On June 6th, 1978, nearly two-thirds of California's voters passed Proposition 13, reducing property taxes by about 57%.
Read Proposition 13 as it is enshrined in the California state constitution. Read the text of the initiative circulated to voters.  Read more >>

Executive Summary  Read more >>

Estimate your tax savings by finding the year you purchased your home.

The savings amounts shown are based on the median sales price for homes in California for each year. If you bought your home for more than the statewide average, your tax savings — thanks to Proposition 13 and HJTA — are even greater.  Read more >>

Proposition 13 has always had its critics. Lately, however, the criticism has been more widespread. Even some policy analysts who generally favor limited taxes and less spending have complained of an "inherent flaw" in Proposition 13.

Because Proposition 13 uses acquisition value (usually the purchase price) as a basis of taxation, it is possible for owners of identical side-by-side properties to have significantly different tax bills. In short, the system generally favors those who have owned their property longer.  Read more >>

From time to time, HJTA members write and ask what to tell a new neighbor who just doesn't understand Proposition 13.

Those who have owned their homes for a while, easily see the value of Proposition 13. Many of us remember that before Proposition 13 the average property tax rate in California was three percent of assessed value and there was no limit on annual increases.  Read more >>

In the Beginning, there was Proposition 13.

On June 6th, 1978, nearly two-thirds of California's voters passed Proposition 13, reducing property tax rates on homes, businesses, and farms by about 57%. Now, according to the newly amended state constitution property tax rates could not exceed 1 percent of the property's market value and valuations couldn't grow by more than 2% per annum unless the property was sold.  Read more >>

Text of Proposition 13 as originally presented to the voters (June 1978)  Read more >>

Introduction

California continues to face one of the most serious crises in the state's public finance history, and proposals are likely to surface in the Legislature or via the initiative process that would overhaul the way taxes are imposed on individuals, businesses and property owners, both residential and commercial. This research bulletin, the first in an occasional Cal-Tax series on public finance issues, examines California's property tax system. It highlights the strengths of acquisition-value assessments and projects the ramifications of possible changes to the system established by Proposition 13.  Read more >>

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