Ways to Save on Your Taxes

Property Value Decline Provision

The State Constitution of California mandates that certain criteria be met before the County Assessor can reduce an assessment. These criteria are:

• The change must reflect the market value of the property on the last lien date, January 1.
• Value changes affect only the regular January 1 Assessment Roll. Supplemental assessments are not affected.

For residential properties, a reduction in assessment will be determined by the analysis of sales of comparable properties in your neighborhood. The majority of these sales must be for less than the current assessment on your property. By law, all comparable sales used to temporarily revalue your property must have been recorded no later than 90 days from the January 1 lien date. If you can provide the address and approximate dates of the sales or listings that meet these criteria, you can facilitate the review of your property.

All reductions are temporary. After any reduction is made, your property must be reviewed annually to determine if market conditions indicate that your assessment should be returned to its base year value. Your assessment can never increase above the base year value plus the appropriate cost of living adjustment allowed by Proposition 13.

Follow this link for more information about Property Decline.

If you are interested in applying for this provision, please download the appropriate claim form below:

Please note:
The June 30^th, 2011 deadline to file a 2011-12 Informal Request for Decline in Market Value Reassessment has passed. If you missed the June 30^th deadline, you may protect your rights and ensure a review of the 2011 assessed value by filing a 2011-12 Assessment Appeal before November 30^th, 2011.