Property Tax Relief for Residential & Commercial Property Owners in Every State ~ Regardless of Net Worth and Property Evaluation
It’s crystal clear to many of us that every state in the United States could propose, and pass into law, a property tax system with property tax relief measures resembling California’s Proposition 13 and Proposition 58.
As in California, states with governors that actually care about the citizens in their state; or, more specifically, residential and commercial property owners in their state – could also make use of loans to irrevocable trusts from licensed trust lenders, to provide a unique, effective way to deal with property-based sibling conflicts – or simply to mitigate crippling property tax hikes.
Again, as in all 58 counties in the state of California, with the advent of these property tax breaks, middle class family members in all states could walk through life happier, feeling a tiny bit wealthier perhaps, with a first-time sense that there is, in their state, a fair-minded property tax system in place; that regular working families can benefit from, similar to property tax relief in California — and not just V.I.P. tax breaks for wealthy property owners.
So middle class property owners, estate heirs and trust beneficiaries would end up with a win-win inheritance or estate experience… Regardless what state they are in, what their net-worth is, or how much their inherited real estate is valued at. As in California, property tax relief would exist in an even playing field, in all states for all property owners, for all heirs and beneficiaries who are inheriting real property.
Howard Jarvis and his team of property tax relief proponents originated California Proposition 13 property tax breaks, which later spawned Proposition 58 tax benefits, including the ability to keep parents property taxes, while avoiding property tax reassessment… However they did not realize, in their own time, was that the property tax measures they had invented, actually reflected the property ownership and fair-minded taxation controls that the founders of this country had in mind from the very beginning.
Property Tax Relief Patriots
Yearly uncontrolled, unpredictable, crippling property tax hikes every year – that sees elderly widows being evicted, and aging retirees and veterans living on fixed incomes foreclosed on, and thrown onto the street – was certainly NOT what the founders and rebellious patriots had in mind over two hundred years ago, when they fought their way out from under egregious taxation imposed by a certain British king.
Different, yet similarly effective measures is essentially what a certain successful patriotic landlord named Howard Jarvis accomplished when he and other supporters of property tax relief fought for Proposition 13, for the ability to avoid property tax reassessment under present day rates; for parent to child transfer or parent to child exclusion when benefiting from parents’ property tax transfer. They won the right of CA Proposition 13 transfer of property, and won the ability to transfer parents property taxes and keep parents property taxes, when inheriting a home and/or land and when inheriting property taxes associated with their inheritance. They managed to put authentic property tax relief in place in the great state of California, in 1978 — not just for V.I.P.s and the wealthy (as current critics falsely claim), but for the middle class, and all Californian property owners .
Therefore, if we want to benefit from a long-term, reliable system of property tax relief measures, and get out from under yearly, frequently debilitating property tax – we’re going to have to educate ourselves on what type of property tax relief system each state requires; and go about discussing these property tax relief measures with approachable government representatives, approximating what Mr. Jarvis had accomplished, with the help of other property tax relief patriots, 42 years ago.
California Transfer Parents Property Taxes To A Child
All things considered, there is no good reason residential, commercial and industrial property owners in every state in the United States shouldn’t have property tax relief, modeled after California tax relief. And not wind up in a nightmare with the tax people as they did in California. with widows and elderly veterans and retirees living off fixed incomes being evicted from their homes on a regular basis… prior to 1978.
This is really where the major problem is with many middle class estates, along with estate taxes often enough. Without property tax benefits, as California has had since 1978, so many beneficiaries in so many different estate, inheriting property from parents, simply can’t afford the upkeep and property taxes on their inherited home, and frequently are forced to sell their parents’ property. Often against their will.
There is a lot of talk among real estate attorneys and property tax advisors in states other than California about adopting some sort of property tax shelter to help middle class Americans in a genuine fashion, long-term. Instead of consistently bleeding the general public dry year after year, decade after decade… while multi-millionaires and billionaires pay less and less taxes by raising the national debt by a trillion or two. Especially during so-called conservative administrations, which generally lean towards assisting the wealthy with tax cuts while ignoring tax relief needs of the middle class and working classes. Moreover, particularly in the midst of a global Pandemic, where we have millions our of work, no federal leadership, and 30 or so states in the Midwest and Deep South in deep trouble with Coronavirus health and economic issues piling up, with no end in sight. What better time than now to pass national property tax relief, benefiting all states.
