The report by Social Compact, a Washington-based nonprofit organization, says that annual income in Watts, Boyle Heights and seven other neighborhoods in South and East Los Angeles is about $1.9 billion more than the U.S. census has estimated and that 82,000 more people live there than the census has counted.What do you think of the article?
LA Times: Economic State of East L.A. Underestimated
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 15:23
Yesterday the LA Times published this article highlighting a report on the economic state of communities like East L.A. This report confirms what we've been saying all along - the financial viability of communities like East Los Angeles has been underestimated. For this reason, we need a Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (CFA) to get an accurate accounting of our community's finances.
Here's a clip from the article:
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 18:52
we all know the census doesn't capture everything. it's like east LA doesn't know its own household budget. how can we improve our community if we don't know what comes in OR what goes out?
Thu, 07/24/2008 - 22:06
I know that the article doesn't take into account the fact that there are 3318 homes in foreclosure in the 90022, 90023, and 90063 zip codes combined. There are many houses that have not received a notice of default because of the pending legislation to see if the lenders will benefit, but in the meantime, just like in the Census, there are quite a few houses not counted as foreclosures. I don't understand why the authors of the article did not mention this fact, which I am sure First American had the figures readily available, but I guess they decided not to contradict themselves in the article.
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 04:45
As an attorney experienced in real property matters, I don't believe the foreclosures are significant to the fiscal viability of a city anyway. This is because they really will not reduce the real property tax revenue that will be collected from each parcel. This is because under the Revenue and Taxation code, all real property taxes automatically become a lien on that real property on January 1 of each calendar year. This also applies to properties in foreclosure. The buyer at the foreclosure sale will either pay a purchase price that covers the existing property tax liens or will assume title to the property with any existing real property liens. Then, if existing property taxes are not paid off, the tax collector will declare the property "tax-defaulted" and eventually sell the property to pay off all past-due real property taxes. Therefore, the net property tax revenue is not diminished when property is in foreclosure.
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 18:10
Esquire you're correct, however if your neighborhood has a high percentage of foreclosures, then it can easily be assumed that property values will continue to fall, thus diminishing the tax revenue (prop. 8). Moreover, those who own and want to "fix" their mortgage will have a more difficult time doing so and possibly send them into a downward spiral and walking away. August 2008 will be the peak of the adjustments, and we won't see the effects until probably Q1 2009 and on.
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