Inform
Death Tax Calculator
How much will the death tax cost your family if it is not repealed? Use the calculator below and find out!
These totals don’t even include local taxes and bonds added to property tax bills. We must REPEAL THE DEATH TAX so parents can once again transfer property to their kids without triggering reassessment. Donate TODAY to protect your family.
Contact your state representatives
Click the tabs below for sample messages and contact information.
Please ask your state representatives to be co-authors of SCA 4 to repeal the death tax and reinstate Proposition 58 so families are not hit with huge tax increases when a parent dies, and the children inherit a home or small business.
Click here to find your California State Senator and Assemblymember, or click here for a complete list of Assemblymembers’ phone numbers, https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers, and click here for a complete list of state senators’ phone numbers, https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators
Please ask your state representatives to be co-authors of SCA 4 to repeal the death tax and to reinstate Proposition 58 so families are not hit with huge tax increases when a parent dies, and the children inherit a home or small business.
These critically important protections for California families were removed from the state constitution by Proposition 19, which seemed to be only about wildfire victims and seniors wanting to move to a new home. We need Proposition 58 restored to protect families from huge tax increases when a parent dies, and the next generation inherits the family’s property. We also need Proposition 193 restored to protect families when the children’s parents are deceased, and grandparents hand down the family’s property to their grandchildren. Without these protections, family homes and businesses may have to be sold because the property taxes are unaffordable. Your support to restore Proposition 58 and 193 to the state constitution will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Click here to find your California State Senator and Assemblymember, or click here for a complete list of Assemblymembers’ office mailing addresses, https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers, and click here for a complete list of state senators’ mailing addresses, https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators
Send a letter to the editor
Use the tool below to find contact information for a newspaper in your community. You can send the sample letter, or tell your own story about Prop. 19 is affecting your family. Letters to the editor are generally best kept to about 200 words in length and should be signed with your name, city and contact phone or email.
Sample letter:
To the editor,
Proposition 19 had a little-noticed provision in it that is causing families to have to sell homes and small businesses that parents had hoped to pass on to their children. Prop. 19 repealed Proposition 58, which was placed on the ballot in 1986 by a unanimous vote of the Legislature, then passed with the approval of over 75% of state voters. Prop. 58 protected family properties from reassessment when transferred between parents and children. Without it, property is reassessed to current market value when it is passed to children, with only limited exceptions, and many families face sharply higher property tax bills. This is forcing many families to sell properties, including small family businesses, after parents worked so hard for so many years to pay for them.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is sponsoring Senate Constitutional Amendment 4, authored by Sen. Kelly Seyarto and with Assembly Member Mike Gipson as principal co-author, to repeal the changes that Prop. 19 made to tax assessments on intergenerational transfers of property. SCA 4 will restore Prop. 58 to the State Constitution. It will also restore Prop. 193 (1996), which similarly protects children whose parents have passed away.
SCA 4 protects the next generation in every community from being taxed out of the property their parents worked hard to acquire. It deserves your support.
| Name | Address | Contact | Circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Bee | 2100 Q St. Sacramento, CA 95816 | viewpoints@sacbee.com | 346,000 |
| The Daily Democrat | 711 Main St. Woodland, CA 95695 | news@dailydemocrat.com | 11,000 |
| Mountain Democrat | 2889 Ray Lawyer Dr. Placerville, CA 95667 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 15,000 |
| Auburn Journal | 1030 High St. Auburn, CA 95603 | ajournal@goldcountrymedia.com | 13,000 |
| Name | Address | Contact | Circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Chronicle | 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 424,000 |
| Contra Costa Times | 175 Lennon Ln., Suite 100 Walnut Creek, CA 94598 | dhatfield@bayareanewsgroup.com | 194,000 |
| Oakland Tribune | 1970 Broadway, Suite 100 Oakland, CA 94612 | kpfrommer@bayareanewsgroup.com | 67,000 |
| San Francisco Examiner | 835 Market St., Suite 550 San Francisco, CA 94103-1906 | dhussey@sfexaminer.com | 62,000 |
| Name | Address | Contact | Circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County Star | P.O. Box 6006 Camarillo, CA 93011-6006 | letters@vcstar.com | 103,730 |
| Santa Barbara News-Press | P.O. Box 1359 Santa Barbara, CA 93102 | voices@newspress.com | 27,576 |
| The Tribune | P.O. Box 112 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 | letters@thetribunenews.com | 39,880 |
| Santa Barbara Independent | 122 W. Figueroa St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101-3106 | letters@independent.com | 135,000 (weekly) |
| Name | Address | Contact | Circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton Record | P.O. Box 900 Stockton, CA 95201 | editor@recordnet.com | 60,000 |
| Fresno Bee | 1626 E St. Fresno, CA 93786-0001 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 157,456 |
| Modesto Bee | 1325 H St. Modesto, CA 95354-2427 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 86,000 |
| Bakersfield Californian | P.O. Box 440 Bakersfield, CA 93302-0440 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 70,000 |
| Name | Address | Contact | Circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times | 202 W. 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90012-4299 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 983,000 |
| Santa Monica Daily Press | 1640 5th St., Suite 218 Santa Monica, CA 90401-3325 | ross@smdp.com | 8,000 |
| Los Angeles Daily News | 21860 Burbank Blvd., Suite 200 Woodland Hills, CA 91367-7439 | dnforum@dailynews.com | 441,000 |
| Long Beach Press-Telegram | 727 Pine Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813-4321 | speakout@presstelegram.com | 85,000 |
| Orange County Register | 625 N. Grand Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92701-4347 | letters@ocregister.com | 276,881 |
| San Diego Union-Tribune | P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191 | letters@uniontrib.com | 296,331 |
| Riverside Press Enterprise | 1825 Chicago Ave., Suite 100 Riverside, CA 92507-2373 | Click here for letter submittal form. | 149,608 |
| San Bernardino Sun | 290 N. D St., Suite 102 San Bernardino, CA 92401-1734 | opinions@inlandnewspapers.com | 177,000 |