To out it bluntly, it’s time that the middle class have their day, and get to enjoy genuine property tax relief to free up some more cash so they can enjoy their lives a bit more, with a little less financial stress. However, the trick is to enlist the interest of the public itself, as well as certain name brand politicians, which would, if they had some intelligence and common sense, endear them to their constituents forever.
If, by any chance you reside in California, and you happen to be a beneficiary inheriting property from your parents, consider yourself to be very lucky. Instead of buckling under to family conflicts revolving around property issues, you’d be able to buyout siblings’ property shares, while retaining a low Proposition 13 protected base property tax rate – plus always take advantage, anywhere in the state, of your right to avoid property tax reassessment; to transfer parents property taxes, and keep parents property taxes when inheriting property taxes.
This is why so many property tax advisors and real estate lawyers in various locations believe every single state should have a property tax measure similar to CA Proposition 13, Proposition 58 & Prop 193. The California model is a perfect prototype to mirror for effective, seamless property tax breaks; including the right to transfer parents property taxes, inheriting property taxes and the ability to keep parents property taxes for all property tax transfer scenarios involving parent to child transfer or parent to child exclusion from present day property tax rates… involving beneficiaries of family trusts – most importantly, avoiding property tax reassessment. To mirror Proposition 58 type of benefits, states without property tax relief would need to also adopt the ability to help beneficiaries buy out sibling property – as realtors call it, “transfer of property between siblings” or “sibling to sibling property transfer”, or buying out siblings’ share of a house. And beneficiaries everywhere, if they are aware of it, rarely disagree.
Beneficiaries, as well as residential, industrial and commercial property owners in every state in America need to research these forms of property tax relief at resource blogs like “Property Tax Transfer”; as well as Websites that focus on California Proposition 58, on the property tax transfer process, and on how trust loans from trust lenders work, to help beneficiaries buy out sibling property, from start to finish… outlining how the unique combination of a trust loan with Proposition 58 serves to equalize the distribution of cash for trust beneficiaries… at Websites like “Trust & Estate Loans”…
Or perhaps at a well known, premium trust lender’s Website that delves into the actual nuts & bolts of the Proposition 58 / trust lending process, for example at the popular, first-class Commercial Loan Corp. Website; which is, arguably, the most visited Website of it’s kind in this specific lending category.
This gives beneficiaries enough information to successfully avoid estate conflicts between siblings; with some beneficiaries insisting on selling inherited property, and some wanting to keep their inherited property, at a low long-term property tax base.
Considering every state in America, if we were to project into the future and take into account all the ways we could avoid wasting money as a result of inheriting property from our parents… If you were expecting property as an inheritance – what would you do to make sure you were inheriting a home you could afford to keep?
Nothing comes to mind?
What if every state in the union embraced the same sort of property tax breaks that California has employed since 1978… when Proposition 13 was voted into law so every residential, industrial and commercial property owner would be able to avoid property tax reassessment.
Subsequently, CA Proposition 58 was passed in 1986, enabling the transfer of property between siblings, making it possible to buyout your siblings’ property shares, plus insuring that you keep parents property taxes, basically forever – maintaining a low Proposition 13 guaranteed property tax base, capped at a 2% maximum rate – all with the help of a loan to an irrevocable trust.
Sounds simple, however it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. You need a reliable trust lender to help you, and you must qualify for all the requirements necessary to be approved for Proposition 58 – in order to take advantage of it.
Given the stunning unraveling of the job-based economy over the past several months in the United States, due to all the lay-offs and so-called “furloughs” resulting from the Coronavirus crisis – as of August 2020 there are over 51 million lost jobs nation-wide, and more than 6.7 million unemployed in California alone… although what percentage of that is temporary or permanent – we don’t yet know.
Frankly, the danger that the loss of millions of jobs poses to the country, not to mention the startling lack of engagement exhibited by the federal government, only exacerbates the health crisis. Therefore, it’s clear to most of us that it’s high time lawmakers in Washington begin to put in place some permanent financial guardrails to help working class and middle class households lower expenses to some degree, to hopefully free up some spending cash for those that are out of work, with no resolution yet in sight.
