[quote=EconProf]urbanrealtor:
Google “property taxes by state per capita” and you will find CA ranks 27th, thus placing us about in the middle for this particular tax. Not sure whether illegals are included in the per capita calculation, but doubt it would much change the outcome.
We are 10th in total state per capita spending among states. That’s not lean.
The best measure of tax burden is all state and local taxes paid per personal income. CA ranks 6th using this overall indicator.
The figures are worse if you include the tax hikes coming due to the looming deficit.
To answer your question, I taught economics for 23 years, mostly at SDSU, and left the field to invest in real estate. But I claim no special expertise–anyone can look up these facts.[/quote]
And if our cost of living is 20-30% higher than average, that still makes our state spending about average.
I do agree that you can’t have average spending and lean taxation.
And yeah, high cost of living and lower than middle taxation does equal lean.
And no, your speculation on possible future taxes are not a real fact. At least not now.
