When California took its first breath of statehood in 1850, the fledgling state had to quickly find a way to support itself, and myriad new taxes were instituted.

In 1850, there was no federal income tax, and states and local governments managed their own tax programs. Nationally, federal revenue was primarily generated through tariffs on imported goods.

California’s Property Tax Law of 1850 set an annual property tax rate at 50 cents on each $100 worth of taxable property, or 0.5% per annum. In 2025, the state property tax rate is 1%, and other local taxes are added to that number.

By today’s standards, the method used by California and other states to assess property taxes is both interesting and odd. Publicly elected county tax assessors were assigned to physically go to each propert

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