One such guardrail would be to free up additional personal spending cash by lowering property taxes on the middle class, whose spending habits, historically, keep the economy flowing. It would make a great deal of sense right now, with no end to the Coronavirus challenges in sight, to not defer certain taxes – but to completely eliminate them!
Most likely, the least risky form of taxation to lower right now would be property taxes, as we have a successful property tax relief model in California to mirror in all the other states – preventing politicians from claiming that it probably wouldn’t work out, so why bother… why try. Clearly, property tax relief has worked out, and continues to be a successful system, in California.
It would certainly help to prop up a flagging middle class besieged by an unprecedented Pandemic, and corresponding recession, to put in place residential and commercial property tax breaks similar to Californian property tax relief measures made possible by CA Proposition 13, enabling property owners, in the wake of transfer of property measures, to avoid property tax reassessment every year… Making sure to transfer parents property taxes when inheriting property and inheriting property taxes from parents… in other words inheriting property taxes that equal the lowest taxes your parents paid after 1978.
Prior to 1978, property taxes were unpredictable and way too high in California… until trust beneficiaries and heirs of estates were given “parent to child transfer”, or “parent to child exclusion” as real estate attorneys refer to it.
Interestingly enough, since 1986 California trust loans have been used to resolve seemingly unsolvable inherited property conflicts between siblings; working alongside CA Proposition 58. Once approved, Prop 58 helps heirs to buyout sibling property through trust liquidity – siblings that are intent on selling their property shares… Generally called a beneficiary buyout of sibling property shares, sibling to sibling property transfer, or a transfer of property between siblings – siblings looking to sell their property shares wind up with more liquidity in trust than if they had sold out directly to an outside buyer. Conversely, folks looking to keep their inherited property can avoid property tax reassessment at present day rates, going forward; retaining the same low property tax base their parents had.
That’s the real genius of the property tax relief system in California… and the bottom line gift for middle class home owners and non-wealthy landlords in California – the legal right to avoid property tax reassessment.
The magic of trust loans from trust lenders is that they make it possible, when working in concert with Proposition 58, to equalize cash to beneficiaries – in other words Prop 58 helps heirs to buyout sibling property – if they’re looking to sell an inherited property held up by beneficiaries of the same trust that are looking to keep the same inherited home and/or land…
And yet other families agree on everything in these estate or inherited property matters…. So you just never know. However, typically there are some problematic conflicts to address. And that’s where a trust lender tends to come into the picture – as we have said, to “equalize cash” for those who wish to sell, while setting a low base tax rate for siblings who are set on keeping the home inherited from beloved parents.
A Threat to Proposition 58, Parent to Child Exclusion, Arises
If they were keeping both eyes open, most property owners in California were looking, tentatively, for signs on the horizon of any new threat to the popular property tax break known as the “parent to child exemption, or “Prop 58 parent to child exclusion”… Meaning, exclusion from having your home, or any other property, reassessed every year at current property tax rates. Being that this exclusion is the the main foundation that property tax relief in California is built on, if you were serious about dismantling property tax relief in this state, it would be likely that you’d go after this critical tax break in earnest.
So naturally, at the last moment, when everyone thought they might have “dodged the bullet” in terms of efforts to dismantle Proposition 13 or Proposition 58 one more time, relentless critics of California Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 decided to add one more measure to the mix, to remove the parent to child exclusion allowed under Proposition 58, from California home owners… A measure they are calling Proposition 19. Very short sighted!
These measures also kill off our right, in conjunction with Proposition 58, to get a loan to an irrevocable trust and keep a low property tax base forever, from parent to child transfer, also called parent to child exclusion or parent to child exemption… with the ability to transfer property between siblings or buyout siblings’ share of inherited property. Proposition 15 kills off landlords’ tax breaks and so have fun watching your rent go sky high, landlords will have no choice to stay in business! In fact everything will go up in price, all goods and services as we have said many times.
Proposition 19 kills the exemption we just mentioned, the CA Proposition 13 protected parent to child transfer… in other words transfer of property between family members… No more ability to transfer parents property taxes (in other words, their low tax rate becomes your own low tax rate). Inheriting property taxes will be no more, and you’ll be spending over $6,000 more every year in property taxes. No joke. You won’t be able to keep parents property taxes any more, property tax transfer will be no more… no more ability to avoid property tax reassessment. That’s the killer.
