Property Tax Assessment Appeals

The 2021 Assessment Appeal Filing Deadlines

 Should a taxpayer miss the annual assessment appeal filing period and the Assessor’s office has placed the assessed value of a property at its current Proposition 13 Indexed Base Year Value, which exceeds what could be demonstrated as current market value, all property tax assessment reductions are lost until the next year. Unfortunately, the missed year’s property tax refunds are permanently lost as well.

Burden of Proof is Upon the Taxpayer

The Burden of Proof is upon the Taxpayer (the exception being single-family owner-occupied properties). What this means is any assessed value the assessor applies to the tax roll is presumed correct and the taxpayer must appeal and present to the Assessment Appeals Board acceptable evidence demonstrating otherwise during a formal hearing.

If my assessed value is reduced under Proposition 8, how long will it last?

Proposition 8 assessments last one year; the value reductions are only temporary, not permanent. The assessed value may either decrease or increase depending on the market value of your property on January 1 of each subsequent year. Your assessed value, however, will never result in an increased value that is more than the trended base year value. In theory once the market value of a Proposition 8 assessment reduction property exceeds its Proposition 13 factored base year value, the Proposition 13 value will be reinstated as the upper limit of assessed valuation.

Please note that your factored base year value continues to increase by an annual inflation factor of no more than two percent each year even during the time your property is temporarily assessed under Proposition 8.

Do I file the Proposition 8 application annually?

Any properties that have received Proposition 8 reductions in the prior year as a result of an assessment appeals board decision is reviewed in the following year to ascertain whether that year’s lien date value should be maintained or increased.

Best Practice is an Annual Assessment Review

Always review the assessed value of your property each year to determine your need to file a formal Application for Changed Assessment. Due to County backlogs and sheer volume, the assessor is not required under law to review all properties annually for new assessed value reductions. In this case, the assessment may remain at the higher trended base year value and failure to exercise your annual right to appeal, any property tax savings or refunds may be lost and non-retrievable.

RPC Offers a No-Cost Property Assessment Review

RPC offers an annual property tax assessment review at no cost to the taxpayer seeking property tax refund opportunities. We review the subject property and the surrounding market data for tax savings and respond back with any recommendations. Findings range from being fairly assessed to saving thousands of dollars in property tax. Find the short No-Cost Review form on our website. The reviews take about 3-5 days and are free of charge.

More Information about Assessment Appeals

To view informative videos produced by the California State Board of Equalization Assessment Standards Division, visit our website: https://www.rpcpropertytax.com/filing-appeal/assessment-appeal-videos/

By Ken Sullivan, Principal, RPC Property Tax Advisors. Trusted in all 58 California Counties since 1989, Better Business Bureau Rated A+ since 1997. Contact us today 800-540-3900. www.rpcpropertytax.com

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