Experts and advocates at BOE hearing urge reworking property tax to free land for housing

At an informational hearing of the State Board of Equalization on April 24, three outside experts told board members that Californias property-tax system, shaped by Proposition 13, contributes to high housing costs by rewarding long-held property and underassessing commercial land.

The panel included Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the California Tax Reform Association; Darien Shanske, professor of law at UC Davis; and Devon Gray, president of Ending Poverty in California (EPIC). They described a set of policy options aimed at increasing housing production and creating new local revenue while protecting homeowners.

Why it matters: Panelists said current tax rules help push up land prices and keep underused commercial parcels and vacant lots off the market, worsening Californias housing shortage. That shortage, they said, both raises rents statewide and reduces economic mobility for low- and middle-income households.

Goldberg argued that Californias system "is the worst possible tax system for good land use," and proposed a suite of changes he called a…