Merc editorial misfires on Board of Equalization office's essence

The Board of Equalization (BOE) in California plays a vital role in safeguarding taxpayer rights and tax fairness, defending citizens from the ongoing encroachment of the administrative state. A recent SJ Mercury Op-ed about the BOE bizarrely ignores this vital function, and in fact calls for the shuttering of the Board. BOE District 2 candidate Peter Coe Verbica sets the record straight in a Merc letter to the editor.

Absent from the article on the Board of Equalization ("BOE") are the past and present reasons for its existence –as a protection for California taxpayers. Its original intent when first established in 1879 was to ensure that county assessors would treat property owners fairly. The BOE is unique in that it has a “Taxpayers Rights Advocate Office.” Though the power of the BOE has diminished, this ebb benefits California's bureaucrats rather than the taxpayer. County tax assessors reportedly have thousands of backlogged appeals and the burden of interpreting a poorly written Proposition 19 (with its sneaky death tax). While the State may have a paper surplus due to how its pension liabilities are calculated, spendthrift California will continue to aggressively seek tax revenues. As a candidate endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC, I argue that the BOE’s existence has never been so important as now.

--Peter Coe Verbica

Verbica can be reached at: peter.verbica@gmail.com

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