The Sacramento Metro Chamber is opposing AB 2492 (Ammiano) that would remove Proposition 13 protections from business property owners by imposing a “split roll” property tax"

"This proposal targets our state’s employers for a significant increase in property taxes and onerous new tax burdens," said Matt Mahood, president & CEO.

AB 2942 would impose a volatile, arbitrary system of increasing business property taxes, including a rebuttable presumption that every three years business properties have changed ownership and need to be reassessed. This is a "guilty until proven innocent" approach, requiring taxpayers to prove every three years that they did NOT undergo a change-in-ownership that would trigger reassessment. AB 2492 would also result in a tremendous paperwork and tracking burden for both companies and assessors.

Under AB 2492, property owners may be forced to pass along some of the tax increases to their tenants as higher rents and consumers may see higher prices. Since many small businesses rent rather than own building space, they will be hardest-hit. Higher property taxes also reduce capital available for investment in rental housing and business plants and equipment within California, meaning fewer jobs.

Split roll tax proposals are based on the faulty assumption that there has been a major statewide shift in tax burden from businesses to homeowners. In fact, commercial properties contribute significantly in tax dollars — generating approximately two-thirds of the property tax revenues, just as they did before the passage of Proposition 13.

A split roll property tax will dramatically chill California jobs, investments, and the economy. For these and other reasons, we oppose AB 2942 and urge your “NO” vote when it comes before you in committee.

Representing nearly 2,300 member businesses and business organizations in the six-county Sacramento region, the Sacramento Metro Chamber serves as the region’s voice of business and is the leading proponent of regional cooperation on issues affecting business, economic development and quality of life.