Watch mail for your property tax update

July 8th, 2009, 10:46 am · 1 Comment · posted by Jeff Collins

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Real estate owners in Orange County began receiving notices this week telling them how much property tax they can expect to pay next December and April. The statements could alert some owners that they need to appeal assessments to lower their taxes.

Called the “property value notice,” the statements contain value assessments for each property. The assessments serve as the basis for determining each parcel’s tax.

Notices went into the mail starting Thursday, Assessor Webster Guillory said. By next Friday, all 850,000 property owners in O.C. should have received their notices. If you haven’t received your notice by the end of this week, contact the Assessor’s Office at 714-834-2727.

You’re entitled to a tax cut if the assessment exceeds how much your property would have sold for between Oct. 1 and March 31.

But if your property’s “market” value is higher than the assessment, your taxes will go up 2%. Three-fourths of all homeowners will pay more taxes next year.

You will get a beige notice if your taxes are going up. A blue notice indicates the property’s taxes will stay the same or go down this year.

If you disagree with your property’s assessment, you have until Sept. 15 to appeal. Appeals must be submitted to the county Clerk of the Board, which will schedule a hearing before an appeals board or a hearing officer.

Filing an appeal is free. Details on the tax appeals process can be found at www.ocgov.com/cob.

Is it fair that 75% of homeowners must pay more property taxes?

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Nate Oh says:

July 8, 2009 at 6 pm

My property value notice states, “A PROPOSITION 13 INLATION FACTOR OF 2.00% IS INCLUDED IN THIS ASSESSMENT.”

Section 2 (b) of Prop 13 provides:

“The full cash value base may reflect from year to year the
inflationary rate not to exceed 2 percent for any given year or
reduction as shown in the consumer price index or comparable data for the area under taxing jurisdiction, or may be reduced to reflect
substantial damage, destruction, or other factors causing a decline
in value.”

My interpretation is that if I simply held my property without improving it or otherwise engaging in any activity that could trigger a reassessment from Jan 2008 to Jan 2009 that my assessed value could nonetheless increase by the amount of inflation from Jan 2008 to Jan 2009, but not to exceed 2%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA; All items; Base Period: 1982-84=100, actually decreased from Jan 2008 to Jan 2009, as follows:

2008 = 220.918
2009 = 220.719

In other words, the Assessor is increasing valuation based on non-existent inflation, when in reality, deflation has occurred.

The Assessor is trying to pull a fast one on OC homeowners.

Slice	Price	Ch.	Sold	Ch.
House	$495,000	+4%	1,841	+3%
Condo	$304,000	+3%	845	+8%
New	$500,000	+4%	150	-26%
All OC	$430,000	+2%	2,836	+2%

Orange County Register