No longer being able to avoid property tax reassessment would be a truly devastating event for home owners who depend on extra spendable cash freed up by the money they save from the lack of property tax reassessment. Losing the parent to child exclusion, in an already hyper-expensive state, would devastate millions of Californians. Not to mention the possibility of the so-called Split-Roll or “Proposition 15” commercial property tax, which would certainly add to the devastation by raising industrial and commercial property taxes, including apt. building landlords, forcing landlords to raise rents on residential and business tenants…
Or we could talk about trust beneficiaries or estate heirs losing their ability to get a loan for hundreds of thousands of dollars to an irrevocable trust to buyout siblings who are intent on selling their share of a beloved inherited home, along with establishing a low property tax base made possible by Proposition 13, working in tandem with Proposition 58. And the list goes on.
Without being partisan or subjective – it’s fairly clear to any reasonable person that would herald in grave economic disturbance, and even disaster, for the entire state, where middle class and working class people are concerned. Obviously, many residents in Malibu or Beverly Hills or Santa Barbara would not be feeling the pinch. However, we’re not talking about the 1%.
This brainchild of C.A.R. and the CA Legislature is, if you step back and think about it, not only brazen but also short-sighted, as they are actually looking to fund special interests with revenue from property taxes — right smack in the middle of a Pandemic. With over 6.7 million Californians having signed up for unemployment checks, these critics of property tax relief want to remove these universally popular property tax breaks protected by Proposition 13 and Proposition 58. Benefits that middle class and working class California families have become accustomed to, and depend on.
Proposition 58 Particulars
Most Californians are familiar with Proposition 58 and the Prop 58 parent to child exclusion. As you know, California Proposition 58 serves to protect folks who owe $8,500 or more in additional property taxes, while they settle their affairs. Prop 58 also allows beneficiaries who wish to keep inherited property in their family to buyout co-beneficiaries’ property shares, through a trust loan, and helps those looking to keep their inherited home also keep a low Proposition 13 protected property tax base their parents paid. And everyone goes away happy, win-win, all the way around.
In 1986, to protect families from massive property tax hikes, voters passed Proposition 58, revising the California constitution to ensure transfers of property between parents and children could be executed with the right to avoid property tax reassessment. Under Proposition 58 property of any value, plus additional property with up to a million dollars of assessed value, can be transferred between parents and children without reassessment.
However, the chief sponsor of ACA-11 (Proposition 19) the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) came along and decided to spoil all these critical win-win protections. C.A.R. assembled enough signatures to get their initiative on the ballot. Apparently, C.A.R. is motivated by their monetary interest in drumming up new home sales, regardless of the fact that the measure creates a multi-billion-dollar tax increase statewide, will throw the entire middle class California economy into chaos, already in turmoil due to the Covid-19 health and unemployment crisis…
The 2020 Proposition 19 would look to repeal the 1986 Proposition 58 parent to child transfer (property tax break) and impose reassessment of inherited or transferred property within families. The one exception being if the property was used as the principal residence of the beneficiary to whom it was transferred, and that exclusion is even capped.
Unintended or Intended Consequences?
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) estimated that the repeal of the “inter-generational transfer protections” guaranteed by the Prop 58 parent to child exclusion, and Proposition 193 grandparent to grandchild exemption would, if passed, cause somewhere between 40,000 to 60,000 families in California to be crippled economically by higher yearly property taxes.
Obviously, most middle class families would be forced to immediately sell an inherited home left to them by a surviving parent. Thus, a serious imposition has been placed on the “right to choose” for countless middle class families… simply so realtors can sell a few more homes on the market. The trade off does seem to be rather uneven. If Proposition 19 passes, all those beneficiaries in California will be expected to move in to their parent’s home and make it their primary residence within one year of their surviving parent’s death.
The basis for this measure is unrealistic on its’ face, for a number of reasons… Many beneficiaries are already home owners, and pay out a fair amount of cash every month already to maintain their own mortgage and/or property upkeep. Moreover, if a beneficiary has a large family, and his or her parent’s home is not spacious enough – what alternatives are left for these folks?
If Mom or Dad’s home is situated a long distance away from a beneficiary’s place of work, and/or the spouse’s workplace – and perhaps inconveniently far away from their children’s school, adding possibly an additional 60 or 90 minutes on the freeway each way, back and forth every day… What options will these families have to look to?
