Every year, Angelenos are reminded of what it means topay their share. We file, we write the checks, and we trust that the money serves a purpose.
InLos Angeles County, that trust has been stretched to its limit.
When I founded the Los Angeles County Taxpayers Association, our county had been taxed, lectured, and managed into submission for so long that most residents had resigned themselves to the constant dysfunction as a fixed feature of life, like the traffic or theSanta Ana winds.
The political class had grown comfortable with that resignation. We were not.
Paying taxes is supposed to fund a functioning government, not become a recurring punchline — but for Angelenos, it has become a symbol of something worse: a government that treats every fiscal crisis as an opportunity to reach deeper into your pocket, with less accountability each time.
The clearest recent proof of what unchecked local taxation produces isMeasure ULA, the so-called “mansion tax” passed by Los Angeles city voters in 2022.
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Supporters promised it would generate up to $1 billion a year for affordable housing by taxing luxury property sales. It has generated roughly $280 to $350 million annually, well under half the floor of those projections.
Worse, astudy by researchersat Harvard, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine found that between 63 and 138 percent of the tax’s revenue was offset by lost future property tax revenue.
When you account for forgone property taxes, Measure ULA may actually generate negative net revenue for the city.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
