It's a slideshow rather than an article. Here are a couple of the reasons:
1. Out-Of-State Transportation of Gas Leads To High Gas Prices
It would be more accurate to say that state gooberment and NIMBYs have capped refinery growth and new-builds to the point that some gasoline comes from hundreds of miles away.
2. Strict Environmental Regulations Lead To High Gas Prices
In plainer language, state-mandated (and Federally mandated?) seasonal "boutique" fuel blends cost more.
5. High Property Taxes
The writer for this slide shows that (s)he does not understand CA property taxes, specifically Proposition 13. The two major provisions of this are: the actual property tax is capped, IIRC, at 1%; the year-over-year increase, if the market value of the home has increased, is capped at 2%. There are things that make this less simple, e.g. local additional assessments, which happen only with local voter approval or additions done after the purchase. The bottom line, though, is that a Silicon Valley home owner who has owned their home for over 3 decades might have a home with market value of $2 million, but be paying $8000 in property taxes instead of 1% of market value, which would be $20000.
The points of Prop 13 were to put restraints on county and city spending and to prevent arbitrary property tax rate increases that in the late 1970s were starting to drive people on limited incomes out of homes they had owned for decades.
