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California Association of Realtors wants to revive rejected Prop 5
The trade group is planning a new version of the property tax transfer measure that a majority of voters did not support
It’s been two weeks since Election Day and backers of the defeated Proposition 5 are already looking to 2020.
The California Association of Realtors filed initial paperwork to put the measure back on the ballot, with some new provisions, according to the Orange County Register.
Prop 5 would have allowed older homeowners to transfer over lower property taxes when they buy more expensive homes as many times as they want. Current law allows one transfer when the new home is the same value or lower than the current home.
Only 42 percent of voters supported Prop 5 on Nov. 6.
Alex Creel, CAR’s chief lobbyist, said that older homeowners don’t sell because they can’t afford a tax hike and that the new Prop 5 would spur 43,000 more sales annually.
The latest version would bar commercial buyers from the tax reduction and bar transfers for inherited homes used as rentals or second homes. Other groups are pushing for a ballot initiative that would also close the commercial loophole and are criticizing CAR for including a similar provision in its measure.
They have “taken a terrible idea and put some halfway decent ideas on top of that,” said Prop 5 opponent Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project.
Critics said the California Associations of Realtors only wants to increase commissions, which the association claims are negligible given there are more than 500,000 agents in the state. [OC Register] — Dennis Lynch