Article 13-A of the California Constitution

Protecting Californians From Arbitrary Tax Hikes

Proposition 13 once protected all taxpayers, homeowners and non-homeowners — by maintaining a 2/3 vote requirement in order to pass most tax increases, including state sales and income tax. Intentionally making it more difficult to raise taxes on residents. Particularly critical with respect to property taxes.

Unfortunately for middle class tax payers, a tax measure entitled “Proposition 39” was approved in 2000 by a thin razor edged margin after a massively budgeted PR & marketing campaign was launched by a few Silicon Valley billionaires who thought it would be advantageous to make middle class homeowners pay for their Silicon Valley corporate tax breaks. Similar to our recent tax breaks for mega-wealthy Americans and high-end corporations. Again, mainly pulled from the pockets of middle class homeowners and working families. A sad testament to tax inequality.

So-called “Proposition 39” revised the 2/3 vote requirement for certain bonds to 55% — making it way too easy to pass those bonds, since they are paid back only through increased property taxes. Again, wealthy hands in the pockets of middle class families.

Property Tax Postponement Instead of Property Tax Relief

The State Controller’s Property Tax Postponement Program allows senior or elderly homeowners, blind homeowners,  and severely disabled property owners, to take advantage of a marginally helpful “tax deferment” affecting this year’s property tax bill. When the more equitable solution would obviously be total or partial exclusion from these property taxes; especially in the midst of a severe Pandemic — with subsequent economic failings and short-comings, with no real end in sight.

Over the past 44 years, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has battled and confronted California based special interest organizations, such as the CA Association of Realtors, groups, bureaucrats, and public-employee unions, among others, who benefit from government spending.

Beginning in 1978, Proposition 13 was determined to protect home ownership from overly greedy, destructive taxation. Therefore California property owners strive to continue enjoying the $528 billion that the Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 (now Proposition 19) Howard Jarvis Tax Revolt has saved homeowners by helping them, overall, to avoid property tax reassessment; allowing families to transfer  property between siblings without a crippling property tax reassessment, avoiding a sibling to sibling buyout.  Enabling beneficiaries to transfer parents property taxes to themselves through property tax transfer relief, when inheriting property, and subsequently inheriting property taxes from a parent — thereby inheriting property while keeping a low property tax base.

Hence, allowing inheritors to keep parents property taxes basically forever… generally with property tax transfer relief from a parent-child transfer — ultimately, through an established parent-to-child exclusion.  Something no California homeowner or beneficiary wants to lose.

CA Property Tax Relief Under Attack

Is CA Proposition 13 Property Tax Relief Under Attack?  

California taxpayers are in particular danger due to the fact that the CA State Legislature and real estate plus other special interests are looking to continue efforts to unravel property tax relief in California simply to accelerate real estate sales and commissions, plus increase overall property tax revenue to state coffers.  Just for the record, Proposition 13 has saved California taxpayers $528 billion.

If critics of property tax breaks unravel Proposition 13 any more than they already have, real-estate-business owned politicians can accelerate property taxes on homeowners by 400%, or north of that figure, by destroying Proposition 13 protections that keep restraints on increases of sales tax with new property tax relief law in California that could add hundreds of billions of dollars, going forward, of new tax revenue from new rules for property tax transfers in California — costing every middle class and working CA family a small fortune in increased property taxes!

The Proposition 13 bullet-proof “2/3 vote requirement” to protect  Californians from greedy, careless or arbitrary property tax hikes has been watered down and severely weakened by those who oppose property tax relief in California, and can easily be further unraveled during this upcoming year. 

Could California See the End of Crucial Property Tax Breaks?

Lifting the 1% or 2% cap on the maximum property tax rate is their next objective. After that, Proposition 13 and $528 billion could be stolen from California taxpayers forever.  Needless to say, this would not be healthy for the state. We could possible see the end of CA Proposition 13 property tax relief — possibly the demise of the parent-to-child exclusion… most damaging of all.  How these politicos and certain members of the real estate community  could support such irresponsible tax hikes on the backs of middle class Californians, is almost impossible to ascertain or understand.  

Yet it’s entirely possible that in the state of California we could actually begin to see the unraveling  of third-rail protections supporting low tax rates from parent-child transfers — the end of laws allowing homeowners to avoid steep property tax reassessment  when inheriting property taxes… for so many decades protected so well by Prop 13 and  Proposition 19 (formerly Proposition 58).

