Prop 19 provides tax savings and housing relief for vulnerable Californians, so they can afford to move closer to family or medical care, or a home that better meets their needs. By removing unfair, ever-changing location restrictions, millions of seniors and disabled homeowners are allowed to transfer the tax rate and Prop 13 savings from their existing home to a replacement home anywhere in California.
With over 20,000 homes destroyed by wildfires in the past few years, too many wildfire victims face significant and sudden tax hikes for moving to replacement homes located across county lines, sometimes just a few miles from their damaged homes. Prop 19 provides needed tax protections and savings for wildfire victims, removing location restrictions to allow those forced to move due to wildfires to transfer their damaged home’s property tax base to a replacement home anywhere in California.
Prop 19 protects family homes – and low tax rates – so children can afford to live in the family home without sudden tax increases. It protects the Constitutional right for parents and grandparents to pass the family home to their child for continued use as a primary residence, as intended under current law.
Prop 19 closes loopholes exploited by East Coast investors, celebrities, and wealthy trust fund heirs to avoid paying their fair share on vacation homes, beachfront rentals, and luxury estates. Gaming the system allows wealthy heirs to pay a few thousand dollars in property taxes on inherited homes worth $10 million., and forces middle-class families to pay property tax bills that are 10 to 20 times higher than rental homes in the same neighborhood owned by heirs, many living as far away as Florida or New York.
Providing housing relief for millions of seniors will create record housing opportunities for renters and first-time homeowners throughout the state. As seniors move to retirement communities, seniors housing, condos, and smaller homes near family, Prop 19 will open up tens of thousands of homes that haven’t been on the market for decades, creating opportunities for new buyers and helping to stabilize housing costs so more Californians can afford home ownership.
By closing unfair loopholes on inherited property that have resulted in billions in lost revenue for schools and local governments, Prop 19 will deliver needed funding for cities, counties, and school districts when they need it most. Prop 19 will generate hundreds of millions in annual revenue for fire protection, affordable housing, homeless programs, safe drinking water, and other local services and dedicated revenue for fire districts in rural and urban communities to fix inequities that threaten life-saving response times to wildfires and medical emergencies.
Prop 19 also provides important tax relief for California’s family-owned farms and ranches so they can continue to operate affordably and helps protect generational farming.