I’m happily married. But if I weren’t, I might start looking to marry someone age 55 or older.
Because Prop 5 creates new financial incentives to be married to someone in that age bracket.
The initiative is particularly good for trophy wives and, let’s be fair here, trophy husbands.
Explaining what the initiative does takes a little time. Prop 13 back in 1978, by limiting how fast property taxes could rise, locked in property tax savings for homeowners as long as they held onto their homes. But if you sold your home and bought a new one, you couldn’t take your tax savings with you. You started over.
Since low property taxes are as fundamental as sunshine in California, this couldn’t stand. So in 1986, voters approved Prop 60 to allow homeowners over the age of 55 to transfer the taxable value of their current home to a replacement home – but with restrictions. The replacement had to be of equal or lesser value, and be located in the same county, and purchased within two years of the sale of the previous home.
Even that wasn’t generous enough to homeowners, so in 1988, voters approved Prop 90 that allowed a transfer of taxable value – essentially a transfer of your lower property taxes – to a home in another county if that new county agrees to be part of the program.
Only some counties allow that, so Prop 5 would open this up further, making it statewide. You could transfer your tax savings anywhere you want in the state. And – get this trophy wives who want their older husband or wife to buy them a new bigger place – the new home’s market value can be anywhere in the state. And if you don’t like the newer place, don’t worry—you can keep trading up and keep the low property taxes.
Of course, the listed owner of the house would have to be 55 or older – not the younger under 55 partner. But still!
Now, Prop 5 isn’t so good for the rest of the state. Things like schools, kids and the future depend on property taxes. And then there’s the unfairness of subsidizing older generations.
But if you’re a trophy husband or wife, you should vote for Prop 5!
Heck, it ought to be called the trophy wife tax break.