With the proposition five and proposition 10 defeated on Tuesday night what does that mean for our property tax portability? The news was both good and bad for property owners as the ballots were cast for the initiative by the California Association of Realtors to allow certain homeowners to transfer their property tax assessment to their next home but sadly, it was defeated.
Proposition 10 also lost by a wide margin which was the rent-controlled expansion effort. Even though California renters are paying much higher rent than in other states, the proposition was still defeated 63 to 37%. This would have repealed the Costa Hawkins law that limits rent control. So what does this mean for homeowners and renters throughout California?
For the property tax portability, we will probably see this measure come back around in an altered form. However, the Costa Hawkins repeal was defeated by enough of the margin for it not to return for a while.
We currently have the property tax portability measure that allows homeowners above the age of 55, severely disabled, or disaster victims to sell their homes and take their tax assessment with them anywhere in the state. But our Association of Realtors made a failed attempt at legislative option for this ballot measure and we kept the proposition on the ballot past the removal deadline. However, we might see this on the 2020 ballot. After all, intergenerational transfer a proposition 13 tax spaces and the way commercial real estate is transferred are both on the table as a way to increase state revenue.
This really is a sad state when it California voters have decided not to give older homeowners more brakes on their property taxes, but sad for who? The California Association of Realtors still remains committed to helping seniors, disabled homeowners, and those impacted by natural disasters throughout the state. We hope that they won't be subject to a punitive property tax increase if moving to a safer home. Currently, homeowners over the age of 55, disabled, or live in a natural disaster area can transfer their property tax payments with them when buying a new home but they can only do this once and in most parts of the state they'll have to buy in the same County. This limits the availability to new counties.
But, maybe we still have hope for 2020. Will see as many of these initiatives will be altered and revise for the next election.