Newsmax: Quinnipiac Poll: Cruz Loses Ground in Iowa, Now 7 Points Behind Trump

By Dan Walters, Jan. 31, 2016, Newsmax

California’s state and local governments hit us with about $250 billion in taxes every year, $6,000-plus per Californian.

A new report from the Tax Founation, based on 2012 data, puts Californians’ tax burden at 11 percent of personal income, the fairest way to calculate and compare.

Whether that burden is too high, too low or about right is a matter of perpetual debate in political, media and academic circles.

It was the sixth-highest level of any state in 2012, but it had dropped from fourth in the 2011 rankings as the percentage also declined from 11.5 percent. It’s also consistent with the state’s level of taxation over the last several decades, according to the databank maintained by the Tax Foundation.

Just before the passage of Proposition 13, California’s iconic property tax limit, in 1978, state and local taxation was 12.2 percent of personal income, the nation’s fourth highest.

More: www.sacbee.com