Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) announced today that she has reintroduced legislation to correct an outdated interpretation of property “change of ownership” that has been part of the long running debate around commercial property and Proposition 13 (the 1978 initiative that limited property tax increases).
“Proposition 13 ensures that property taxes do not skyrocket for any California homeowner or business,” said Senator Bates. “But it is not right that some people have exploited an outdated interpretation of Prop. 13 to avoid paying the property taxes that they legitimately owe. While some people tried to use extreme examples last November as a pretext to wipe out Prop. 13’s tax protections for commercial property, the Legislature can instead use a scalpel to prevent further abuses.”