Whether you bought your home last month or have owned your home for twenty years, if you live in the California Proposition 13 is protecting you.

The first benefit is that even the most recent homebuyers pay about 1/3 of the property taxes that they would without Proposition 13. The initiative simply keeps the general level of property taxation lower and fairer. Without Proposition 13, many new buyers could not afford both their mortgage payments and their taxes.

Proposition 13 also gives new homeowners long-term security by providing predictability in taxes. Property taxes are levied once a year. The tax "rate" is applied to the value of your home to determine your tax bill. Proposition 13 helps you by limiting the maximum tax rate to 1%. If a home has a value of $250,000, the owner will see a tax bill of $2,500. But what happens when the value of your property goes up? In other states, if the value of your home doubles, so does your property tax bill. But because of Proposition 13, here in California the taxable value of your home can only go up 2% per year. Thanks to Proposition 13, new buyers know exactly what their taxes will be next year, in five years, and in 30 years -- reassuring information for those who plan to live in their homes when they retire.

But this wasn't always the case. Prior to the passage of Proposition 13, many homeowners shuddered in fear when their property tax bills arrived. Tax increases of 20%, 50%, even 100% in one year were common, yet amazingly, some politicians and special interest groups argue for a return to the old system!

See more information on saving on property taxes with the California Homeowners Exemption and save money every year!