Critics of property tax relief in California are proposing somewhat unrealistic measures that, although they may look good on paper from a financial perspective, they fail to incorporate realistic issues and scenarios that exist for regular people with regular lives.
So vote your conscience in November. We suggest you vote “No to Proposition 19”.
Information and Trust Loan Funding
For more details on the C.A.R. originated Proposition 19 effort to turn back the clock on property tax relief in California, you can go to CaliforniaProposition58.org
Let’s project ahead for a moment… In terms of the state you may live in, of the best way to avoid inherited property being a money pit (in terms of property taxes and upkeep), of it being a home you cannot afford to keep… So let’s keep it simple. If every state in the union adopted the same sort of property tax relief that California has, with the right to keep parents property taxes, where you can avoid property tax reassessment, as with California’s 1978 Proposition 13, and Proposition 58 voted into law in 1986; we’d all be in good shape.
In a perfect world this wouldn’t be all that difficult to attain, if every state would wake up and smell the coffee, and instate property tax breaks like California has. Frankly, if we all had representatives in the Congress and Senate who actually cared about their job and cared about doing their job for us – this could easily be accomplished, if the will was there.
Why shouldn’t every state offer property tax relief like California? It’s like dental care. Why doesn’t every healthcare plan have genuine dental care? Not $1500 owrth and then you’re on your own, but real dental. Can with property tax relief. Why shouldn’t every property owner in every state have property tax relief to make their life easier… While billionaires and multi-millionaires enjoy outrageous tax breaks every year.
Every beneficiary or heir inheriting property from parents, or simply residents or landlords or business folks owning property, would be able to afford to keep their commercial property, or an inherited home from parents. As in California, this affects all types of property transfers… Giving every beneficiary the ability to keep parents property taxes, or benefiting from property tax transfer, inheriting property taxes – from parents’ low tax base of 2% thanks to Prop 13… This is the property tax base that helps property owners so profoundly in California. Why not in every state?
Without property tax breaks, as California has had since 1978, so many heirs to so many estates, or beneficiaries of so many trusts… in so many different states, inheriting property from parents, simply can’t afford the upkeep and property taxes on an inherited home, and frequently are forced to sell their parents’ property. Often against their will.
We can simply call it “property tax relief”, the right to keep parents property taxes, similar to what you can accomplish in California; with Proposition 13, or during property tax transfer, utilizing CA Proposition 58 – keeping property taxes much lower, avoiding property tax reassessment. Beneficiaries who are inheriting property in any of the 58 counties in California, always have a low tax base not to exceed 2% from California Proposition 13, giving beneficiaries huge tax benefits from property inherited from a parent.
Plus there is always the ability to make good use of a loan to an irrevocable trust – as trust loans from trust lenders are used in conjunction with Proposition 58 to equalize cash to beneficiaries looking to sell an inherited property held up by beneficiaries of the same trust looking to keep the same inherited home and/or land… for once making scenarios like that a win-win experience for everyone in an estate or trust situation with a trust loan from a reliable trust lender. Instead of experiencing, repeatedly, problematic family conflicts revolving around property issues like this.
Just like in California, every state in America should be able to take advantage of the right to keep parents property taxes, to transfer parents property taxes, when inheriting property taxes. If, by any chance you reside in California, and you happen to be a beneficiary inheriting property from your parents, or an older person simply maintaining property you have owned for years, consider yourself very lucky.
This is why so many real estate lawyers in various locations these days strongly believe every state should have a property tax measure similar to California Proposition 13 and Proposition 58. Beneficiaries everywhere agree wholeheartedly.
However, one gets the sense that every property owner may not be fully aware of all these tax benefits in California. The CA Proposition 13 tax shelter benefits during and after property tax transfer (with CA Proposition 58) saves beneficiaries big bucks, being able to transfer parents property taxes, being able to keep parents property taxes… inheriting property taxes that are capped. We should never forget that in California it’s just as many middle class people as wealthy folks who are able to avoid property tax reassessment at present day evaluation, through Proposition 13 benefits… And that saves you major money every year off property taxes… typically in the neighborhood of $6,200+ per year in fact. Not a million dollars, but then again not nothing either!
