Contra Costa Taxpayers Association
VICE president's report
Proposed Senate and Assembly Constitutional Amendments
Senate Constitutional Amendment 4, SCA 4, ”Repeal the Death Tax” will restore the ability to allow certain intergenerational transfers without property tax reassessment. SCA 4 would allow voters to reinstate prop 58 and Prop 193, restoring what Prop 19 took away. SCA 4 would reinstate the exclusion from reassessment when the parents’ primary residence of any value is transferred from parents to children or grandparents to grandchildren, if the children’ parents have passed away. SCA 4 would restore a similar exclusion from reassessment of a transfer of other real property with an assessed value of up to $1 Million dollars, e.g., a rental or vacation home. When prop 19 passed it did not explain fully the impact of Prop 19 limiting intergenerational transfers of the primary residence and eliminating the parent child exclusion of intergenerational transfers of other property.
Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act. This act will be on the 2024 ballot, and reinstates the 2/3rds voting requirement for all special taxes, and that new or increased state general taxes cannot specify how the revenue will be spent and requires a two-thirds vote of Legislature and a majority voter approval. The Act expands definition of “taxes” to include certain regulatory fees and prevents non-elected officials of agencies from setting taxes or fees and requires that taxes have to be usage based and directly related to the service provided.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, ACA 1, the “infrastructure exception to Prop 13”, would create dozens of exceptions to Prop 13’s two thirds (2/3’s) rule. These exceptions include pothole repair, roads, bicycle paths, rapid transit, High Speed Rail, parks and trails, beaches and parking lots, electrical grids, wind turbines, solar panels, low-income housing, buildings, schools, power plants, schools, sidewalks, pipes, gateways, poles, pipes, conveyances, transmission lines, transportation, communication systems, electricity, heat, power, and a multitude of projects lumped under “infrastructure”, a definition easily expanded. It includes Bond Indebtedness for these projects. These exceptions would be paid for by property owners and homeowners.
With proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3, ACA 3, “current Market Value” would replace assessed value for determining property taxes and would gut Prop 13. ACA 3 would allow the Legislature to raise taxes with a simple majority vote instead of with a 2/3rds vote established by Prop 13. ACA 3 would allow the state legislature to redefine wealth to include unrealized capital gains in real estate. The difference between your purchase price and the current market value, your unrealized capital gains, would be taxed. Initially limited to billionaires, it could trickle down to lower tax brackets by a pro tax Legislature.
CoCoTax members should support any Measure proposed or supported by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association protecting Prop 13. RECOMMENDATION: Support SCA 4 and The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act.
CoCoTax members should oppose any measure that attempts to weaken or remove Proposition 13 taxpayer protections. RECOMMENDATION: Oppose ACA 1 and ACA 3.
How to Read Your Contra Costa Tax Bill