Repeal the Death Tax

Dear Editor,

California has passed a death tax on property that will effect many California families. Many voters thought Prop 19 was only about fire victims and seniors moving but Prop 19 had a little-noticed provision in it that will cause families to have to sell homes and small businesses that parents had hoped to pass on to their children. Prop. 19 repealed Proposition 58, which was placed on the ballot in 1986 by a unanimous vote of the Legislature, then passed with the approval of over 75% of state voters. Prop. 58 protected family properties from reassessment when transferred between parents and children. Without it, property will be reassessed to market value when it is passed to children, and the property taxes will be sharply higher. This will force many families to sell properties, including small family businesses, after parents worked so hard for so many years to pay for them.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed an initiative to repeal the changes that Prop. 19 made to the intergenerational transfer and restore the law back to the way it was before. To further protect families, the measure adds an adjustment for inflation to the exclusion from reassessment for a limited amount of other property in addition to the primary residence.

To get this initiative on the ballot, HJTA needs our help. 1.3 million signatures are needed by April 15th. If you think parents should be able to transfer property to their children without triggering a reassessment and a huge tax increase then you can sign the initiative Saturday March 12th and Sunday March 13th from 10am-2pm at the corner of Redwood Rd and Castro Valley Blvd. Learn more at HJTA.org/RepealTheDeathTax

–Diana Snyder, Castro Valley