Real property tax: transfer of base year value: generational transfers: wildfire.

Senator Pérez’s measure threads a narrow, disaster-focused change into California’s family-transfer tax relief by tying a three-year extension for filing certain exclusions from change in ownership to wildfire damage during a governor’s state of emergency, and by extending the corresponding exemption filing window for homeowners’ and disabled veterans’ exemptions; the extension applies to claims filed through the end of 2030.

The core change expands the time allowed to claim exclusions for transfers involving a principal residence between close family members and the first $1,000,000 of other property transferred between those family members, but only when the property was damaged or destroyed by specified 2025 wildfires and reassessed as part of that event. The extension is contingent on the assessor’s fire-related reassessment and applies to claims filed no later than January 1, 2031. A parallel extension covers the filing of homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemptions within one year after a notice of supplemental or escape assessment, subject to the same 2031 limit. The bill also requires the State Board of Equalization to design the eligibility forms, imposes detailed filing timelines (including notices of potential eligibility with 45- and 60-day windows), and mandates quarterly assessor reporting to monitor the $1,000,000 exclusion cap for non-principal-residence transfers. Filings remain private except to specified parties, and various penalties, processing fees, and emergency-regulation processes accompany the regime.

Section 2 broadens and clarifies how family transfers are treated under the Prop 19 framework for principal residences and family farms. For principal residences, the exclusion applies if the transferor’s principal residence becomes the transferee’s principal residence within one year, with the transferee filing for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within one year; the base-year value is enrolled on the lien date after eligibility ends. For family farms, the exclusion can apply separately to each parcel, with parcel-level treatment and potential eligibility for the home exclusion on a separate parcel. The new taxable value calculation combines the pre-transfer taxable value (as defined for the home or farm) with a top-up based on the fair market value at transfer minus the pre-transfer value plus the $1,000,000 exclusion, or zero if FMV is less. Claims must be filed with the assessor, late filings may trigger a processing fee, and the board must issue emergency regulations to implement these changes.

Beyond the core provisions, the bill includes a Los Angeles County–focused finding to justify a special statute, and it contemplates a potential state-mandated local program cost requiring reimbursement if the mandate is deemed costs on local governments; emergency regulations are authorized to enable rapid implementation, with formal oversight and a sunset-like limit on extended filing windows. The measure sits within the Prop 19-era framework for family transfers but provides targeted, time-limited relief tied to disaster conditions, while expanding administrative duties and data reporting across counties and the state.