By Bryan Do, Candidate for Santa Clara County Assessor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the past few weeks, a fellow candidate for County Assessor has been sending text messages claiming he will \u201cexempt ALL SENIORS from property tax.\u201d It sounds appealing but let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s not possible under California law. And even if it were, further exacerbating the County budget would hurt seniors and everyone else who relies on public services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What an Assessor can and can\u2019t do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As someone running to be your next County Assessor, I want to be clear about what this office actually does. The Assessor doesn\u2019t make tax policy. I don\u2019t get to invent new exemptions. My job is to implement state law fairly, accurately and consistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The California Constitution and statutes spell out exactly what can be taxed, what exemptions exist, and how assessments are determined. The State Board of Equalization has made it plain: there is no exemption from property tax solely on the basis of age. Programs like the Homeowners\u2019 Exemption and the Disabled Veterans\u2019 Exemption apply broadly, not just to seniors [1].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even the County\u2019s Assessment Appeals Board cannot create exemptions. It can only correct errors in value. Exemptions come from the Constitution or Legislature, not from an Assessor [2].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Importantly, as Assessor I will always respect the will of the voters on Proposition 13. Californians overwhelmingly passed Prop 13 to cap property tax increases and provide stability to homeowners, including seniors. My responsibility is to faithfully uphold those voter-approved protections while ensuring the system is fair and transparent [3].<\/p>\n\n\n\n What seniors can access today:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn\u2019t mean seniors are left without options. In fact, California law already provides several important forms of relief \u2014 but they\u2019re specific, targeted, and legally authorized, unlike the sweeping promises that went out in text messages last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why \u201cexempt all seniors\u201d would be a fiscal disaster<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With a simple \u201cback of the envelope\u201d calculation, let me show you why this proposal is not just illegal but also reckless with County finances. First, seniors make up about 14.4% of Santa Clara County\u2019s population [7]. Among them, about 47% are homeowners\u2014the highest rate of any age group [8]. Multiply those together, and seniors likely account for roughly 6.8% of all households. If those households were exempted from property tax and everything else being equal, we\u2019d lose about 6.8% of property tax revenue. Property tax, in turn, makes up about 36% of the County\u2019s General Fund [6]. Do the math: 6.8% \u00d7 36% = 2.45% of the County\u2019s total budget. With projected revenues of $11.4 billion in FY 2024\u201325, that is a loss of roughly $279 million every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s $279 million less for local schools that rely on property tax, for health care that keeps families strong, for the public safety that protects our neighborhoods, and for the housing and social services that stabilize our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I will do as your Assessor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of selling illegal and impossible promises, I\u2019m running on practical reforms that will help seniors and everyone else while protecting the revenues that fund our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A smarter path forward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I understand why seniors worry about rising costs, and I understand the frustration when our government feels distant or unresponsive. But making illegal and financially impossible promises is not the answer. What we need is an Assessor who will run a transparent, customer-focused office that delivers accurate assessments, fair treatment, and real relief through the programs that already exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the leadership I am offering: honest service that respects the law, protects the County\u2019s budget, and builds a property tax system that works for everyone. Together, we can create a system that is open, fair, and strong enough to serve not just today\u2019s residents but the generations that follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bryan Do escaped communism in Vietnam as a child and built his life in San Jos\u00e9. He built a career in technology, managing complex systems at scale, and now serves as President of the East Side Union High School District Governing Board, where he was re-elected with overwhelming support. He is a candidate for Santa Clara County Assessor. Learn more at <\/em>BryanDo.org<\/em><\/a> <\/em>or by emailing his campaign directly Bryan@BryanDo.org.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [1] California State Board of Equalization \u2013 Property Tax Exemptions Overview. [3] Santa Clara County Assessor\u2019s Office \u2013 Understanding Prop 13 By Bryan Do, Candidate for Santa Clara County Assessor During the past few weeks, a fellow candidate for County Assessor has been sending text messages claiming he will \u201cexempt ALL SENIORS from property tax.\u201d It sounds appealing but let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s not possible under California law. And even if it were, further exacerbating the …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/68adfa3047cfba3c4bfb057a\/8ea41eba-3feb-420b-9918-a95e5cdab2da\/False+Promises+-+Bryan+Do+Op-ed+Article.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
[2] Santa Clara County Assessment Appeals Board FAQ \u2013 Exemptions and Limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[4] California State Board of Equalization \u2013 Proposition 19 Base-Year Value Transfers.
[5] California State Controller \u2013 Property Tax Postponement Program.
[6] East Side Union High School District \u2013 Measure N Parcel Tax Exemption for Owner-Occupants Age 65.
[7] U.S. Census ACS \u2013 Santa Clara County Demographic Profile (65+ share of population \u2248 14.4%).
[8] Silicon Valley Indicators \u2013 Santa Clara County Homeownership by Age (\u224847% for seniors).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"