Prop. 13 was approved by voters 48 years ago today. We must save it. And here’s how.
By Jon Coupal – June 6, 2026
June 6, is the 48th birthday of Proposition 13, and if you own a home, a condo or any other property in California, you know how important Prop. 13 has been to your financial security.
Proposition 13 placed a limit on how much your property taxes can go up for as long as you own your home. It cut the tax rate on property to 1%, when it had been as high as 3%. And it placed new requirements on state and local government to make it harder to raise other taxes.
But lately the courts in California have created massive loopholes in Proposition 13 that are wiping out these protections with rulings that are directly contrary to the plain language of the constitution.
That’s why we have filed the Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13, a new initiative that, thanks to your help collecting 1.3 million signatures, will be on the November 2026 ballot! It will finally stop court-created loopholes from allowing unconstitutional tax increases to slip through, costing Californians billions of dollars every year.
The next step is the campaign to pass the initiative, and there’s no time to lose. If you can contribute, click or tap here to donate to the Protect Prop. 13 committee today.
The Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13 will restore the two-thirds vote requirement for ALL local special taxes and ban taxes on the sale of real estate. Those protections were in Prop. 13, but courts have carved loopholes, costing taxpayers billions of dollars they should not have had to pay.
Our initiative will once again make it HARDER to raise taxes.
It will also REPEAL taxes on the sale of real estate (called transfer taxes) that have been allowed by the courts, as well as parcel taxes that passed with less than the required two-thirds vote.
As difficult as it was to collect 1.3 million signatures, the really hard part starts now.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association will lead the campaign to pass the Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13. We will need radio commercials, yard signs, mailers, billboards and every other kind of advertising within our means to reach every voter in California. We’re a grassroots organization, member-supported, that runs on small donations from taxpayers who know how important it is to limit the government’s ability to raise taxes. We have to get the word out, starting now.
If you can, please help!
Your donation of $10, $25 or whatever you can contribute, if it doesn’t pose a hardship, will be a tremendous help. It will allow us to start reserving advertising while prices are lower, so your donation has even more impact.
Click or tap here to donate today!
HJTA has already demonstrated that we can convince voters to defeat tax increases, even when we are outspent by special interests. Now we have to prove that we can persuade voters to pass the Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13. Our message:
This will make it harder to raise taxes. Vote YES!
With your help we have come this far already, and with your help we will get across the finish line in November! Thank you!
With gratitude and appreciation,
Jon Coupal is President, HJTA
