Latest · History
Before Prop 13, There Was Prop 14
In 1964, 65% of California voters put a right to refuse to sell or rent to anyone into the state constitution. It took the U.S. Supreme Court to undo it.
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RSS- Ballot measures
The Two-Thirds Rule Is Rewriting California’s Tax Ballots
In 2000, 18% of California’s local general-tax ballot questions named a service like police or potholes. In 2024, 89% did.
- Renters
The Culver City Rental Registry and Prop 13
More evidence that Prop 13 does not help renters.
- Equity
Prop 13 favors white neighborhoods, and that may be illegal
Because Prop 13 rewards families who bought long ago, white neighborhoods get larger tax cuts.
- History
Howard Jarvis bestof
Howard Jarvis threatened a high school district with an $800,000 libel suit because of an article written by a 16-year-old in the school newspaper.
- Seniors
The California Tax Postponement Program, not Prop 13, Protects Grandma
Low-income seniors in California have been able to defer their property taxes since 1977. Prop 13 passed in 1978.
- Renters
Prop 13 Is Not Passed On to Renters
Howard Jarvis promised Prop 13 would lower rents. We matched rental ads to LA County tax records to check.
Further reading
See all →Court opinions, LAO reports, and academic papers on Prop 13, from Justice Stevens’s dissent inNordlinger v. Hahn to Exclusionary Taxation. The reading list.