Twenty-five years ago this month, Californians voted to adopt Proposition 13. This amendment to the state constitution capped property tax rates and assessments, and required public votes on other tax increases.

In the years prior to 1978, double-digit inflation was pushing up prices for everything, including houses. Many homeowners suddenly found themselves living in houses worth many times what they paid for them. As property taxes were based on assessed values, tax bills rose so sharply that some Californians couldn't pay and were forced to sell their homes.

Using their right to initiate and vote in referendums, concerned taxpayers put a proposal on the ballot to amend California's constitution, to limit property tax increases until the property was sold. The proposal would also put in place a requirement for a two-thirds majority in the legislature to raise taxes.

Almost all of California's politicians opposed the measure. The business community financed a huge advertising campaign against it. Dire effects were predicted if taxes were cut. Police, firefighters and teachers would all be laid off, voters were told, and the state's economy would be decimated.

Ignoring the hysteria, Californians voted for the proposal by a two-to-one margin on June 6, 1978. Taxpayers began to know what their property taxes would be, year in and year out, no matter how much a rich neighbour paid for the property next door.

Proposition 13 has been blamed for much that has gone wrong in California over the past twenty-five years, from education failures to freeway collapses during an earthquake to even the not-guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial. But California state and local governments collect $120 billion annually in revenue. Even adjusted for population growth and inflation, this is far more in real terms that what they collected in 1978. Hence the fact that all efforts to reverse the measure have failed.

Joel Fox, long-time president of the taxpayers association, which organized this 1978 campaign, wrote recently that "Proposition 13 continues to give certainty to the taxpayer instead of the tax collector. The voters know that Proposition 13 is their taxpayer shield. They do not intend to put down the shield and remain defenseless in the face of an array of salivating, money-hungry governments that look longingly at the taxpayers for ever more revenue."

The Proposition 13 success story reminds us that Albertans still don't have the right to initiate and vote in referendums, in contrast to taxpayers in Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand, British Columbia and numerous U.S. states. Alberta's politicians have almost absolute control for up to five years at a time. Between elections, Albertans are completely powerless. A 2001 Environics poll revealed that 79% of Albertans want citizens' initiative legislation, with only 15% opposed and 6% undecided. In the same way, 83% of Albertans support a law requiring voter approval for new taxes and for tax increases. Premier Klein has thus far sided with the small minority of Albertans who oppose direct democracy and who oppose taxpayer protection legislation.