Editor, Ceres Courier,

Are people aware that over 200 individuals with a net worth over $1 billion reside in California?

These individuals contribute billions in direct tax revenue every year and their companies are paramount contributors in our economy. If Proposition 40 – the one-time 5 percent billionaire tax to fund healthcare, education, and food programs – passes, the economy and its requisite tax revenue would experience a substantial degradation as it has under previous initiatives to tax billionaires.

Take, for example, Elon Musk; like him or not, when his company Tesla was headquartered in California, it brought stable jobs and business to the Bay Area and was a major boon to the California economy at large. The relocation of Tesla headquarters to Texas, largely due to California’s high taxation, directly impacted state funding by diminishing corporate and high-income tax revenue along with reducing California’s prestige in the technology sector.

This is just one example of billionaires taking their potential tax revenue and corporations to other, more business-friendly states, and a 5% tax on net worth will unquestionably push some of these 200 individuals to relocate.

The short-term funding generated from this tax pales in comparison to the potential long-term funding and economic benefits had these billionaires continued to reside in California. Proposition 40 would immediately and permanently decrease California tax revenue; vote NO!

Kai Bennett

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