2026 has reignited debates about Proposition 13, with a new measure designed to “save” the 1978 proposition. While Prop. 13 has been an immense benefit to incumbent longtime property owners, it is fundamentally unfair to new property buyers, especially with California’s sky-high property values. The solution to this problem is not to reward property owners based on how long they have been here, but instead to abolish property taxes for everyone.
Prop. 13 was approved in 1978 and caps the state’s property tax at 1 percent of a property’s “assessed value.” It also restricts annual increases in assessed value to no more than 2 percent. From 1980 to 2025, the value of California homes rose at an annualized rate of more than 5 percent—over twice the limit that Prop. 13 allows to be considered in assessments. This means that as home and property values in California have soared, the taxable base of these properties has been suppressed. When properties are sold, however, the purchase price becomes the new base assessed value.
In extreme scenarios, with decades of homeownership under their belt, due to Prop. 13, some homeowners can live in houses worth more than $2 million but pay taxes as if their home were only worth a few hundred thousand. For example, according to Zillow, one Los Angeles County home is valued at over $2.3 million, but in 2025, the owner paid just approximately $3,000 in property taxes. If someone were to purchase that same home today, the annual property tax would be over $23,000. This is not necessarily problematic in its own right, but it is a benefit that has been legally restricted to incumbents.
The property values in the Golden State make its property tax rate punitive and unsustainable. The median home in California is worth around $900,000—a price that carries an annual property tax burden of approximately $9,000 per year. The median household income in California is roughly $100,000. This means that property tax for the median home in the state amounts to more than a month of the typical household’s take-home salary. Prop. 13 does not protect the people who need it most—young people who are trying to purchase a home in the second most expensive real estate market in the nation.
Florida is currently considering a proposal to eliminate most property taxes in the state. In light of California’s sky-high property values, which are the result of a self-inflicted shortage fueled by zoning restrictions and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Golden State should follow suit and make a sober decision to abolish property tax completely. In its place, the state should implement a fairer taxation model, where people directly pay for the services that they utilize. Those without children, for example, should not be forced to subsidize public schools.
These “user fee” taxes would function similarly to utility bills or waste management fees and would cover essential services like police and fire departments. While such fees for schooling may disproportionately affect young parents with multiple children, those same parents would be shielded from property tax. This regime would also create real incentives for school districts and other public entities to optimize spending; for example, if police spending were out of control, user fees would make this evident to the public.
If California truly wants to be a progressive state, the California Dream should be available to everyone—not only to those whose family purchased property decades ago. Right now, the state’s property tax system is crushing that dream. Given the state’s manufactured housing shortage and the exorbitant property values, the only prudent way forward is to abolish property tax altogether.