By:John Upton
Examiner Staff WriterSAN FRANCISCO — Owners of skyscrapers and other commercial buildings across California could see higher property taxes if a proposal by a San Francisco official succeeds.

Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting wants to strip commercial properties of tax protections currently provided to all owners of residential and commercial real estate. Last week, he founded Close the Prop 13 Loophole. It’s a political action committee that Ting said will work to make those changes law.

The City could raise taxes it levies on commercial buildings by “hundreds of millions of dollars” per year if those properties are exempted from protections afforded by Proposition 13, according to Ting.

Such a change could be made at the ballot box or by a two-thirds vote by state legislators.

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By Peter Y. Hong
Southern California — with home prices now at 2002 levels and falling — is at the start of what is likely to be a long period of relatively affordable housing, economists and housing market analysts say.

Home prices are now below their historical average compared with incomes, putting them within reach of more people than they have been since about 2000, several studies show.

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