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Property tax fights up 8% this year

November 20th, 2009, 1:53 pm · 3 Comments · posted by Jeff Collins

taxappeals-2-9-15-09

Leonard Ortiz/The Register

About 17,520 Orange County property owners have signed up this year to fight the county’s assessment of their real estate’s value in an effort to lower their property taxes.

That compares to 16,231 as of Nov. 19 last year, said Pat Martinez, head of the county’s assessment appeals division for the county Clerk of the Board of Supervisor’s Office.

The increased pace of tax appeals likely reflects the dismal state of home prices at the start of the year. This year’s tax assessments are based on property values on or around January, when local home values apparently hit bottom.

taxappeals-3-9-15-09

Leonard Ortiz/The Register

The median home price dropped to $370,000 in January, according to MDA DataQuick. That compares to a median home price of $520,000 in January 2008, the prior year’s “tax lien” date.

Last month, the median was $436,500, up 18% since prices began their upwards stair-step trend in February.

Property owners are entitled to a lower assessment when the market value of their property falls below the taxable value.

The Orange County Assessor’s Office already lowered tax assessments on more than 200,000 of the county’s 897,000 parcels of land. Those who believe their assessments weren’t lowered enough are entitled to appeal their assessment, upon which property taxes are based.

Orange County Clerk of thee Board Darlene Bloom projected earlier this year that tax appeals would be 85% higher, but that increase failed to materialize.

Previous property tax news …

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 3 Comments

  • Liar Loan says:
    November 20, 2009 at 2 pm

    “This year’s tax assessments are based on property values on or around January, when local home values apparently hit bottom.”

    Jeff,

    The assessment is based on property values exactly on January 1st, not a day sooner or later. When you appeal your taxes, the appeals board kindly reminds you of this. However, you can use comps as late as 90 days after January 1st, if an adjustment is made for appreciation/depreciation that occurred between January 1st and the sales date of your comp.

  • Phil says:
    November 21, 2009 at 10 am

    Uh..so, what you’re saying is, since you can use comps 90 days after Jan 1st, effectively your property values are based “around January”, as in between January - March?