Prop 13 has its merits and problems, but is not nearly as insidious as Mello-Roos(MR) taxes. For Mello-Roos, the existing residents vote a tax on new residents who cannot yet vote in the elections. It is truly a tax without any representation to those actually paying it. In one city in Northern California, the underlying bonds have been paid off due to higher than anticipated MR revenues, but the city plans to keep collecting for the life of the “planned” payoff period. IT is this type of unfair taxation that created prop 13.