There’s More to Prop 19

Editor,

Thanks for the article on the Chamber Zoom with County Assessor, Phong La discussing Prop 19. The talk he gave was very informative. Many people are still uneducated as to the effects of Prop 19 which passed in 2020 with only 51% of the vote. Many voters thought Prop 19 was only about fire victims and seniors but are just finding out Proposition 19 is causing 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Prop. 19 repealed Proposition 58, which was placed on the ballot in 1986 by a unanimous vote of the Legislature, then passed with the approval of over 75% of state voters.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. Now under Prop 19 most properties will be reassessed to market value when it is passed to children, and the property taxes will be SHARPLY higher. 

There is a new effort to fix this! 

To get this initiative on the November 2024 ballot 1.3 million signatures are needed. All registered voters can sign the initiative by printing a copy of the official initiative at home and mailing it in.  The initiative can be found at https://forcalifornians.com/petition.

–Diana Snyder, Castro Valley