California Voters Weigh Change to Landmark Property Tax-Cap Law

California Voters Weigh Change to Landmark Property Tax-Cap Law

Californians are deciding whether to make the most significant change to the state's signature tax-limitation law, a shift that would roil its politics as well as major businesses and real estate investing.Approval of Proposition 15 would allow property taxes on most commercial buildings worth more than $3 million to increase by pegging the levy to market value, rather than its purchase price. Polls show the outcome as far from clear, even as big names including Governor Gavin Newsom, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden support its passage.

Currently, under the state's Proposition 13, property taxes on both homes and businesses are limited to 1% of the purchase price and annual assessed taxable valuation increases are capped at 2%.

Proposition 13 has long been popular with homeowners and changing it