Gifting your primary house, or secondary inherited property to your adult children – is it worth it? We imagine for many it is, otherwise why would they do it? And for others, well… what can you say, it’s simply a matter of subjective opinion. And let’s never forget that under Proposition 13 in California you can get the same low tax base benefits applied to your first primary residence inheritance to a secondary inherited property. So there are built in benefits.
Also, there are emotional reasons not just financial ones involved in all this… It’s a real gift of love that often leads to an even closer relationship. And your offspring should realize that, and most probably do. In simple terms, it may be a principal residence, and that type of transfer may actually cause future tax appreciation of the value of that home, as a taxable item, when it might otherwise have avoided property tax reassessment if the property had remained in the decedent’s name with Proposition 13 transfer of property tax relief benefits.
Nationwide Property Tax Relief Urgently Needed for Residential & Commercial Property Owners in a Severe, Pandemic Economy
This is the biggest problem for most beneficiaries, middle class property owners and elderly home owners – i.e., property taxes; transfer taxes; etc. This often forces folks to sell a beloved inherited property, as they simply can’t afford to pay the taxes on it every year, deal with utilities, upkeep, repairs, and so on.
We should all address the fact that, especially now, in the midst of an unprecedented Pandemic, with literally tens of millions of Americans out of work or under-employed – with over 12 million people staring down the dark tunnel of foreclosure or eviction – every state in the union should be adopting, without delay, the same sort of property tax relief as California’s 1978 Proposition 13, as well as other critical property tax relief measures such as CA Proposition 58 property tax transfer benefits, voted into law in 1986.
At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s worth noting that these tax relief measures have become life-savers to property owners, as well as renters who enjoy lower rentals due to the ability their landlords have to avoid property tax reassessment. We’re all aware of what things were like pre-1978, before Proposition 13 came about and began preventing the frequent foreclosures of the 1970’s, where we saw numerous elderly widows with fixed incomes being thrown out of their homes, literally onto the street, because they could not afford to pay egregiously high, unpredictable property taxes.
In fact, most middle class home owners at that time had trouble paying unusually high tax rates, and lived year to year with the shadow of the California ‘property tax guillotine’ looming over their heads. In fact that is exactly what the situation looks like in many states now, or in many expensive counties. This is where the major problem is with most middle class estates, not with estate planning. Without property tax benefits, as in California, many beneficiaries inheriting property from parents simply can’t afford the upkeep and property taxes on an inherited home, and frequently are forced to sell their parents’ property right away. Often against their will.
Beneficiaries who are inheriting property from a parent or step-parent in any of the 58 counties in the state of California are generally protected from property tax reassessment. And have a low tax base to look forward to, not to exceed 2% as stipulated by California Proposition 13.
And let’s not forget having the ability to make good use of a loan to an irrevocable trust, working in concert with Proposition 58, something a lot of people don’t know anything about. With trust loans from trust lenders being used to equalize cash to beneficiaries looking to sell an inherited property held up by beneficiaries of the same trust, looking to keep the same inherited home and/or land… For once making scenarios like that a win-win situation for everyone associated with an estate or trust, with a trust loan from a reliable trust lender. Instead of experiencing problematic family conflicts revolving around property issues.
Residential & Business Property Tax Breaks in All States
Beneficiaries and home owners, as well as commercial and industrial property owners of all types, all across America, should be getting familiar with the way they implement property tax breaks in California. How they handle having the right to keep parents property taxes, to transfer parents property taxes, when inheriting property taxes. If, by any chance you reside in California, and you happen to be a beneficiary inheriting property from your parents, consider yourself very lucky. This is why so many real estate lawyers in various locations these days strongly believe every state should have a property tax measure similar to Proposition 13 transfer of property and inheriting property taxes; and Proposition 58 property transfer tax benefits.
So if every state in the United States had a Proposition 13 and Prop 58 type of property tax relief system… and could make good use of ancillary tax breaks such as buying out inherited property shares from siblings intent on selling out — through a loan to a trust, from a specialty trust lender; using a trust loan in conjunction with Proposition 58 to permanently solidify a low property tax base, made possible by Proposition 13; given the legal right (in every state, not just California) to avoid property tax reassessment.
