California County Tax Assessors Are Sending Notices About Property Tax Increases

Do you know about the increase of impending property tax assessments?

A precedent setting California court case allows county assessors to recapture tax cuts as real estate values recover their losses.

Citing a practice called “value restoration” or recapture”, County Assessor's offices throughout the state are sending out notices this week.

County Assessor's offices say they can raise taxes by more than Proposition 13's two percent limit when home prices rebound for properties that had prior assessment reduction; plus two percent each  year for every year they‘ve owned the property.

Many homeowners who got tax cuts during the recession will see their taxable values rise as much as seventeen percent this year.

The California Supreme Court affirmed assessors' right to do this after Seal Beach lawyer Robert Pool lost his court fight to block the Los Angeles County Assessor (and all California assessors) from recapturing lost assessment values after the 1990s housing market crash.

This week 31,803 Orange County homeowners face that same shock via a “blue notice” in the mail.

The Assessor's Office must notify property owners by mail by July 20th. 

Property owners have until Sept. 16, 2013 to file an appeal with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.