Neighbors for Jason Overman | Berkeley City Council, District 8

For years, commercial real estate has been paying a far smaller percentage of the tax burden, while homeowners have been getting socked with all the increases.

When a home is sold, the new owner takes an enormous hit in property taxes. However, new owners and new stockholders of commercial real estate don’t get hit with these same increases. This isn’t fair, and as a city, we have some jurisdiction in changing the tax rates to ensure tax fairness.

The incumbent has voted on numerous occasions to increase the tax burden on homeowners and drivers in our city. I believe we’ve got to protect the homeowners that give so much to our community.

I support the taxes that fund our schools. But city officials need to be very careful about putting too many tax measures on the ballot at the same time. In 2004, they made the mistake of asking voters to carry too heavy of a burden at once.

We need to ensure that corporate interests pay their fair share, and that our neighbors aren’t paying a disproportionately high amount in property taxes.