Please note that these propositions are no longer in effect and have been replaced by the information in Prop 19 in 
Calfornia
**Propositions 60 and 90 are Constitutional initiatives passed by California voters. They provide property tax relief by preventing reassessment when a senior citizen sells his/her existing residence and purchases or constructs a replacement residence worth the same or less than the original. They were enacted to encourage a person, age 55 or older to “move down” to a smaller residence. When a senior citizen acquires a replacement property worth less than the original property, he/she will continue to pay approximately the same amount of annual property taxes as before.
How Do These Propositions Work?
When the senior citizen purchases or constructs a new residence, it is not reassessed, if he/she qualifies. The Assessor transfers the factored base value of the original residence to the replacement residence. Proposition 60 originallyrequired that the replacement and the original be located in the same county. Later, Proposition 90 enabled this to be modified by local ordinance. Los Angeles County enacted an ordinance to provide that when the replacement is located in Los Angeles County, the original property may be located in any other California county.
Who Qualifies?
If you or your spouse that resides with you are age 55 or older, you may buy or construct a new home of equal or lesser value than your existing home and transfer the trended base value to your new property. This is a one-time only benefit. You must buy or complete construction of your replacement home within two years of the sale of the original property. Both the original home and the new home must be your principal place of residence. A claim must be filed within three years of purchasing or completing new construction of the replacement property. If a claim is filed after the three-year period, relief will be granted beginning with the calendar year in which the claim was filed.
Once you have filed and received this tax relief, neither you nor your spouse who resides with you can ever file again.
Eligibility Requirements
- The replacement property must be your principal residence and must be eligible for the Homeowners’ Exemption or Disabled Veterans’ Exemption.
- The replacement property must be of equal or lesser “current market value” than the original property. The “equal or lesser” test is applied to the entire replacement residence, even if the owner of the original property acquires only a partial interest in the replacement residence. Owners of two qualifying original residences may not combine the values of those properties in order to qualify for a Proposition 60 base-year transfer to a replacement residence of greater value than the more valuable of the two original residences.
- The replacement property must be purchased or built within two years (before or after) of the sale of the original property.
- Your original property must have been eligible for the Homeowners’ or Disabled Veterans’ Exemption.
- You, or a spouse residing with you, must have been at least 55 years of age when the original property was sold. Back to home buyer tips and FAQs
When Are These Propositions Effective?
The replacement residence must have been purchased or constructed on or after November 5, 1986 if the original was located in Los Angeles County. The replacement residence must have been purchased or constructed on or after November 9, 1988 if the ongmal was located in any other California county. Claims must be filed within three years following the purchase of the replacement residence.
Were Are Claim Forms Available?
They are distributed at Assessor’s public counters, in Room 225 of the
Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, and in district offices. If you need additional information, call (213) 893-1239.
Counties Accepting Prop 90 Transfers:
**much of the information above and some additional information can be found at the County Assessor flyer at https://assessor.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/E-20.pdf
