Commercial Property Tax-Hike Initiatives Afoot

SACRAMENTO-Two new potential ballot initiatives are afoot that would drastically change how commercial properties in California are assessed and how much they are taxed. One calls for a 55% increase in the current property tax rate for commercial properties while the other wants commercial properties’ fair market value appraised more frequently. Currently, under Prop. 13, properties are taxed annually at 1% of their appraised value when purchased and may only have its fair market value adjusted after a majority stake is sold.

Attorneys from the San Leandro-based law firm Remcho, Johansen & Purcell LLP filed title and summary language for the proposed 2010 ballot initiatives earlier this month. They are the “Protect Homeowners and Close Corporate Tax Loopholes Act” and the “Education and Taxpayer Fairness Act.” In order to qualify as a potential constitutional amendment for the November 2010 ballot, each initiative would have to garner 700,000 signatures by the spring.

The latter initiative would add 0.55 percentage points to the current tax rate of 1.0% of the assessed value upon a sale, with the extra revenue diverted to a fund for K-12 schools, community colleges and state universities. The former would require that all non-residential, non-public properties have their fair market value assessed every three years, beginning with properties that have gone the longest between appraisals. It would also exclude $1 million in personal property tax for businesses “in order to give small business owners immediate tax relief,” double homeowners’ property tax exemption and increase the tax credit for qualified renters.