Therefore, every property owner in America dealing with inherited property in trust or in an estate; perhaps also addressing sibling conflicts revolving around who wants to keep inherited property versus who insists on selling, and who can buyout whom, using a trust loan, in order to keep inherited property in the family; avoiding property tax reassessment basically forever. Everyone with these types of sibling property conflicts or property tax issues of any kind, even just the ability to pay them – would walk away happy… and for once all estate or trust family related conflicts would wind up as a win-win inheritance scenario, every single time these property tax measures were employed.
Critics of California property tax relief still repeat the same old talking points, like parrots, opining on the exaggerated need for cash from property taxes to “save the drowning school system from disaster; etc.” Whereas their Proposition 15 Split-Roll property tax would in fact be the very thing that would bring about economic disaster in California.
Split-Roll supporters even added a deceptive “exemption” from two to three million dollars in property value as a promotional trigger point, hoping that this deceptive and confusing formula will succeed in unraveling tax breaks for owners of industrial facilities and commercial properties – which they are now calling “Proposition 15”… a safe, innocuous sounding title that is actually cloaking a rather toxic, sinister process that would begin the slow, poisonous destruction of property tax relief in the sunny state of California.
Knowing that going after residential property tax benefits would be something like going after the popular Medicare program or the even more popular Affordable Care Act… Likewise, you don’t directly attack popular property tax benefits that millions of people love and depend on – first you start nibbling at the edges… then you work your way inward, towards destroying the center. It looks to us like that is exactly what is going on in California right now.
Like the Post Office nationwide, for example… if you dismantle the system internally, mail won’t be delivered on time, no matter what anyone tells you to the contrary. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem to be! So no matter what anyone says, after dismantling property tax breaks for commercial property owners, the next step is clearly to unravel property tax relief for home owners. Sometimes things are exactly as they appear to be.
Once critics of property tax relief start in on affluent landlords who own business rental properties, they won’t stop until they dismantle middle class commercial property owners… and then, of course, wealthy and then middle class home owners – until every single middle class American is scraped clean! Easy prey for them. Low hanging fruit. They call it a “wealth tax” in some states, and in California they’re calling it a “split-roll” tax. A new way to get more money from us, basically. One way or the other. It’s a similar ploy to ramp up and increase tax revenue they want us to pay. It’s plain to see.
It was retired, older couples and elderly widows who were being kicked out of their homes (that they resided in for 4, 5, 6 decades), basically due to unpaid or under-paid property taxes in 1974 and 1975, 1976… before Proposition 13 was finally passed by voters in 1978, thanks to Mr. Howard Jarvis and friends, at the Taxpayers Association in California.
Now, with Proposition 15, formerly the “split-roll” tax, underway – this time it will be middle class and working class “mom & pop” shops and consumer businesses renting store-fronts and offices in leased buildings, or Uber drivers who are home owners… who will be harassed by the Tax Man, and ultimately displaced, with nowhere comfortable and safe to go!
Wayne Lusvardi says in CaliforniaGlobe.com: “Proposition 15 – the so-called split-roll commercial and residential tax hike – on the November ballot, is being advertised as solely a commercial property tax. But there is a Trojan Horse contained in Proposition 15 that will unravel Proposition 13 property tax protections even for residential properties.
Single-family residential homes used for home offices or UBER drivers who park their cars at their owned residences will have their homes reclassified as commercial properties under proposed Proposition 15. Eventually, property taxes will be equalized by the legislature, and the mandates of Proposition 15 will apply to all owners who hold multiple homes and apartments, not just commercial properties. Moreover, small business owners will have the higher property taxes passed through to them in the form of higher rents and will not be able to stay in business after a couple of years.”
And guess who will pay the ultimate price for this so-called “split-roll” property tax? Higher commercial property taxes… Wait, let’s re-phrase that – MUCH higher commercial and industrial property taxes will ultimately be paid by the consumer. All of us.
Why? All the services and goods you have grown to depend on will go way up in price thanks to business, industrial and commercial property taxes going up – landlords renting our store space and office buildings will have no choice but to raise their rents to survive, and subsequently their tenants, who own gas stations and super markets and stores and strip-malls, and office buildings all over California, will have to raise their prices to keep from going flat out of business within 10, 12 months.
Hence, if this new property tax passes… that sound of air whooshing out of a balloon you hear will be the air whooshing out of the economy all across the once great state of California.
