"California is known for a lot of things, but affordable housing isn't often among them. What catches many homeowners and prospective buyers off guard, however, is that property taxes in the state can quietly eat into thousands of dollars a year, even though California's effective tax rates look fairly modest on paper. The reality is that when you're taxing even a small percentage of a million-dollar home, bills add up fast, and in some counties, even faster than most people expect."
"Under Proposition 13, California's base property tax is often capped at 1% of a home's assessed value, which is locked in at the time of purchase and can only increase by a maximum of 2% per year. On the surface, this once again sounds like a taxpayer-friendly system, and for long-term homeowners, it very well might be. However, once you add in voter-approved bonds, Mello-Roos districts, and local assessments, effective property tax rates can jump to 1.1% and as high as 1.5%."
California's base property tax is typically capped at 1% under Proposition 13 and the assessed value is locked at purchase, increasing at most 2% annually. Local voter-approved bonds, Mello-Roos districts, and various assessments raise effective rates, commonly to about 1.1% and sometimes to 1.5%. New buyers are taxed on full market price because assessed value resets at purchase, producing wide county-to-county differences. Statewide average effective rate sits near 0.74%, below the national average, but very high home prices drive large dollar bills. In expensive counties like San Mateo, median values near $2 million mean even low percentages become thousands in annual taxes.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
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