Some Counties Allow Disaster Victims to Transfer Their Property Tax Rates Without Selling Their Home. Santa Barbara Isn’t One of Them

---

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

---

Before the Palisades Fire burned through their neighborhood in January, the Bridges family left with only a few belongings. Robert Bridges said he recalls driving with his son through embers the size of footballs, including chunks of burning roofing and tree branches. The blaze reduced the Bridges’ home — an architectural fixture of Pacific Palisades and one they designed and built themselves — to a skeleton of concrete and rebar. The land around it burned, too, laying waste to the area. All told, the Palisades Fire destroyed more than 6,000 structures and killed 12 people. On October 8, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Jonathan Rinderknecht, a man now living in Florida, with starting what eventually became the blaze. 

Robert Bridges is an Emeritus Associate Professor of Clinical Finance and Business Economics at USC, a husband and father to three sons. He said that with their home gone, he and his wife want to move to Santa Barbara. For them, it’s a long-held dream of returning; they were married at the Santa Barbara Courthouse in 1981 and lived here as a young couple. 

But they can’t carry their current property tax rate to a new home in Santa Barbara County — a legal option for folks who have lost their home in natural disasters — without selling their Palisades property first. Given the extent of destruction in their neighborhood, a sale — at least one for a reasonable sum — seems a long way off. 

“Our property is for sale, but we haven’t received any offers as of yet. Rebuilding is not an option due to the severely damaged infrastructure and the fact that the burn area remains generally uninhabitable,” Bridges told the Independent. 

That’s where Proposition 171, a more-than-30-year-old law, comes into play. If counties adopt it, people whose homes have been destroyed in a natural disaster could transfer their out-of-county property tax rates to homes they purchase in-county without having to sell the former property first. Fourteen counties have adopted Prop. 171 — including Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Santa Barbara is not yet one of them. 

Bridges said he and his wife are lucky — they don’t have loans on their house. But other folks who have lost their homes still need to pay their mortgages on those destroyed homes. Many folks in Pacific Palisades — one survey says 70 percent of them —  were underinsured or uninsured, meaning they may have lost their biggest asset. 

It’s unclear how much property tax revenue Santa Barbara County would lose by enacting Prop. 171. Santa Barbara County’s property taxes fund schools, as well as public infrastructure and transportation. In January, county staff said property taxes make up about 80 percent of the county’s discretionary revenue. 

In general, new homeowners may also bring in other forms of revenue: They would pay sales tax on purchases here, as well as gas tax for their vehicles and transfer tax when they bought a property. If they brought businesses, they would pay taxes on them too. 

For Bridges, there’s also the matter of aiding folks affected by disaster — helping other Californians as Santa Barbaras themselves could be helped in other counties — a kind of “pay it forward.” 

Second District Supervisor Laura Capps said in a statement to the Independent that the county is doing its due diligence to better understand the implications of Prop. 171. 

“Santa Barbara County has opened our hearts, schools, and community for individuals and families displaced by the devastating L.A. fires. We understand too well the very real financial challenges disaster survivors face to rebuild their homes and their lives,” Capps said. 

Presently, there’s no immediate timeline on this item.