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Letter: Time for a Proposition 13

(AP file photo) This July 19, 1978, photo shows California Gov. Jerry Brown, left, and Howard Jarvis, tax reformer and executive director of the California Apartment Owners' Association, one of the proponents of Proposition 13, during a news conference in Los Angeles. Proposition 13, the 1978 tax revolt initiative, placed strict caps on property tax increases that are still in place today. Although Brown opposed it, his embrace of the measure once it passed earned him the endorsement of Jarvis.

With a recent notification of a 35% increase in property taxes, perhaps it is time to initiate a California-style Proposition 13.

The value of our house may have increased, but we did not buy this house for speculation, or marketing, or for prices others who pay exorbitant prices for temporary housing, but to make this house our home for 50 years.

The irony is that property tax even includes taxes to collect taxes. Tax and lease increases are certainly a good way for the government to make people and small businesses homeless, and keep them homeless. Something should change.

Of course, these tax increases are the only way the state of Utah, Washington County, and the Washington County Water Conservancy District will be able to pay for the proposed $2 billion pipeline from Lake Powell to drench the residents therein. What is Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County buying? Certainly not public services. They are funded through additional taxes and fees.

Peter Hovingh, Salt Lake City

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