Fair corporate taxes could bail out cities

By Rhys Hedges

Re: “Leaders may seek tax hike approval” (Page A1, Oct. 1).

Just like every other city in California, Oakland desperately needs new revenue sources. California cities don’t even have enough money to fund the bare minimum of public services, with essential services like BART shutting down frequently.

This is a problem that has gone back decades, ever since 1978, when Proposition 13 passed, and has since robbed hundreds of billions of dollars from our communities. Because Proposition 13 has severely capped property tax levels, other taxes have needed to be raised to pick up the slack. Sales tax rates in Oakland are nearly maxed out, and sales taxes are regressive and harm our most disadvantaged community members the most.

If we were able to tax the corporations that are stealing billions of dollars from us every year, Oakland would be able to fund every public service we need and more.