Differential Burdens From the Assessment Provisions of Proposition 13

This paper uses a match of property tax records and income tax returns for homeowners in California to analyze the differential impacts of Proposition 13 from the cap on increases in assessed values. Relative to an ad valorem property tax system that raised the same amount of revenue, the beneficiaries of the assessment system are low-income and senior households. These groups because they were less mobile than other household types. There are also substantial horizontal inequities among homeowners in any given income class.