European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The sky is fauns i " two years after prop. 13  More than Ever t new York times Wenty six months after California s proposition 13 took effect slashing property taxes by almost 60 percent and provoking warnings that local government and Public education would grind to a halt most cities counties and school systems Are spending More Money than Ever. These government and schools appear to have avoided the full Impact of the measure partly because properly tax collections have increased much faster under the Law than state and local officials expected. The increase is attributed to new construction and a clause in proposition 13 that permits taxes to Rise when a property a sold. The tax limitation Taw which fax effect on july to 1978, has left u unmistakable print of the Lute. The growth rate of Public employment has been slowed scow communities Bare lost employees is certain High demand occupations Soch As nursing Tad computer specialities to employee that pay higher wages. Some cities As Well As Library Park and other special purpose districts have had to reduce services and defer maintenance work. And because the Law deprives localities and schools of full exercise of their principal taxing Power it caused an enormous shift of Power to the state legislature which now controls the purse  recent weeks there have been new warnings that the full Impact of proposition 13 will be Felt next summer when the stale will be unable to continue the level of Aid it has provided to cities counties schools and special District since the Law was passed. But such warnings a pc been expressed Ever since july 1978, and for the moment most local governments and the unions representing their employees appear to be operating largely As they did before the proposition was approved by the voters. Typically the state s Public pm pro secs have received wage increases of 8 to 9 percent or More this year and most governments Art hiring again after a Short lived curtailment in hiring after the Law was Angeles ended its fiscal year june 30 with a sur and despite proposition 13, the number of Public employees in the state grew by 55,000, fro 1,407,665 from oct. 1978 to oct. 1979  plus of More than s50 million the salaries of the City i senior administrator were recently raised to As much u$94,607 a year los Angeles police officers the nation s highest paid municipal Law enforcement officers say they will strike soon unless they get a 13 percent increase in wages and benefits. And despite proposition in number of Public employees in the state grew by 55,000, to 1,407,665 from october 1978 o october 1979, according to an angry so by the los Anettra Herald examiner based of the latest figures Roll a e from the Omta Bureau. Some cities notably san Francisco continue to have budget balancing problems and some say they expect to provide Normal services this year Only because of a wind fall their share of $500 million in personal property Omen 13 the first time was Only a warning. " taxes that had been held in escrow pending settlement Ofa Legal dispute Over whether proposition 13 allowed them to keep certain personal property taxes collected in 1978 79. The state supreme court recently ruled that they  though they Are collecting More Money than before proposition 13, Many school systems also say the Yare facing serious financial problems As a result of inflation and declining enrolment and the resulting reduction in state Aid that is based on the number of pupils they  cities counties and schools have not been drastically affected because they have received additional reve Nues from four sources More than $7 billion in local Aid from a bulging state surplus the imposition of a wide variety of new fees for municipal services increased sales tax revenues because of inflation and a Sharp unexpected Rise in property us collections. The Law limits animal taxes on property to 1 percent of its assessed valuation in 1975, adjusted upward by 2 percent annually since 1975. For a Home valued at $40,000 in 1975, for example taxes this year would be about $440, even though its Market value May have risen to $200,000, an increase that is not unusual in the state. However the Law permits government to raise the assessed value of a property whenever it is sold and to increase its property tax to 1 percent of its Market value at that time. This provision has had curious effects recent buyer of Homes in some neighbourhoods Are paying two or three times More in taxes than owners who bought virtually identical houses two or three years ago. But this escalation clause coupled with new construction in the state has also contributed to the orca scr than expected increase in property values and in property tax revenues. Accor diff to the Assembly reroute and taxation committee attn i half of the property 1kx tint local Zoar Mienl Lott with Panuce of proposition 13 Hart meat Recor Erad m n remit of the asm Uneit fat Cruea he Fere the Law waa peed total property Tut la tie Able wet aus Juh men taut $10 Bobon property to Fouec Totoa tend to s5 billion the year a tar the Law was enacted Bat a Usyser a a rent of the ten tent Bart area they via exceed $7.28 make in 1978, the total assessed value of property in califor Nia was si06 billion this year As a result of the reassess ment since then the total is si55 billion. Tuesday september 16, 1980 the stars and stripes Page 13