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In early 2003 I applied with the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office as one of 900 applicants for 25 positions to be a Real Estate Appraiser Trainee. As a trainee I went through an 18 month probation period and a 12 month training with them which included classroom education, numerous exams, field training in all parts of real estate appraisal, property tax law and the systems in place within the Assessor’s Office. Had I failed any one of my series of exams or gotten a bad review by my field trainer they would have booted me out.

Prop 13 applies today to all property owners in the state of California. Prop 13 was implemented in 1978 by homeowners to control the amount of property taxes paid by homeowners. Before Current California Property Tax Law there was no limit to help taxpayers on property taxes. The assessed value was based on the changing home values every year and because the market values increased significantly over time in California, the amount of property taxes increased substantially. As the values of the houses went up over time, older folks on fixed incomes were being driven out of their homes unable to pay the property tax increases.