April 28, 2025
State Board of Equalization should take note: To prevent poverty and homelessness, protect Prop. 13
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has released the following statement:
On April 29 at 10:00 a.m., the State Board of Equalization will hold an informational hearing titled, “The Importance of California’s Property Tax System in Addressing the Disproportional Impact of Poverty Reflected in Income Inequality, Geographic Disparities, and Financial Outcomes for Californians.”
A discussion of California’s property tax system as it relates to poverty is incomplete without the recognition that Proposition 13 helps California homeowners with fixed incomes stay housed and out of poverty by limiting property tax increases.
It is sobering to contemplate how many older Californians would be forced into homelessness if property was still taxed under the pre-Proposition 13 rules: a statewide average tax rate of 2.67% of the current market value of the property, every year. The annual property tax on a home valued at $861,020, the statewide median price as of December 2024, would be $23,000.
Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1978, cut the property tax rate to 1% and limited annual increases in assessed value to the rate of inflation, capped at 2% per year. Property is reassessed to market value only upon change of ownership.
Prop. 13 directly reduces the incidence of poverty and homelessness by ensuring that Californians on fixed incomes can afford to stay in their homes, a key factor in maintaining financial and housing stability in retirement.
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About the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA)
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is a member-supported nonprofit organization that fights for the interests of taxpayers and to secure the constitutional taxpayer protections voters have adopted through the initiative process, beginning with Proposition 13 in 1978. HJTA has offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles. More information at hjta.org.