The short version: Prop 13 sets your property tax at purchase and caps how fast it can rise — the longer you own, the bigger the benefit. Prop 19 changed two things: it lets eligible owners (55+, severely disabled, disaster victims) carry that low tax base to a new home anywhere in California, and it tightened the rules for keeping a parent’s tax base on an inherited home. Together they’re the most valuable — and most misunderstood — tax rules in California real estate.
How Prop 13 works
- Your price becomes the base. When you buy, the county assessor sets your assessed value at the purchase price (your ‘base year value’).
- The tax rate is about 1% of assessed value, plus voter-approved bonds and local charges, so the total varies by area.
- Increases are capped at 2% a year, even if market values climb faster. Buy at $800,000 and your assessed value can rise to at most $816,000 the next year, $832,320 the year after — while the market does whatever it does.
- Reassessment happens only when ownership changes or you add new construction (and then, only the new work is added).
- File for the homeowners’ exemption — it trims $7,000 off the assessed value of your primary residence.
What new owners get wrong
Expect a supplemental tax bill after you buy: the county bills the difference between the old owner’s assessed value and yours, and it usually isn’t covered by your loan’s impound account. Budget for it. Taxes are due in two installments (November 1 and February 1; late after December 10 and April 10). And if market values fall, ask the assessor about a temporary reduction (a ‘Prop 8’ review).
Prop 19: moving with your tax base
If you’re 55 or older (or severely disabled, or lost a home to a Governor-declared disaster), you can transfer your assessed value to a replacement primary home anywhere in California, at any price, up to three times (disaster victims: unlimited). Sell and buy within two years, in either order. If the new home costs more, part of the difference is added: buy within one year and the threshold is 105% of your sale price; in the second year, 110%; buy before you sell and it’s 100%. Example from Jon’s guide: sell for $1,200,000 with a $400,000 assessed value, buy a $1,500,000 replacement in year one, and your new assessed value is $640,000 — not $1,500,000. Buy at $1,260,000 or less and you’d have kept the full $400,000 base.
Prop 19: inheriting a parent’s home
The parent’s low assessed value carries over only if the child makes the home their primary residence (file for the homeowners’ exemption within a year), and only up to a limit: the parent’s assessed value plus $1,044,586 (the limit through February 15, 2027; it’s adjusted every two years). Market value above the limit gets added to the base. Rentals and second homes are reassessed at full market value, and if the heir later moves out, the home is reassessed. Grandchildren qualify only if their parent has passed away. Transfers between spouses and into most living trusts don’t trigger reassessment.
FAQ
Does Prop 13 protect me if I remodel?
Your existing base stays; the new construction is assessed and added. A kitchen remodel doesn’t reset the whole house.
Can I transfer my tax base from Ventura County to another county?
Yes — Prop 19 transfers work anywhere in California, a change from the old Prop 60/90 patchwork.
We’re inheriting Mom’s Ojai house but don’t plan to live in it. What happens?
It will be reassessed to market value at transfer. That may still be the right plan — but model the new tax bill (roughly 1%+ of market value, every year) before deciding to keep it as a rental.
Both of Jon’s one-page guides — Prop 13 and Your Property Taxes, and Prop 19: Moving and Inheriting — are in Terms Explained with downloadable PDFs. Planning a move or an inheritance transfer? Timing is half the value here — talk to Jon before you list or transfer.
For general education only; not tax or legal advice. Confirm details with the Ventura County Assessor, your CPA, or an estate-planning attorney.
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