I had an email yesterday from a recent client who has just put through her Proposition 60 paperwork. She is delighted to know that her reasonable property taxes will stay the same. She probably would have been trapped downstairs in a two story townhouse...bad knees...if opponents had won their recent effort to repeal this county measure.
This week, the same group tried to overturn another offshoot of Proposition 13, Prop 90, which allows a tax savings for seniors who are moving to Santa Clara County from other areas of the state. Remember, this is a one-time savings for the homeowners, and cannot be used to buy a more expensive home. Very few counties in the state have higher housing costs than we do, so the savings is almost always used when buyers are moving to a smaller home to be closer to medical facilities or their families. Yet opponents of the measure cited a single example of a couple who are selling a multi-million dollar property in San Mateo County and buying here, to make it seem as though wealthy property owners are using Prop 90 as a loophole to beat the system.
So few senior homebuyers use the tax savings that the net loss of revenue to the county is $200,000...a tiny portion of the $200 million annual county budget.
Anyway, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remain one of the seven counties that allow this break for buyers over 55. Good for them!
No comments:
Post a Comment