Abstract
Our research objective is to assess the understanding and perspective of California citizens about property taxation, including how the tax functions given the many legal constraints and citizen beliefs about the distributional impact of the tax. We utilize information from a series of survey questions in a December 2016 CalSpeaks Survey to better understand citizen opinion about Proposition 13 and citizen support for the property tax. Key issues include (1) do California citizens today understand the provisions of Proposition 13 and the implications for how the property tax operates in California, and (2) given that knowledge, what is the perspective of California residents about the income incidence (progressivity) of the property tax? The survey results reveal that slightly more than one third (36 percent) believe that the property tax is progressive (imposes a greater burden, i.e. a greater percentage of income, for a typical high-income person). We find strong evidence that greater knowledge of the basic elements of Proposition 13 (fixed rate and method of assessment) increases the likelihood of belief that the property is progressive.