Tag archives: tax

Tax the Billionaires!
By Jeff Harding   |   June 4, 2024

In a recent New York Times editorial, socialist economist Gabriel Zucman of Berkeley wrote “It’s Time to Tax the Billionaires.” Congresswoman Barbara Lee proposed a wealth tax, the Oligarch Act of 2023. Rep. Lee wants a yearly 8% tax on the “extreme wealth” (net worth) of the “aristocratic” rich. Our legislators in Sacramento have also […]

The Flip Side Of Prop 19: Moving Your Property Tax Basis, Repeatedly
By John J. Thyne III   |   July 18, 2023

When California voters passed Proposition 19 in November of 2020, many questioned why the Real Estate industry supported a law that eviscerated the “parent to child exclusion” (from property tax reassessments) in most cases. Well, like the Stones’ “Satisfaction” and the Beatles’ “Revolution,” the B side of this new law outshined side A. While Prop […]

Cannabis Revenues Disappoint
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 21, 2023

At a SB County Board of Supervisors hearing this past Tuesday, the board was briefed on second-quarter revenues for Fiscal Year 2022-23 related to cannabis tax revenue, which continues to trend lower than budgeted with a projected $10.5M negative variance.  With an adopted budget of $16.3M, cannabis cultivation and retail storefront tax is currently projecting […]

Santa Barbara County: Where Dartboards Are Used to Budget!
By Jeff Giordano   |   June 21, 2022

Most insiders know that our $1.4B County is relatively inept when it comes to financial forecasting. One need only look at our $118M North Branch Jail-Mahal with an estimated cost of $67M (what’s $51M between friends) to know our ability to budget is broken. Well, it’s happening yet again with our newest revenue savior — […]

Retirement Plan Changes
By Christopher Gallo   |   February 27, 2020

A new Federal law passed in December has made sweeping changes to the retirement plans used by most Americans. The SECURE (Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement) Act brings with it many benefits, including pushing back the mandatory retirement distribution age for IRAs, but the cost is the removal of the popular “stretch IRA” […]

Tax Deadline Approaches
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 12, 2018

The post office in the Read ‘n Post Store on Coast Village Road is the only local post office that will remain open late on tax deadline day, Tuesday, April 17. “We have received permission from the U.S. Postal Service to extend our hours on tax deadline day,” said Read ‘n Post owner-manager Jan Hendrickson. […]

Taxing Situation
By Montecito Journal   |   December 14, 2017

I would like to recommend to Bob Hazard, who wrote the recent Guest Editorial (“California Screaming,” MJ #23/48), that the Los Angeles Times of Tuesday, December 5, published a brief letter from a Godfrey Harris under the subject of “Why we pay taxes”. From Mr. Harris’s point of you, which I agree with, Americans are […]

Blue State Payback Time
By Montecito Journal   |   December 7, 2017

Bob Hazard‘s debunking of tax reform Myth #3 (Guest Editorial, MJ #23/48) was revelatory, but not debunking. His Myth #3 is “Removing the Federal Deduction for State and Local Taxes is Unfair to High-Tax States such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois.” Unfortunately, Mr. Hazard did not address a fundamental issue of […]

California Screaming
By Bob Hazard   |   November 30, 2017

After a weekend of Thanksgiving gobbling and gorging, most of us are more interested in waist cuts than tax cuts, but the Senate is about to make its move on tax reform… and Californians are nervous. Voter registration in the State of California runs 44% Democrat versus 29% Republican; California is definitely a dark-blue state, […]