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Of course, taxes are for little people and really little taxes ($14/yr) are both unimportant and worthy of a personal letter from a Senator. Now you might wond

Of course, taxes are for little people and really little taxes ($14/yr) are both unimportant and worthy of a personal letter from a Senator. Now you might wonder how the taxes are so low for a parcel in one of if not the most exclusive pieces of real estate in SF. That would be because of Prop 13 which locked in that $14/year way back in 1978. Most of the houses on that private block are also the beneficiary of Prop 13 because you wouldn't want to raise taxes on grandma. For example, here's the tax bill for 5 Presidio Terrace: https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Forms-Portal/Residents/propertyTaxAndLicense.html?addressStreetNumber=5&addressStreetName=presidio&addressStreetSuffix=TE&addressAppartmentNumber=&addressBlockNumber=&addressLotNumber=&submit=Begin+Tax+Search https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Form... Not bad for a $10M house. Now I'm sure that grandma really appreciates Howard Jarvis (and Dianne Feinstein) but for us little people, we pay more so they can pay less. https://www.zillow.com/homes/5-Presidio-Ter,-San-Francisco,-CA-94118_rb/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/5-Presidio-Ter,-San-Francisco,-... This reeks.

candiodari 9y ago
The senator in question, by the way, is Diane Feinstein, a longstanding and very senior member of what passes for a "socialist" party in the US. And how do we fix this ? Obviously this is the result of government being corrupt, and for decades in the pocket of a small group of rich people, regardless of who gets elected. I mean, this cannot be fixed by more government regulation, since if it so much as forces these people to buy the land they use privately, it immediately gets repealed. Don't tell me that this organisation is going to really raise taxes on them, because ... it's not. It's just not going to do that. Obviously smaller government is also not the answer. But ...
- CalChris 9y ago
  Actually, the reason the taxes on this parcel were only $14/yr was Prop 13 and Prop 13 was passed by the Californian electorate. And calling Feinstein any kind of Socialist is a hoot.
  - candiodari 9y ago
    That's the point of my comment. She is a democrat, the supposedly left leaning party of the US. And if a senator personally intervenes on anyone's behalf for personal reasons (like obviously here), that by itself is very wrong in my book. Even if it actually costs them money I would still find it corrupt.
- cafard 9y ago
  Proposition 13 was advocated by that noted socialist Ronald Reagan, when he was governor of California. [Edit: not 14, 13!]
kwillets 9y ago
Here's the bill for the parcel in question: https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Forms-Portal/Residents/propertyTaxAndLicense.html?addressStreetNumber=&addressStreetName=&addressStreetSuffix=&addressAppartmentNumber=&addressBlockNumber=1355&addressLotNumber=001&submit=Begin+Tax+Search# https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Form... As with other public notices, the tax collector doesn't normally take "you didn't tell me" as an excuse.

candiodari 9y ago

The senator in question, by the way, is Diane Feinstein, a longstanding and very senior member of what passes for a "socialist" party in the US. And how do we fix this ? Obviously this is the result of government being corrupt, and for decades in the pocket of a small group of rich people, regardless of who gets elected. I mean, this cannot be fixed by more government regulation, since if it so much as forces these people to buy the land they use privately, it immediately gets repealed. Don't tell me that this organisation is going to really raise taxes on them, because ... it's not. It's just not going to do that. Obviously smaller government is also not the answer. But ...

CalChris 9y ago
Actually, the reason the taxes on this parcel were only $14/yr was Prop 13 and Prop 13 was passed by the Californian electorate. And calling Feinstein any kind of Socialist is a hoot.
- candiodari 9y ago
  That's the point of my comment. She is a democrat, the supposedly left leaning party of the US. And if a senator personally intervenes on anyone's behalf for personal reasons (like obviously here), that by itself is very wrong in my book. Even if it actually costs them money I would still find it corrupt.
cafard 9y ago
Proposition 13 was advocated by that noted socialist Ronald Reagan, when he was governor of California. [Edit: not 14, 13!]

kwillets 9y ago

Here's the bill for the parcel in question: https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Forms-Portal/Residents/propertyTaxAndLicense.html?addressStreetNumber=&addressStreetName=&addressStreetSuffix=&addressAppartmentNumber=&addressBlockNumber=1355&addressLotNumber=001&submit=Begin+Tax+Search# https://ttxonlineportal.sfgov.org/content/San-Francisco-Form... As with other public notices, the tax collector doesn't normally take "you didn't tell me" as an excuse.