One million signatures are needed just to get the measure on the November 2024 ballot. It’s not difficult. Every signature counts. You can print the documents on your home computer and make as many copies as you think you’ll need. Both the petitions and the link can be shared with friends, family members, parents at school, at your church, and at work. Spread the word.”
A Million Signatures Needed
Colleen Britton, Daily Republic, 10/3/23
Home ownership has always been an important part of the American dream, and those rights have traditionally been protected by law. For the past several decades the right of California homeowners to transfer the ownership of their family home to their children by sale or inheritance without having the property reassessed and taxes radically increased has been protected by the California Constitution. This has been a godsend to families throughout the state.
That all changed in February 2021 as a result of Proposition 19. Since then a family home transferred to the owner’s children by either sale or inheritance is required to be reassessed and taxed at the higher level, unless the child actually lives in the home. These higher assessed values have resulted in families across the state having to sell their family home because the children can’t afford the higher property taxes.
The situation is even more dire for farm families where the children have often left home and built careers elsewhere. If not able to move back to the farm, it has to be sold, with taxes taking a good chunk of the profit.
Many families are unaware of these consequences until the death of a parent.
According to Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, “Proposition 19 was the largest property tax increase in California history.” The law also has a devastating effect on renters who, as a result of a property’s reassessment and or sale, may face huge rent increases or possible eviction.
A bipartisan effort to remedy these injustices of Proposition 19 while keeping all the positive aspects of the law failed to pass in a State Senate Committee hearing this past spring. No surprise, the bill was opposed by the very people who had sponsored Proposition 19 in the first place: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; California Professional Firefighters (co-sponsors of Prop. 19); California Teachers Association; California Association of Realtors; and Common Ground California.
Why were these groups opposed? Simple–they expected a windfall of new tax revenues. So far, Proposition 19 has not resulted in any additional funds for Firefighters or others.
If We the People want to right this injustice and restore the right of property owners to transfer their family home to their children without being reassessed and taxed at a much higher level, we must do it through the initiative process. We must act now.
Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association is leading the effort to “Fix Proposition 19” and “Repeal the Death Tax.” Their initiative has been approved by the Attorney General and petitions are now available for signatures. Petitions, detailed instructions and more information about the initiative can be downloaded at the HJTA website: https://reinstate58.hjta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Official-Repeal-the-Death-Tax-Petition-plus-Instructions-and-Top-Funders-Sheet-September2023.pdf
One million signatures are needed just to get the measure on the November 2024 ballot. It’s not difficult. Every signature counts. You can print the documents on your home computer and make as many copies as you think you’ll need. Both the petitions and the link can be shared with friends, family members, parents at school, at your church, and at work. Spread the word.
If you want to help keep ever rising taxes in check contact me. We plan to host signature gathering tables in the near future, and volunteers are always welcome and appreciated.
Time is of the essence. All completed petitions should be submitted to HJTA at the address in the instructions by the end of this year.
Let’s restore the constitutional rights of California home owners to transfer their family home to their children without triggering property reassessment to market value and an unaffordable tax increase.
We can do this! Let’s get this DONE!!
Colleen Britton is a member of the Tax Watchers and can be reached at [email protected]
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Ah, the Evil Men and Women realtors do is almost incomprehensible! That industry relies on CHANGE (rupturing the status quo, chaos, “change”) for the opportunities to make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
LLCs are killing lovely towns like Burbank by mass evictions, slight property “renovations”, followed by suckered new apartment leases of one year. Then when the new tenants are dissatisfied with no maintenance, and shoddy but shiny equipment, Management companies attract new tenants with photoshopped website-only images and deceptive impressionistic sales techniques. Voila, the defeat Rent Control Laws on the books as well as State/County/City ordinances limiting annual rent increases. A new tenant get ripped off as the owners, working through their Management Co. can charge whatever they please. Now, even homeowners are going to be crushed. For example, a childless couple or surviving spouse–who perhaps lost their son or daughter to service in the military–will be royally robbed by Government. America makes not sense anymore. People are disrespected and destroyed by freakish folks in Government. “Kill the Lawyers” said Shakespeare. Since politicians nowadays are generally attorneys too and realtors are almost para-legalese in that specialty, maybe a New Shakespeare can write a more appropriate phrase today?
A Million signatures! The same procedures were applied to the Recall Gov agenda; they had to be verified by the local officials where a huge number were tossed or denied for any number of reasons. I admit I would like to have the law changed just not sure this will work. Guess the only thing that could be good about it is that the property values are decreasing thus limiting how much could have been taxed upon owners death. CA is just an awful State.