Judith Stanley subject files on Proposition 13, 1973-1980, bulk 1978

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Summary

Creators:

Stanley, Judith

Abstract:

Extent:

1.4 Linear Feet (2 boxes and 1 oversized folder)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Judith Stanley subject files on Proposition 13. MS-R082. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection comprises newsletters, clippings, campaign ephemera, memoranda, reports, and other materials gathered by Judith Stanley, a University of California, Irvine, librarian, to document California Proposition 13, a citizen's initiative to reduce property tax that was approved as a State constitutional amendment on June 6, 1978. Included in the collection are materials from taxpayer associations, housing associations, and political coalitions, as well as files documenting the effect of the proposition on education, libraries, and Social Security. In addition, this collection contains materials showing various reactions to the passage of Proposition 13, analyses of the effects of Proposition 13 in the two years following its passage, and campaign materials supporting the opposing proposition, Proposition 8.

Biographical / historical:

Judith Stanley was a social sciences bibliographer for the University of California, Irvine libraries in the 1970s.

Commonly called the "Taxpayers' Revolt of 1978," Proposition 13 was a landmark citizen's initiative written and introduced in 1977 by politicians Howard Jarvis (1903-1986) and Paul Gann (1912-1989). This proposition fixed California property taxes at 1 percent of the full cash value of the property and set the maximum inflationary rate for property value at 2 percent per year. Property value is reassessed when property is purchased, newly constructed, or undergoing change in ownership. The proposition passed with 65 percent of the vote. Proponents of Proposition 13 cited the $6 billion state surplus as evidence of overtaxation and claimed that without the bill, property owners would eventually be unable to afford their property taxes. Opponents of the tax argued that the bill was unfair to renters because it only offered tax relief to owners, that it would take funds away from publicly funded government services, and that it would cause hundreds of thousands of job losses statewide. Proposition 13 continues to be a source of debate because new owners typically pay higher taxes than previous owners.

Chronology
Date	Event
1965	The San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner publish series of stories about the inconsistent assessment of property taxes due to assessors accepting bribes.
1967	Assembly Bill 80, the Petris-Knox Bill, passes requiring county assessors to reassess property at 25 percent of market value during the following three years and to do frequent reassessments to maintain the 25 percent ratio.
1973	Ronald Reagan's Proposition 1 to limit state spending fails to pass in California.
1973-1977	California enters a period of rapid housing inflation, resulting in ever increasing property taxes.
1978	California's estimated budget surplus is $6 billion.
1978	Voters approve Proposition 13 on June 6th and it becomes a California constitutional amendment.

Acquisition information:

Transferred from the Government Information Department, 2001.

Processing information:

Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2007.

Arrangement:

The original order of the collection has been maintained. The creator arranged the collection alphabetically according to subject.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Referendum -- California -- History -- Sources
Property tax -- California -- Archives.
Elections -- California -- History -- Sources
Campaign literature -- California -- 20th century.
Names:: California. Proposition 13 (1978) -- Archives
Jarvis, Howard
Gann, Paul
Places:: California -- Politics and government -- History -- Sources.

Access and use

Restrictions:: The collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.