A movement to reclaim local power and build a future worthy of our children.
Young families in California are carrying a disproportionate share of local taxes. We love our communities and want to invest in them, but the system is stacked so that newer homeowners and renters pay far more than long‑time property owners. This imbalance flows directly from Prop 13. We cannot repeal it today, but we can transform how our cities spend the money they already have.
Prop 13 caps property taxes until a home is sold. That means younger buyers pay taxes based on current prices while long‑time owners pay taxes based on decades‑old assessments. Cities then raise fees and sales taxes to fill the budget gap, burdens that fall hardest on young families and renters.
In the Bay Area, the difference is staggering. A new family buying a $1.2M home today typically pays close to $12,000 per year in property taxes. Meanwhile, a long‑time owner of an identical home purchased in the 1980s or 1990s may pay $2,000–$3,500 per year for the exact same local services. The younger family pays as much as five times more.
That gap widens every year as prices climb. The people raising kids today, buying homes today, and trying to stay in California today are funding the bulk of city services—often without a matching share of representation.
California cities are strained under growing budget pressures — rising pension obligations, aging infrastructure, emergency services costs, and decades of structural imbalance. When budgets tighten, the first cuts often fall on programs serving young families and children: parks, recreation, after‑school programs, library hours, community centers, safe streets, and youth services.
This is unjust. The very people carrying the largest share of local taxes — newer homeowners, young families, and renters — are the ones whose programs are cut first. We cannot allow cities to balance their books on the backs of the generation already paying more than any that came before.
The only solution is to take control of local budgets. City budgets are moral documents: they reveal who matters and who is ignored. If young Californians want their needs reflected — if we want safe parks, thriving downtowns, affordable housing, and services that support families — we must claim our place in city halls across the state.
We cannot change Prop 13 today. But we can change how every dollar in our cities is allocated. And that begins by running for office, serving on commissions, showing up, and reshaping priorities toward the future instead of the past.
We believe in a basic principle: if we are paying the taxes that keep our cities running, we deserve a real voice in how the money is used. This is not about punishing long‑time residents; it is about investing in the next 50 years, not the last 50.
California became great because previous generations built boldly. Now it is our turn. If you are a young person, a young parent, or someone who wants a vibrant future for our cities, step forward. Serve on a commission. Join a budget advisory group. Run for city council. Build a coalition of renters and new homeowners.
We cannot change Prop 13 today. But we can change everything else.