I bought about 5 years ago, if we taxed at market rates, based on the neighbors recent sale, my property tax would probably increase near 80% in that period. That’s trivial compared to what would have happened during the last boom cycle before the bust, when we had years were it would have went up 30-40% in a year. That is the reason Prop 13 came into existance.
It may have many flaws, but protecting home owners from tax increases that will average $100 a month or more each year for median priced homes isn’t one of them.
Is 2% annual increase low? Historical house appreciation has been around 3-4%. California does not have tax revenue problem, California has spending problems. The planned expenditures for 2014/2015 was $107 Billion in the general fund. Another $44 Billion in special funds. An another $98 Billion in Federal funds. Not including any bond funds.
LAUSD is a prime example, over the last 15 years, they’ve spent an inflation adjusted $18K per student each year across all their fund streams.