They’re at it again.
The California Public Employees Unions are, according to this story in the San Jose Business Journal, gathering signatures on an initiative that would cause all non-residential property to be reassessed annually. While this would be a boom (temporarily) to local government—property taxes would increase—this would be devastating in the long-term to California.
If a business’s property tax bill increases, what will they do? Basic economics gives us the answer: the price charged will increase. If prices increase, demand decreases. Fewer sales in California. Fewer businesses in California. Instead of calling the initiative the “Tax Fairness Act” (the current title), the initiative should be called the “Nevada Full-Employment Act.”
This same proposal came to a vote a few years ago and was defeated by the voters. If it comes up again, it deserves the same fate.