Property taxes make
Bay Area less affordable

Property taxes contribute to homelessness by making Bay Area living less affordable.

The average home in San Jose sells for over $1 million, so 1% base tax is $10,000 per year. With add-ons (14 for me) totaling $2,000+, the monthly tax burden for new homeowners can be over $1,000.

Landlords raise rents to pay the tax, forcing personal evictions and closure of small businesses. The average homeowner in the United States pays $3,498 (2018) tax for 2,600 square feet (2018), so tax is $1.35 per square foot.

San Jose residents pay $4.62 — about 3.5 times the national average. This anomaly is due to a severe supply-and-demand imbalance, made worse by more affluent people being willing to pay excessive amounts to live here.

The price of a home has little to do with public service requirements. A more reasonable metric would be tax per square foot, which is far more stable than using home prices to levy taxes.

William Carlson
San Jose

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