It’s hard to imagine anything more callous than the government sending a giant tax bill to a bereaved family

At your request: This week's California Commentary by Jon Coupal
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pasadenastarnews.com%2F2021%2F03%2F14%2Fharms-of-proposition-19-are-being-realized%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pasadenastarnews.com%2F2021%2F03%2F14%2Fharms-of-proposition-19-are-being-realized%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]

[link removed]


** California Commentary
------------------------------------------------------------

You are receiving this email because you subscribed on the HJTA website, or you provided your address in response to direct mail. Please see the bottom of this message to unsubscribe.


** Senate Bill 668 needed to buy time for California families
------------------------------------------------------------

By Jon Coupal

It’s hard to imagine anything more callous than the government sending a giant tax bill to a bereaved family, but thanks to Proposition 19, many California families will have that unfortunate experience.

Prop. 19, which passed by a razor-thin margin in the November election, expanded a tax break for some homeowners but repealed an important taxpayer protection for families. The effective date of this change was February 16, before most Californians even knew what had happened.

Here’s what happened: homes that are transferred between parents and children are no longer excluded from reassessment. Previously, children would continue to pay the same property tax bill that their parents had paid, with increases in the assessed value capped by Prop. 13 at a maximum of 2% per year. Not anymore. Now children inheriting their parents’ home or other property will receive a new tax bill based on a current market-rate assessment.

There are only limited exclusions for a family farm and for a home that is the primary residence of the parents if the home becomes the primary residence of the child within one year. Otherwise, the home and any other properties such as small businesses or rental homes will be reassessed as of the date of transfer. The new annual tax bill will be 1% of the market value which will easily double or triple the property tax bills of most transferred properties.

Unfortunately, the costly advertising campaign pushing Proposition 19 never mentioned the loss of this “intergenerational transfer” protection and the fact that this happened to families in the midst of a pandemic made it difficult or impossible to get information from government employees or even to record documents. There was little time to consult an attorney or revise an estate plan before the February 16 deadline arrived.

As families discover the harm of Prop. 19, more and more people are contacting the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and telling us that they want to see the exclusion from reassessment for parent-child transfers of property reinstated. We agree. We are urging lawmakers to support a legislative constitutional amendment that reverses the damaging part of Prop. 19 and restores the constitutional protections that it quietly removed.

HJTA is also sponsoring Senate Bill 668, authored by Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, to delay the effective date of this portion of Prop. 19 for two years, until February 16, 2023.

To read the entire column, please click here ([link removed]) .
Click here to listen to this week's Howard Jarvis Podcast, "School Daze." ([link removed]) The Howard Jarvis Podcast features HJTA President Jon Coupal and VP of Communications Susan Shelley with a lively conversation that takes you inside California government in a way that's fun, interesting and sometimes scary. Check out all the recent podcasts by clicking here: [link removed] -- it's easy to listen on your cell phone, tablet or computer. Just click the "play" arrow next to the title. Questions for Jon and Susan? Email us at [email protected] and tune in!
A note to our valued members and supporters: To increase the reach of our message to as many Californians as possible, HJTA made an agreement with the Southern California News Group papers to carry Jon Coupal's weekly column. The newspapers in the group, including the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News, have added a paywall that allows only a limited number of page views per month, and then asks readers to become subscribers. HJTA is not marketing these subscriptions or receiving any payment from them. The columns are exclusive to SCNG's papers for one week and then are posted in full on HJTA's own website, www.hjta.org ([link removed]) , under "California Commentaries," where you can read them at your convenience, or read Jon's column online in all the SCNG papers at these links:
www.whittierdailynews.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.dailybulletin.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.sgvtribune.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.ocregister.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.pe.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.dailynews.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.sbsun.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.dailybreeze.com/opinion ([link removed])
www.presstelegram.com/opinion ([link removed])
Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts.
HJTA is totally dependent on the voluntary support of California taxpayers.
Please consider a donation now to help us continue our work on your behalf.
[link removed]
[link removed]

============================================================
Don't Forget To Follow Us On Social Media
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Pinterest ([link removed])
** Pinterest ([link removed])

Copyright © 2021 Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. All rights reserved.
621 S. Westmoreland Avenue, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90005

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association . 621 South Westmoreland Avenue, Suite 200 . Los Angeles, CA 90005 . USA