These were once unchangeable built-in property tax breaks protecting parents and their children when they be easily able to transfer parents’ property taxes and keep parents property taxes basically forever, in perpetuity. when inheriting a home from Mom or Dad.

Proposition 13 has forced local governments to manage their finances better — one reason the initiative had such overwhelming popular support.  Most cities and counties have been very successful under Proposition 13. If some have failed, the problem was not Proposition 13. It was mismanagement, lack of sensible  planning… and reckless spending.

A Second California Tax Revolt

A Second Tax Revolt will take time, energy, resources. Funding. Organizations such as the Commercial Loan Corporation; the Cunningham Legal law firm; Kevin Kiley’s ACA-9 initiative; and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association are all providing planning and backing for the support and rescue of Property Tax Relief in California… Proposition 13; and the possible return to Proposition 58 with unlimited parent–Child Exclusion rights for homeowners and beneficiaries inheriting property from parents.

Simply some of the reasons the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc. is launching their “Second California Tax Revolt”, to build and protect property tax relief measures for all Californians, regardless of age, station, or net worth.

It took four million Californians to pass Proposition 13. HJTA hopes to mobilize as many to defend Proposition 13, because that’s what may be needed to keep $528 billion in our pockets — our honest,  hard working California property owning pockets.  And not flowing into mercenary state and county tax collectors’ pockets.  

How Secure is Property Tax Relief for Californians?

Property Taxes in California

Property Taxes in California

Despite Critics, CA Property Tax Relief Is As Popular As Ever  

What all homeowners, property owners and working families inheriting property in California want to know – is whether or not property tax breaks from Proposition 13 and Proposition 19 are guaranteed, during our lifetime, to all California homeowners and beneficiaries inheriting property.

Naturally, this encompasses the ability to transfer parents property taxes, with a protected property tax transfer; the right to keep parents property taxes when inheriting property  property taxes, most frequently through a parent-child transfer, otherwise known as a parent-to-child exclusion.  Always to avoid property tax reassessment, even when it involves a loan to an irrevocable trust, in conjunction with Prop 19 for the transfer of property between siblings, commonly called an “inherited property buyout”, which is often implemented in concert with the right to keep parents property taxes.

So after 44 years of capping property tax increases at 2%, Prop 13 continues to be wildly popular with Californians. And due to the fact that Proposition 13 is a CA Constitutional Amendment, it can only be revised by voter approval.

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc president Jon Coupal tell us:

Without the two-thirds vote requirement, one of these second-mortgage bonds can now be passed by people who won’t pay the tax and in fact are getting more from the government than they pay in taxes.

After Proposition 39 took away the two-thirds vote protection for these bonds, localities quickly passed almost $30 billion in such bonds — debt that homeowners will be burdened with long after they’ve paid off their homes.  Since then, the two-thirds vote has been repeatedly attacked by a pro-tax coalition that wants to eliminate this protection for more and more kinds of bonds and taxes.

Currently, several proposals are active in the State Legislature to change the state constitution to eliminate the two-thirds vote requirement for other kinds of bonds, and for certain sales and property taxes. If enacted, it will become far too easy to pass all kinds of tax hikes, so the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is actively fighting this legislation.

Special Interest Groups Intent On Unraveling Tax Relief

Wealthy special interest organizations are out there scheming and planning, especially like-minded people in the realtor community that are secretly, and not so secretly, aiming to unravel California property tax breaks – such as the CA Associations of Realtors, who bankrolled Proposition 19,  replacing Proposition 58 in 2021. 

The CA Associations of Realtors donated $40.4 million to their crusade; and $47.57 million total bankrolled this effort to convince Californians with deceptive yet clever public relations and marketing.  Naturally, there were other organizations that chipped in, that do well with state government cash and don’t want homeowners to save big on property taxes, as property tax revenue feeds those organizations and their financial interests.

Proposition 15, the property tax measure, also promoted by the realtor community, was designed to overturn Proposition 13’s commercial property tax protections, and was defeated by a hair. Had it passed, most residential rentals and business rentals, thanks to inflated commercial property taxes from an unraveled Proposition 13, would have gone sky high – taking prices of all goods and services in California with it…and would have carried the future of California with it…. downhill!

Special interest groups such as the Realtor organizations pushing these anti property tax relief efforts, have got to learn that you can’t weaken and in many cases destroy the lives of millions of the  39,538,223 citizens residing in California – simply to benefit 131,551 real estate brokers. Weakening the financial life of millions just to make some realtors and real estate brokers a little wealthier just doesn’t even out.

