How Prop 60 Works in California and What Replaced It

Proposition 60 in California was a 1986 constitutional amendment that let homeowners aged 55 or older transfer their low Proposition 13 tax base to a replacement home of equal or lesser value within the same county, one time only. It no longer applies to current sales. As of April 1, 2021, Proposition 19 replaced Prop 60 and now governs base year value transfers for older homeowners.¹ The old framework still matters because Prop 19 kept many of its eligibility rules, value thresholds, and timing windows.

What Prop 60 Did

Proposition 13 caps annual increases in a property’s assessed value at 2 percent, so a homeowner who has held a property for decades often pays far less in property taxes than a new buyer would owe on the same house. Selling and buying a different home meant losing that protection and being reassessed at current market value.

Prop 60 amended Article XIIIA of the California Constitution to let qualifying homeowners carry their existing base year value to a replacement home. The benefit applied only within the same county, only once per person or married couple, and only when the replacement home was worth no more than the original home’s market value.² Proposition 90, passed in 1988, extended the same benefit across county lines, but only if the destination county had opted in by local ordinance.

Who Qualified

At least one owner, or the owner’s spouse living on the property, had to be 55 or older on the date the original home was sold. Age was measured on the sale date, not on the purchase date of the replacement home.²

Both homes had to be principal residences. The original home had to be eligible for either the homeowner’s exemption or the disabled veterans’ exemption, and the replacement home had to become the applicant’s principal residence.³

The benefit was strictly one-time. Once a homeowner or married couple claimed the transfer, neither spouse could ever claim it again, even after divorce or the death of the other spouse.²

The Equal or Lesser Value Test

Under Prop 60, the replacement home had to be of “equal or lesser value” compared to the original, and the test was pass-or-fail. Exceed the threshold by a dollar and the entire transfer was denied. No partial credit, no proration.

All transactions had to fall within a two-year window before or after the original sale, and the applicable percentage depended on when the replacement was purchased or newly constructed:²

Before the sale: the replacement home’s full cash value could not exceed 100 percent of the original home’s market value.
Within the first year after the sale: up to 105 percent.
In the second year after the sale: up to 110 percent.

The statute uses “full cash value,” which is the assessor’s determination and is not necessarily the same as the sale price.³ For newly constructed homes, full cash value includes the land plus total construction cost.

What Prop 19 Changed

Anyone selling and buying today operates under Proposition 19, not Prop 60. The Board of Equalization directs all base year value transfers by homeowners 55 or older to the Prop 19 rules.²

Three changes matter most. The transfer now works anywhere in California, eliminating the same-county restriction and the patchwork of Prop 90 opt-in counties. The benefit can be used up to three times instead of once. And the absolute cap on buying a more expensive home is gone.¹

Buying a More Expensive Home Under Prop 19

Under Prop 60, a replacement home priced above the applicable threshold killed the transfer entirely. Under Prop 19, you can still buy up. If the replacement home’s full cash value exceeds the original home’s market value (using the same 100/105/110 percent brackets based on timing), the difference gets added to the transferred base year value.⁴

An example. Your original home sells for a market value of $400,000, with a factored base year value of $100,000. You buy a replacement home in the first year after the sale for $600,000. The adjusted value of the original is $400,000 times 105 percent, or $420,000. The excess is $600,000 minus $420,000, which is $180,000. Your new base year value becomes $100,000 plus $180,000, or $280,000.¹ Still a substantial savings compared to being assessed at the full $600,000.

What Prop 19 Kept

The age threshold is still 55. The two-year purchase window still applies. The 100/105/110 percent brackets still determine whether the transfer happens cleanly or with an excess added on. The replacement home still has to be your principal residence.¹

Filing the Claim

The transfer is not automatic. You have to file a claim with the county assessor’s office where the replacement home is located, after both the sale and the purchase are complete and you are living in the new home. Under old Prop 60 rules the form was BOE-60-AH; under current Prop 19 rules, the assessor provides the applicable claim form.

The deadline is the same under both the old and current law. File within three years of buying or completing construction of the replacement home to receive relief retroactive to the date of transfer, including a refund of any property tax overpaid in the interim.³ File after three years and relief begins with the calendar year you file, not retroactively.⁵

Expect to submit closing statements for the original sale and the replacement purchase, proof of age, and evidence that both homes were your principal residence. The assessor may ask for additional proof, such as utility bills. If your claim is denied, you can appeal through the county’s Assessment Appeals Board.

A Note on Severe Disability

If you qualify based on a severe and permanent physical disability rather than age, a parallel benefit exists. Proposition 110, passed in 1990, extended the same base year value transfer to people with qualifying disabilities regardless of age, and those provisions also now operate under Proposition 19.⁶ Under current Prop 19 rules, age-based and disability-based transfers share the same three-use lifetime cap.⁷

1
California Board of Equalization. Proposition 19
2
California Board of Equalization. Transfer of Base Year Value for Persons Age 55 and Over – Propositions 60/90
3
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 69.5
4
FindLaw. Constitution of the State of California 1879 Art XIIIA 2.1
5
California Board of Equalization. Claim of Person(s) at Least 55 Years of Age for Transfer of Base Year Value to Replacement Dwelling
6
California Board of Equalization. Exclusions from Reappraisal Frequently Asked Questions – Proposition 110
7
Los Angeles County Assessor. Proposition 19