Deadline, January 16, 2024, for petition signature gathering to repeal Prop 19 coming soon

(SAN FRANCISCO) With only two to three weeks left before the January 16 deadline, supporters of a petition held rallies in San Francisco and Oakland to remind California voters to sign the petition which aims to repeal Proposition 19 in the November election in 2024.

January 16 is the deadline for all state petitions which are required to turn in at least 1.2 million signatures for state measures to be listed on the upcoming November election ballot.

"As of now, we only have about 25% of the required signatures for the petition,” said Leanna Louie, a volunteer organizer of the Repeal The Death Tax petition campaign which held two rallies in San Francisco's Sunset District on December 29 and in Oakland Chinatown on December 30.

Gina Tse-Louie, another volunteer organizer of the campaign, said Prop. 19 which was narrowly passed by voters was an unfair law to raise taxes and would affects generations of families.

The deadline on January 16 for signature gathering is approaching. The rallies in both cities were held to remind California voters to sign the petition online or in person before the deadline.

Prop. 19, the Property Tax Transfers, Exemptions, and Revenue for Wildfire Agencies and Counties Amendment, is also called the Death Tax on Property. It was passed in November 2020 by 51% California voters to change the rules of tax assessment.

The amended property tax transfers in Prop. 19 include to affect inherited properties from parents or grandparents to their children and grandchildren. Once the children or grandchildren take over the ownership of the properties, they are subjected to pay new property taxes which would be reassessed under current real estate market values.

This amendment has angered a large number of homeowners and parents including members of the Chinese community.

Prior to Prop. 19, parents or grandparents could transfer primary residential properties to their children or grandchildren without the property's tax assessment. Other types of properties, such as vacation homes and business properties, could also be transferred from parents to children or grandparents to grandchildren with the first $1 million exempt from reassessment when transferred.

Prop. 19 eliminated the parents-to-children and grandparents-to-grandchildren exemption in cases where the children or grandchildren do not use the inherited properties as their principal residences, such as using a property as a rental house or a second home. When the inherited property is used as the recipient's principal residence but is sold for $1 million more than the property's taxable value, an upward adjustment in assessed value would occur.

Beginning on February 16, 2023, the $1 million amount would be adjusted each year at a rate equal to the change in the California House Price Index under Prop. 19.

"Prop. 19 had a very deceptive title which misled voters and passed narrowly in 2020, resulting in unaffordable property taxes for many Californians because it took away the rights of parents/grandparents to transfer tax base to children/grandchildren. The new tax reassessment will be based on a subjective market value,” said Leanna Louie.

“When 15% of Californians can afford to buy, Prop. 19 is forcing families to sell once affordable housing," Louie added. "Countless Californians are being forced to sell their family homes and businesses when parents pass away. Renters are being evicted when inheriting landlords cannot afford skyrocketed property taxes and must sell. This will negatively impact all future generations."

The petition is available at www.ForCalifornians.com. Tse-Louie and Louie said the last date to sign the petition is January 16. Two pages of the petition need to be printed, filled out, signed and sent in the mail to HJTA at 1201 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. The petition is valid when it is mailed and postmarked on or before January 16.