CA Property Tax Relief Heroes ~ Fighting the Good Fight

This is precisely why folks such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association; Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and his ACA-9 Bill to repeal Proposition 19Commercial Loan Corp led by president Kerry Smith; and others – maintaining an especially courageous effort to control property tax hikes; and keep crippling property taxes capped and equitable for California working families, for both middle class and high net worth homeowners – to keep the California American Dream of home ownership alive, fair, and affordable.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Transferring a Property Tax Base

Transferring Property Taxes in California

Transferring Property Taxes in California

The Right Advice & Tax Plan from a Trust Lender 

Much to the relief of Californians who own property and/or are in the process of inheriting a home from a parent, for example, in any of the 58 county across the state, the parent-to-child exclusion from property tax reassessment is still alive and well in all 58 counties, in 2022.

However, quite often, new homeowners and beneficiaries trigger a property tax hike strictly by accident, and end up facing thousands upon thousands of dollars in property taxes from property tax reassessment – that could and should have been avoided, had the right advice and tax plan been in focus.

High property values in California highlight the need for careful property tax planning. If you have owned your property for many years Generally, in terms of property taxes, homeowners who have owned their home for a long time typically have a lower assessed value than current or “fair market” property value tends to be.

Parent-to-Child Exclusion

As far as parent to child transfers are concerned, when one beneficiary who is inheriting a home decides to buyout property shares inherited by co-beneficiaries (siblings) – to have complete ownership of said property – it’s easy to misstep and mistakenly trigger property tax reassessment.

A parent to child property tax transfer in is line with the effort to  avoid property tax reassessment under Proposition 19’s parent-child exclusion, retaining a parent’s Proposition 13 low property tax base. Therefore a loan to an irrevocable trust working in conjunction with Proposition 19 allows us to transfer property between siblings – buying out property from siblings.

Likewise, beneficiaries, upon inheriting property from parents, still have a property tax transfer at their disposal to transfer parents property taxes and keep parents property taxes when inheriting a parental home, and thus inheriting property taxes, but at a low  base rate.  Hence, the use of a parent-child transfer… enabling the use of the invaluable parent-to-child exclusion – bottom line, helping us avoid any possibility of triggering property tax reassessment! 

Choosing the Right  Trust Lender, to Keep a Low Property Tax  Base While Buying Out Inherited Property From Siblings

We prefer a trust lender who can formulate and deliver the more reliable, simple Proposition 19 rules & regs, in conjunction with an irrevocable trust loan to equalize beneficiary buyouts of inherited property shares.

We have found that any type of unconventional property financing other than irrevocable trust loan funding may run into unpleasant surprises such as property tax reassessment – due to an abrupt change in control, or revised ownership!

LLCs, Corporations, or various Partnership entities owning real estate are subject to a myriad of property tax rules & regs that can change on a dime, often disqualifying beneficiaries from taking full advantage of the parent-to-child exclusion, to maintain a low property tax base, and perhaps buying out inherited property shares from co-beneficiaries – avoiding property tax reassessment and running headlong into pricey financial surprises.

Transferring Your Base Year Value Under Proposition 19

Given new changes to Proposition 19, if you happen to be over age 55, or are severely disabled, you may be able to transfer your home’s current base year value to the purchase of a different home, thereby keeping your property tax payments low. To qualify, you must acquire your new home through a sale transaction. If you acquire any portion of the new property by gift or inheritance, you will not be able to transfer your base year value.

Property Tax Relief for All Californians

Proposition 13 – 34% Against Versus 62.6% For

On June 6, 1978 Proposition 13 passed as a property tax relief measure with 4,280,689 votes for – versus 2,326,167 votes against. In the final analysis, it came down to finally taking a great deal of power away from the County Tax Collectors; and giving it back to taxpayers!

Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, were the best known Proposition 13 advocates. Officially known as the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation”,  also referred to as the Jarvis-Gann Amendment,  Proposition 13 was listed for voters through the so-called “California ballot initiative process” – which allows a constitutional amendment to be offered to voters when political advocates assemble a certain number of signatures on  a petition.     

For Once, Tax Relief for the Middle Class in California – Not Special Interests

Many people aren’t aware of the fact that Mr. Jarvis was a hugely successful residential apt. building owner, and Mr. Gann, a political activist who passed away from HIV due to infected blood from a unfortunate transfusion, who ironically devoted the last several years of his life to AIDS treatment advocacy – in direct opposition to his fellow conservatives. California’s “Paul Gann Blood Safety Act” was passed into law in 1990, mandating that doctors discuss the risks of blood transfusion with their patients.

