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 >>

California's business community has a unique opportunity to close the door now to split roll proposals, whether those proposals address property rights or property taxation.  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 >>