them know that higher property taxes on commercial will have a negative impact on the local and state economy.
