Californians Call on Wall Street to “Wake Up”

In a new report released Aug. 10, research details how Wall Street owes California tax payers billions and continues to bilk the state in the foreclosure crisis, loss in lending to small businesses, unpaid property tax and more.

The report, which was compiled by various community organizations and is called “Wake Up Wall Street,” raises concerns that Wall Street’s indiscretions have forced tough decisions on local governments.

View photos from the event here.

 

To illustrate the report’s dramatic findings, community residents and education leaders delivered a giant itemized bill to Chase Bank Tuesday in Downtown Los Angeles. In a small sampling of JP Morgan Chase Bank owned properties research found the bank owes $13.5 million to Los Angeles County.

Wall Street private equity firms owe an additional $13 million to the county. Statewide, Chase is estimated to owe tens of millions more in back taxes.

Simultaneous actions happened in Sacramento, Richmond, San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno and Los Angeles.

Community residents called on banks to pay their fair share and help fix the state:

• By paying correct property taxes;
• Renegotiating toxic interest rate swap deals that cost California cities and state agencies a total of $500 million annually;
• Increasing lending to small businesses to aid in job creation;
• and changing loan modification policies to reduce foreclosures that are costing the state billions in lost wealth.

“It’s never a good idea to waste public funds and right now that means services that people depend on will be cut,” said City of LA Traffic Officer Myndahlee Jennings. “Our city is still in these deals and it’s time the banks let us out.”

“Our class sizes have grown and our school year has shrunk. Drastic cuts have put our children’s future in jeopardy.

Now we see the hard numbers that show the revenue lost to our state through loopholes in tax assessment that allow banks and other financial institutions to shirk on paying their fair share. That has got to change.”

Steve Zimmer Los Angeles Unified School District Board member   “I’m very concerned to see the level of services cuts happening at the city right now. As a homeowner, I’m paying my fair share for local services, and I believe the banks should too.”
Evalyn Burnie
50-year Pacoima resident and member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE)