This week Governor Jerry Brown gave a very upbeat “State of the State” speech in which he declared that “California is back,” after suffering through years of cuts and out of balance budgets.  “California has once again confounded our critics,” said the Governor.  “We’ve wrought in just two years a solid and enduring budget. And by God, we’re going to preserve and keep it that way for years to come.”  Addressing the added tax revenues brought about by the ...

In an action strongly supported by industry and local government, the Building Standards Commission has adopted a regulatory package that overhauls the disabled accessibility standards for commercial and government buildings and for public housing. For over twenty years, California has maintained and enforced its own set of disabled accessibility standards, separate of those enforced at the federal level by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).  The subtle differences between the state and federal ...

The Governor has appointed Carla Peterman of Sacramento to the California Public Utilities Commission. Peterman has served as a member of the California Energy Commission since 2011, where she was lead commissioner for renewables, transportation, natural gas and the 2012 Independent Energy Policy Report. Peterman conducted research at the University of California Energy Institute from 2006 to 2011 and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2008 to 2010. She also served on the board of directors ...

Although this was circulated late last year, we are sending again because the stakes are so high.  Please take some time to look at the Legislative Analyst Office’s report entitled “Understanding California’s Property Taxes,” which provides an excellent primer on the different types of commercial and residential taxation, as well as an explanation of several landmark voter approved laws – including Proposition 13 and Proposition 8. Even if you think you know how Property Taxes in California ...

In anticipation of these efforts to undo Proposition 13, we hosted a call over the Legislative Recess to prepare and mobilize all our members.  Thank you to all of our members that took the time to participate in the call — the response to the call for participation was so great that it swamped our conferencing capabilities! The first step in defeating a split roll and other ideas that unfairly target commercial property for higher taxes, is getting our industry aware of the potential threats ...

So far, several lawmakers have indicated that they will either pursue efforts to alter Proposition 13 to make it easier to pass local taxes for schools and/or create a split roll or have stated they would support such efforts. Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has already introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow local parcel taxes for schools to pass with 55% of the vote, instead of the two-thirds currently required.  See the bill here, SCA 3 (Leno) Taxation: educational entities: ...

This week we are running a few items directly related to Proposition 13, as several lawmakers and advocacy groups have indicated making changes to this landmark law and removing protections afforded commercial property owners is high on the agenda. Firstly, we want to remind you that the grassroots coalition “Californians Against Higher Property Taxes” (CAHPT) is out there to support our industry efforts on this issue.  We are very involved with this group that helps leverage the collective ...

Although this was circulated late last year, we are it sending again because the stakes are so high.  Please take some time to look at the Legislative Analyst Office’s report entitled “Understanding California’s Property Taxes,” which provides an excellent primer on the different types of commercial and residential taxation, as well as an explanation of several landmark voter approved laws – including Proposition 13 and Proposition 8.   Even if you think you know how Property Taxes ...

In anticipation of these efforts to undo Proposition 13, we hosted a call over the Legislative Recess to prepare and mobilize all our members.  Thank you to all of our members that took the time to participate in the call – the response to the call for participation was so great that it swamped our conferencing capabilities!   The first step in defeating a split roll and other ideas that unfairly target commercial property for higher taxes is making our industry aware of the potential ...

So far, several lawmakers have indicated that they will either pursue efforts to alter Proposition 13, making it easier to pass local taxes for schools, and/or create a split roll or have stated they would support such efforts.   Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has already introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow local parcel taxes for schools to pass with 55% of the vote, instead of the two-thirds currently required.  See the bill here: SCA 3 (Leno) Taxation: educational ...