Subject: Re: SALT?
I have no strong opinion on this one.

I do. A native middle-class Californian, I'm impacted by the steady flow of highly educated, high-income people who are still following Horace Greely's advice to 'go west.'

The resulting demand for homes has driven up the COL, including property costs, far more than most states. California's productivity subsidizes other states. The infrastructure necessary to support 40,000,000 people, most of whom live near the coast, is insanely expensive. We need high income and property taxes or we would sink under the weight of the population.

Thank goodness we have Prop 13 to limit property tax increases or a huge percentage of residents would be taxed out of existence by soaring comps.

and.... the new 2019 "Proposition 19, or the Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families and Victims of Wildfire or Natural Disasters Act, is a Constitutional Amendment that imposes new limits on property tax benefits for inherited family property.

I earned what I earned in my working life. That ship done sailed. I earned min.wage, $1.35 an hour, as a teen. Today's teen earns $15 to 20 min wage. I earned low 6 figures a year as an adult while today I'd be earning close to or over 7 figures.

My first house (1500 sq feet)cost me around $30k. That same house would now sell for about $2,000,000. Without prop 13 a senior could not afford to stay in the home he bought when prices and wages were low. Without Prop 19 a senior could not afford to downsize from a 3/4 bedroom family home to a small residence. The prop tax would be prohibitive.

Trump failed miserably in his attempts to become a major developer in the California market. Removing the SALT deduction was, in large part, a Trump effort to punish high tax states like California. The change was regressive, impacting the wealthiest property owners the least.

I asked a realtor who specializes in properties over $10,000,000 how the change in SALT deductions impacted his sales. People in that market, he said, can buy what they want regardless of the property tax deductions. They don't care about 'little things' like that.

That agents listings: https://montecito-realestate.c...