Propositions 60 and 90 Will Help You Downsize

What are Propositions 60 and 90?  If you want to sell your house and buy a smaller home and you are at least 55 years old these propositions will allow you to transfer the adjusted base year value of the original (sold) property to the newly purchased or constructed home resulting in substantial property tax savings.  Proposition 60 allows the base year value transfer within the same county while Proposition 90 allows transfer between the participating counties.  Currently 8 California counties have an ordinance enabling the inter-county base year value transfer, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties are among them.  Other counties are El Dorado, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and Ventura.

What are the eligibility requirements?  You or your spouse must be at least 55 years old when the original property was sold.  The replacement property must be your new principal residency and must be of equal or lesser "current market value" than the original property.  The replacement property must be purchased or built within two years (before or after) of the sale of the original property.

Can I qualify for Proposition 60 benefits if my home is held in a trust?  You qualify for the benefits if you are the present beneficial owner of the trust, not simply the trustee of the trust.

How many times can one receive the benefit of Propositions 60/90?  One may transfer his or her base year value only once, with the one exception that if a person first received relief for age and subsequently became severely and permanently disabled after the date of the original claim and had to move because of the disability (Proposition 110), then the base year value may be transferred a second time.

This post originally appeared on PaloAltoCal.com