Schools and City Governments Rely on Property Taxes. What Happens When Homeowners Revolt?

In 1978 , California voters passed Proposition 13 , a radical tax cut that transformed the state and shocked the whole country.

The measure resulted in education spending cratering and wildly unequal property taxes that persist today .

By allowing existing residents to pay lower taxes than newcomers, California effectively punishes home sales.

Property tax revolt stands to make the property market work less well for first -time buyers, writes Aaron Carroll .

Carroll: Property taxes make houses more easily available for the young, as this excellent paper shows.

Carroll says revolt would limit the extent to which the property tax is assessed by small and unequally rich jurisdictions like counties or the state itself.