Two non-politicians named Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann courageously soldiered on – without precedence – until they won the day. This rarely occurs in political circles, as we all know.  But for once, some non-politicians actually changed things for the better in California. And virtually overnight, once Howard Jarvis and his so-called “Tax Revolt” passed Proposition 13, property tax rates in California finally became predictable and equitable – from San Jose to San Francisco and beyond, in all 58 counties.

Under this new property tax relief measure, the property tax rate is now set at a uniform 1% throughout the state, and property tax increases are limited to no more than 2% a year as long as the property is not sold.

Previously, the tax rate in California averaged almost 3% of market value, and there were no limits on increases either for the tax rate or property value assessments. Some properties were reassessed 50% to 100% higher in just one year, so property owners’ tax bills skyrocketed, often  way beyond homeowners’ ability to pay their property taxes.

Now, once sold, property is reassessed at 1% of the new market value (usually the sales price) with a 2% cap on annual tax increases. As a result, new buyers are always aware of what their taxes will be and know the maximum amount property taxes can increase each year for as long as they own the property. 

Then, in 1986, Amendment Proposition 58 was passed; and  homeowners as well as beneficiaries inheriting property from parents could happily take advantage of a transfer of property between siblings or sibling-to-sibling property transfer in conjunction with an irrevocable trust loan, typically for buying out inherited property shares from siblings, while keeping a low property tax base (now used with California Proposition 19 which has replaced Proposition 58). 

Overnight, beneficiaries  could transfer parents property taxes when inheriting property taxes; and could keep parents property taxes after a property tax transfer made possible by a parent-child transfer, officially a parent-to-child exclusion which, exactly like buying out inherited property shares, is also now governed by Proposition 19.  

Benefits for Non Property Owners

While Proposition 13 is mainly famous for capping property taxes in California, it also stops arbitrary tax hikes at the state and local level. It makes sure that any state tax increase had to be approved by a 2/3 majority in the Legislature, and any new or increased local taxation must be approved by voters, not just a collection of special interest politicians.

Supplemented by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association – a co-sponsored tax measure entitled Proposition 218 (the Right to Vote on Taxes Act) makes sure that voter approval of all new local taxes is required, no matter what. So not just property owners, but also renters, benefit – as Proposition 13 stabilizes property taxes, making them predictable and reasonably controlled; reducing any uncontrolled or unexpected rent increases throughout the state of California.

What Has Made Proposition 13 So Popular, from 1978 to Now?

Proposition 13 Saves Californian Property Owners Thousands

Proposition 13 Saves Californian Property Owners Thousands when compared to property tax systems in other states.

CA Proposition 13: Consistency and Necessity

In the 1970s property tax hikes were completely out of control. Especially for working families and middle class folks who were dependent on a fixed income… retired veterans and other government and municipal workers like retired postal workers; homeowners receiving Social Security, and retirees living on a modest pension; etc.

During the past twelve months the average home price in California accelerated by over 19%, the California Association of Realtors reports – seemingly unaware that this very statistic belies what they believe is a good thing (the unraveling of Proposition 13 and property tax relief generally in California), in actual fact it’s a good thing for realtors… not the middle class and working families across the state! In fact it shows that Proposition 13 is as necessary as ever.

Stabilizing CA Property Taxes Throughout All 58 Counties  

Kris Vosburgh, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association exec director tells us: “It [Prop 13] resulted in the stabilization of neighborhoods and allows people to stay in the neighborhood where they bought homes and not be forced out by increasing tax. The basic benefit to both new and old home buyers is that you know what your taxes are going to be from year to year.  One doesn’t have to shudder in fear.”

And shuddering in fear was exactly what middle class families did when tax time tolled around every year.  You never knew what your tax hike was going to look like. There was no stability in property taxation… No consistency you could rely on.

Before Prop 13: An Epidemic of Elderly & Retiree Foreclosure

In Los Angeles County in 1975 and 1976, over 400,000 senior  homeowners, many who were elderly, in their 80s or 90s, could not pay off their property taxes, simply because they couldn’t afford the accelerated tax rates and were either at risk of being forced onto the street – or literally were put out onto the street with clothes, furniture and all! Many who were elderly folks and nowhere else to go. Not a pretty picture.

Elderly couples and other older individual homeowners living on a modest fixed income were impacted most of all by these arbitrary property tax hikes. Many were living free and clear but were in grave danger of losing their home, despite the lack of debt, mainly because they simply could not afford excessive property taxes.

