By Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association – June 1, 2023

Signature collection will begin in a couple of months

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is finalizing the language of the new initiative to “Repeal the Death Tax.” It will restore the ability of parents and children (and sometimes grandparents and grandchildren) to transfer property to each other without having that property reassessed to market value.

California families should not be taxed out of the property their parents worked so hard to acquire. HJTA’s initiative will Protect Proposition 13 for our children, enabling parents to transfer their home (of any value) plus a limited amount of other property to their children while keeping the property tax bill the same. It also includes a provision that will allow people to get their property’s previous base-year value assessment back again if they were reassessed for a parent-child transfer due to Prop. 19’s changes to the law.

Here’s an update on the general timeline for this effort: Once we file the initiative with the Attorney General’s office, it takes about two months for officials to write the title, summary and fiscal analysis of the measure. Then we will be cleared to begin signature collection. We will have a little less than six months to collect the needed signatures. We’ll be aiming to collect at least 1.3 million to make sure we have enough valid signatures of registered voters to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.

If you would like to volunteer to help collect signatures, or even if you’d just like to sign the petition yourself and mail it back to us, you can sign up at RepealTheDeathTax.com if you haven’t already. Just click “Volunteer” on the menu and then click the sign-up link. RepealTheDeathTax.com is the place to go for up-to-date information as well as downloadable flyers to print or email to friends and family. Please share the link and the flyers on social media and help us get the word out!

You’re always welcome to connect with HJTA directly for information and materials, which will be available when signature collection begins in a couple of months. If you are signed up to volunteer, we’ll be in touch to let you know how to get petitions, flyers, and other materials to help with signature gathering. 

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jon Coupal, President

P.S. Our earlier effort to persuade the Legislature to put this constitutional amendment on the ballot, SCA 4, did not advance out of its first committee. However, it was granted “reconsideration,” and could be heard again. We’re not waiting, but if you’d like to call your representatives and tell them that this issue is important to you, you can look up their names and contact information at findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov. Thank you!