Prop 13 slashed property taxes by 30% to bring them down in line with national levels. A lot of tax assessors went to jail in the 70's for corruption. Until Prop 13, an assessor could come by any day and arbitrarily decide to double or quadruple your property taxes based on a subjective ans assumed paper value of a property. In one block, you could have a property assessed at 115% or it's value and another a 5%. It was outrageous and uncontrolled and people were pissed.

After Prop 13, a property is reassessed to the current market value when it is sold, and any increases while you own it are limited to 2% per year. In other words: little old ladies don't get taxed out of their homes anymore because the modest home they bought in the SF suburbs decades ago is now supposedly worth a million dollars. But if they sell it, the new buyer gets hit with a property tax bill for what s/he paid for the property.

Prop 13 is blamed for everything for schools to rainy weather, but in reality it sheparded in a huge economic boom in the 80's and tax revenues went UP. The money savings mostly went to lower to moderate income homeowners and small and mid-size businesses; job growth and net income skyrocketted. It was a very smart tax cut -- even the proponents were surprised at how well it worked.

Since 1978, about 89% of the homes "frozen" in 1978 have been reassessed.

Then Pete Wilson hiked taxes so far up in the early 90's that most of the theoretical revenue loss was offset anyway. People just like to blame Prop 13.