NO! The point of prop 13 was to not force families to sell due to property taxes. THIS WILL FORCE SALES DUE TO PROPERTY TAXES. (“Prop the Vote,” Oct. 21) I have no objection to people being able to transfer assessed value, but Prop 19 will be the slow death of family ranches and dairies in this area.
A million-dollar exemption on a low-impact livestock ranch is small compared to the total market value. The profit from livestock ranching is small. The next generation of multi-generation stewards of the land who put in so many hours caring for the land will often be forced to sell or put in grapes or cannabis, which many can’t due to slopes, water or other issues. Regulations make it also difficult to put in campgrounds, and they must compete with county sales tax subsidized campgrounds, which is unfair. Going from a $10,000 tax bill to a $80,000 tax bill on a few hundred acres of low-income, open-space pasture is only doable for very high-income people, which few ranches are. Ranches pay school and hospital assessments, but livestock do not attend. And the ranch family does not use any more property tax-funded services than other families.
Save family farms and ranches and vote NO.
Farmer Jane
Via Bohemian.com
Kids Are All Right
Thank you very much for this inspiring article about how teenagers are finding ways to thrive even during these challenging times (“From A to Gen Z,” Oct. 7). Our family has a fourteen-year-old in the house and it’s wonderful to be able to share this article whenever they say something like “things are really hard, I can’t do anything because of the pandemic!” More content like this would be wonderful!
Healdsburgian
Via Bohemian.com