And as millions of older middle class Californians were being pushed out of their homes, onto the street, the heroic Howard Jarvis assembled over 1,500,000 signatures to qualify a statewide tax measure that would finally end excessive property taxes – and protect home ownership for working families and middle class homeowners – namely, Proposition 13.

California Property Tax Relief: Facts and Case Studies

One story tells the tale aptly, with respect to the urgent, pressing  need California had for fair and equitable property tax relief… It  concerned a 56 year old criminal defense attorney by the name of Cameron Quinn, a Lido Isle resident, who lives there with his wife and 18-year-old daughter.

Beneficiaries of Proposition 13, Cameron’s parents bought his house in 1966 for $45,000. After they died, the house passed to Cameron and the benefits of Proposition 13 were his to take advantage of.  Last year their property taxes were $966 for a home assessed at $95,403. “Where else could we go where it would be less?” Mr. Quinn tells us, “The fact that the taxes are low is a salvation!” 

And of course this eventually included a property tax amendment called Proposition 58.  So with robust property tax transfers in California intact, and both official property tax relief measures working – to avoid property tax reassessment – beneficiaries and homeowners could take full advantage of parent to child property tax transfer opportunities to keep parents property taxes with unfettered ability to transfer parents property taxes; officially known as a basic parent-to-child exclusion from reassessment – all to avoid property tax reassessment on one’s primary residence.

Mr. Quinn calls Proposition 13 “a financial security blanket and a far cry from the Costa Mesa condominium where we first lived, with not much more than a television, a bed and an old piano.”

This home is more than just a product of property tax relief for Me. And Mrs. Quinn. This is where they went after their first date, where his mom, a piano-teacher, and friends serenaded the couple. And just as it passed from Mom to them, this home will be passed again from Dad to daughter. “We wouldn’t move,” said Mr. Quinn’s 57 year old wife Neeta Quinn, “This is where we’re going to live forever.”

CA Parent to Child Property Transfer & Buying Out an Inherited Home From Siblings

Avoiding Property Tax Reassessment on an Inherited Home

Avoiding Property Tax Reassessment on an Inherited Home for Californians

Most beneficiaries in California favor a parent to child transfer to avoid property tax reassessment.

As long as a transferred home is, initially, a primary family residence and the offspring receiving gifted or inherited property is moving in as a primary residence,  plus an  exclusion is claimed inside 12 months from change in ownership… remaining aware of the fact that the first $1,000,000 is not reassessed.

At any rate, despite certain limitations, the financial savings from this process  are genuine savings for beneficiaries inheriting property – avoiding property tax reassessment – and for many children of parents leaving a beloved family home to them.  This often makes the difference between being able to keep that family home, or losing it – frequently at a financial loss.

Plus, besides trust distribution to co-beneficiaries to keep an inherited home – also being able to take advantage of property tax breaks such as the right to transfer parents property taxes during a property tax transfer, with the legal right to keep parents property taxes basically forever… after inheriting property taxes through a standard parent-child transfer, and parent-to-child exclusion!

We also have to remember that, in 2022 California, a loan to an irrevocable trust, working in conjunction with Proposition 19, allows a beneficiary to buyout inherited property shares from siblings looking to sell their inherited property… thereby speeding up the trust distribution process. 

Moreover, an irrevocable trust loan also generates a much higher profit margin for beneficiaries selling their inherited property shares, by avoiding expensive home prepping for a sale, as well as avoiding a costly 6% realtor commission, expensive legal fees, and other pricey closing costs.  All in all, avoiding property reassessment, property tax hikes, and higher expenses  in general for all concerned.

When a trust loan is used to process trust distribution to co-beneficiaries, on average each beneficiary or sibling gets an additional $15,000 in distribution as opposed to selling the home to a conventional buyer. The family member keeping a family home also saves money – generally $6,500 or more per year in property tax savings by avoiding property tax reassessment on an inherited property.

That’s why many families inheriting a home from parents go to a reliable trust lender to be able to take full advantage of Proposition 19 tax benefits. Beneficiaries and homeowners continue to take advantage of Proposition 19 and Proposition 13 and basic property tax transfers in California and related tax breaks… keeping a low property tax base when inheriting a home – inheriting property taxes at a low rate from parents.

Saving beneficiaries many thousands of dollars, this is often a life-saver – and could, in many ways, be considered a final act of parental affection, from parent to child.