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Cupertino Prop. 13 tax reduction topped $29,000 in 2025

Redfin data shows Prop. 13 provided an average tax reduction of more than $29,000 for Cupertino homeowners in 2025.

Sasha Lowery

September 14, 20261 min read

Property Tax Relief - illustration, Jake Team LLC

Pleasanton is about 29 miles north of Saratoga.

Proposition 13 reduced Cupertino homeowners’ average property-tax bills by more than $29,000 in 2025, according to an analysis of Redfin data. The gap between average market and assessed values there grew to $1.5 million in 2025, up from $1.2 million in 2017. The 2026 tax roll was unavailable.

The pattern differed elsewhere. In San Francisco, the average reduction was about $9,000. Redfin put the city’s typical home value near $1.6 million, compared with an average taxable assessment slightly above $1 million.

The market value was about 52% higher in 2025, versus more than twice the assessment in 2017. The analysis said the gap may have grown in 2026 as home values rose, but available tax-roll data did not determine by how much.

Proposition 13, approved by California voters in 1978, generally sets property taxes using a home’s purchase value and voter-approved local rate increases. The taxable value can increase by no more than 2% each year and is reassessed after a sale.

In Santa Clara County, average assessments rose from about $640,000, or 46% of an estimated $1.4 million market value, in 2017 to nearly $1.1 million, or 57% of an estimated $1.9 million value, in 2025. Sarah Karlinsky of UC Berkeley’s Terner Center cited market distortions, while SPUR’s Michael Lane pointed to home prices, low mortgage rates and pandemic-period sales.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle.

Sources

sfchronicle.com

Prop. 13 tax savings narrowed in much of the Bay Area (pleasantonca.city)

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Sasha Lowery

Sasha Lowery writes about community life, schools, public safety, and local events in Saratoga.

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