> For example, I've talked to retired folks that have considered leaving the bay due to the increased cost of living. But because they have owned their house for decades + P13, if they bought a _cheaper_ house elsewhere in CA to downsize, they'd be paying _more_ in property taxes, to the point of the move not being worth the cost. (I believe there's been talk of transferable tax rates to fix this specific problem, or maybe something was even passed, but it just goes to show the distortions P13 has beyond the obvious).
Tax rates are transferable in the same county, under certain restrictions (less expensive I think). Some counties have deals with eachother to transfer tax rates. I think a big benefit would be to have all counties to be able to transfer rates with eachother.
Another problem with transferable tax rates is most smaller housing units tend to be condos - and all they build new are 'luxury' condos. Even if you could pay for it outright, and get a transferred tax rate, you probably have an insane HOA attached to it. This alone can make it not worthwhile.
But still, I think the best, most realistic way out of the prop 13 mess is to get rid of it for newly bought homes, but allow the transfer rate for downsizing state-wide. And for the love of god, get rid of it from inheritance. Most of these people massively benefiting from it are in their 60s and 70s, so the circle of life will eventually take care of things. If we don't pass something soon the next generation of inheritors will force us to wait another lifetime to fix the problem.