Repeal the state’s Prop. 19 death tax

Igot hit by a car last year while riding my bicycle.

But not just any car — it was a remotecontrol car being operated by a teenager in my neighborhood who directed the miniature missile right through a stop sign.

And while not as large as a real automobile — it weighed about 10 pounds — it was heavy and fast enough to knock my bike out from under me and turned my back wheel into something resembling a fortune cookie.

Surprises can be nasty. And some surprises are far more serious than a broken bike and a mild case of road rash.

Under the category of very serious surprises is what is happening to California families who, while grieving the loss of a family member, are shocked to see massive increases in property taxes from inherited homes and other real estate. It started in November 2020, when voters narrowly passed Proposition 19, which repealed an important taxpayer protection from the California Constitution that taxpayers have relied on.

The passage of Prop. 19 had the effect of resurrecting the death tax on property that voters had eliminated back in 1986. Since Prop. 19’s passage thousands of families have personally encountered the unwelcome and cruel return of the death tax, which is triggered on the date of the passing of the last surviving parent or, in some cases, grandparent. Their home or small business is reassessed to current market value and then their children or grandchildren who inherit the property are shocked to see a massive increase in the property tax bill.

The resurrection of the death tax upended the long-established law concerning the transfer of property between parents and their children. Because of Prop. 19, many families are now forced into the unwanted sale of a family home or rental housing property because they cannot afford the property taxes.

Moreover, the impact on minority communities has been especially acute. As cogently stated by Edwin Lombard, president and CEO of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, “For Black families, homeownership is the primary means of building generational wealth and upward mobility. And small business development is often financed through a home’s equity. If we do nothing, the racial wealth inequity in California will only get worse.” n See Coupal page A5

Letters To The Editor

Save Rasmussen pond

EDITOR:

Rasmussen Pond is the most serene and scenic point in our Cameron Park community. It is our very own 21st century Walden Pond. Native Americans have lived and worked near the pond for hundreds if not thousands of years. If you have ever been there you know it needs your protection, not development. I’ve hiked by there many times in my 30-plus years living in Cameron Park.

My family is 100% against the development in this area. For our community and children’s sake, just say no to a housing development at Rasmussen Pond. This community is strongly opposed to any development there. Don’t pave paradise to put up a parking lot.

Please listen to our community and reject the development and save Rasmussen Pond.

MARK TURNER Cameron Park

Battle over Rassmussen pond

EDITOR:

Thank you for the well-written and enlightening article on the Cameron Meadows development that seeks to destroy a wonderful local natural habitat. As a longtime El Dorado County resident, it pains me to see more and more development in our rural county, especially when they go against our General Plan.

It is our duty as citizens to tell these developers that the residents oppose these plans, as they will add to traffic, flooding, loss of natural habitats and overall reduction of health of our residents as this area is used by thousands of hikers, joggers and nature walkers every year.

The TTLC company mentioned should honor its vision statement of repurposing under-utilized commercial property. We would support that, but not the destruction of our local wildlife.

Thank you, Mountain Democrat, for bringing attention to this wonderful area that should not be built over.

TERRENCE CLARK Cameron Park

Developer pays lip service

EDITOR:

The TTLC tentative subdivision plan shows that as many houses as possible are being packed into the area allowable by federal,

Belltower Fraud, abuse, voters’ rights attack

What happened to the federal COVID Relief funds?

Judicial Watch, an open government foundation, announced in its March edition that hackers tied to the Chinese government stole $20 million.

In 2022 the House of Representatives documented waste, fraud and abuse in the American Rescue Plan — $783 million in stimulus checks for convicted criminals, including the Boston bomber.

Other APRA expenditures included $40 million to expand libraries in Delaware and $2 million for a Florida golf course, $16 million for electric vehicle charging stations in Maine and $20 million to modernize fish hatcheries in that state.

That’s a small summary from the March issue of Verdict, a Judicial Watch publication. Donations help fund the organization’s Freedom of Information lawsuits.

Of course, this pales in comparison to the California Employment Development Department, which lost $30 billion when the actual unemployed were going crazy trying to sign up for benefits, many of which went to prisoners and foreign entities. The incompetent manager who oversaw this $30 billion debacle has been nominated by President Biden to be Labor Secretary. She checks two boxes: woman and Asian, but not competency.

The April edition of Verdict included the information that the Capital Police Lt. Michael Byrd, after killing an unarmed Air Force veteran Ashley Babitt, laid low by staying at Joint Base Andrews, Md., costing the Air Force thousands of dollars as he stayed there with his dog, moving from temporary quarters to the state and county regulations. The nature of land left vacant is such that is not economically viable to build single-lot residential houses.

Currently the parcel zone is R1A (minimum lot size of 1 acre). The plan assumes that the parcel is rezoned to R1 that allows one to five lots per acre. That is a minimum lot size of 0.2 acre (8,714 square feet). The plan shows 104 of the 161 lots are less than 8,714 square feet and 54 of these 104 lots are less than 0.17 acre (7,260 square feet) — an equivalent to six lots per acre.

The housing developments that make up only a third of the parcel boundary have an average lot size of 12,000 square feet (0.28 acre). The remainder of the boundary is open space or 5- to 10-acre lots.

The 5-foot minimum offset of houses from lotside boundaries is being used where ever possible with the result that the distance between the sides of houses is 10 feet.

The roads are so narrow that the Fire Safe Plan prepared for TTLC requires all the roads except Carousel Lane be posted “No Parking” on one side of the roadway.

The Tentative Subdivision Plan will make this the highest density housing project in the area. The local residents will be really excited about this development as when they bought in this region, the zoning of this parcel was R5A (minimum lot size 5 acre) and lately R1A (minimum lot size 1 acre).

ROB HARRIS Cameron Park

The Real Problems

EDITOR:

This is how old I am. I went to a Catholic high school where the boys were in a different part of the building and we didn’t see them except, rarely, in the halls, which was very exciting.

One day the monsignor called us all into church (this was a parish school for local students) and warned us about boy-crazy girls and girl-crazy boys. Innocent as we were, we knew it was he who had the problem. It was all we could do to get a date for the prom. (One of the boys borrowed his family car to drive six of us to it.)

Since that innocent time it has become well known that high school students are having intercourse. But recently I heard a woman talking on the radio about taking her 15-year-old daughter n See letters page A5