California ballot initiative would eliminate church property tax exemption

David Maximillian Waterman, via Wikipedia

Churches in California might lose their exemption from property tax, if an initiative makes it to the ballot.

A proposal to eliminate churches' property tax exemptions in California has been cleared to collect signatures.

The item needs 807,615 signatures by November in order to make it on the ballot. If passed by voters, it would eliminate property tax exemptions on buildings used for worship or religious purposes on Jan. 1, 2013.

The state's legislative analyst and the governor's finance director guess that if the move passed and the constitution were changed, California's local governments might bring in $225 million more per year. That might save the state some $100 million a year from its general fund because school and community college districts would raise more from local taxes.

Jo Shaffer, who has a post office box address in Cobb, in Lake County, submitted the proposal. Read the text of it here.

Steven E.F. Brown is web editor at the San Francisco Business Times.

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