Property tax cuts coming to 128,000 L.A. homeowners

News item from today's L.A. Times: "The number of homeowners in Los Angeles County who will receive a lower property tax bill grew to 128,000 this week because of the deteriorating real estate market.... Those receiving a reduced assessment in Los Angeles County will receive a written notice before June 30. On average, their tax bills will be $750 lower than last year."

Don't like the county's decision on your reassessment? You can appeal, but be patient: The current backlog to have your appeal heard now stands at one year, The Times reports.

Backstory: In early May, the assessor's office reported it would lower property tax bills for 89,000 L.A. homeowners by an average of $684.  The assessor's office is in the process of reviewing assessed values of 318,000 L.A. County houses that changed hands between July 2004 and June 2007.

Comments

[A Scanner Darkly]

Where is the county going to make up for the $60 million shortfall this tax reduction produces? Chop, Chop, Chop other programs.

[desmo]

Voters will pas a few more bonds this next election and wipeout any savings on property taxes from these reductions. But, it will be for "The Children". Glad I sold in 2005 and rent.

[gmarquezjm@yahoo.com]

"Where is the county going to make up for the $60 million shortfall this tax reduction produces? Chop, Chop, Chop"

This is what I don't understand. Property tax revenues shot way up because house prices shot way up, in a very short period of time (4-5 years?). Now that prices are coming down, taxes are coming down, back to where they should have been in a "normal" market. So how is it a tax shortfall when property tax revenues shoot way up in a short amount of time, then come back to where they should be?

- arroyogrande

[Hugh Jorgan]

@ arroyogrande

It's a shortfall because the SpendAllYourDough Democrats spent the entire increase as if the money would always be there. In their world, tax receipts NEVER go down.

That's part of the reason why the State budget is in such a mess.

[nelcisco]

looks like county officials will have to take a cut in pay or, is it lay-off teachers? or maybe even shut down schools? If I were a betting man, I'd have to say that county official will keep the pay & dump the teachers, that is the right thing to do...i'snt it?

[Fred]

SpendAllYourDough Democrats - right. Like that spendthrift Bill Clinton. You know, the only president in the last 25 years to give us a surplus.

[some investor guy]

The revenue effects can be really subtle with property taxes in CA. Since assessments usuallly can't go up by more than 2% per year unless a house is sold, there is a vastly larger group of homes and condos whose assessed value will increase this year. There are 1.8 million residential parcels in LA County.

There are two exceptions to the 2% per year limit. 1. The house is sold. 2. The assessed value was dropped due to lower market value, and the market value subsequently recovers. You could go from an assessed value far below what you paid, up to what you paid + 2% for every year you've owned the house.

Some people who bought in 1989 and had their assessed values dropped in the early 1990s got big % increases each year from 1998 to about 2003. By 2003, they had usually hit the 1989 purchase price + 2% per year.

For a pretty good summary of the numbers, produced in unusually clear fashion for a govt entity, go to the LA Assessor's annual report http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/news/
rollrls2007.pdf

[seattlesnoop]

Sales Tax Increase.

[Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin]

Last angry post of the day (I hope):

Does anyone have access to the full assessor/recorder info for Los Angeles or California?

It would be REALLY easy to see if there are irregularities that are allowing some people to pay much less in property tax than they should be, even considering prop 13.

[AJ]

Department of Justice just settled yesterday with the National Association of Realtors. To settle an Anti Trust Suit. Please report on the pros and cons of this..There are very many issues related to this.

[Robert S. Hoover]

Some wrote:
>> Like that spendthrift Bill Clinton. You know, the only
>> president in the last 25 years to give us a surplus.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Are people truly that ignorant?

Government is not a for-profit entity. A budget surplus can only be achieved through excessive taxation or a curtailment of programs, either of which is a symptom of an incompetent administration.

[Hugh Jorgan]

@ Fred

Check your school books. Congress controls the purse strings (and your friend Bill had a Republican Congress for a good portion of that expanding economy). Same goes in our State legislature - the Assembly is where all spending bills originate.

If the Assembly can't get it under control, we'll always be in dire financial straits.

[Cal]

Kinda funny

http://www.happyrenews.com/

They will only post positive numbers (I can ony assume MoM zip code numbers?)

[shockg]

"Voters will pas a few more bonds this next election and wipeout any savings on property taxes from these reductions. But, it will be for "The Children". Glad I sold in 2005 and rent.

Posted by: desmo | May 28, 2008 at 02:24 PM "

I had some doubters when I said a significant amount of contributors here are housing speculators who once owned and cashed out around the peak so they could buy back in at a steep discount. Well, so far the steep discounts are only in the ghettos. They like to hide under the giuse of the poor unforetunate first time buyer. It's comments like the ones above that confirm I was right.

[Laker]

shockg,
Tarzana, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Encino are not ghettos.
It is more likely that you live in a ghetto, and have no way out other than eminent foreclosure. Sorry.

[shockgnme]

shockg and myself are going to take some spellcheck classes, then we're going to buy up $50m in Beverly Hills SFRs. The moviestars of 2011 will be paying us back five times on the dollar. All you bubble sitters are sucka's!!!

[Nicole Torres]

Although the County Assessor's Office is promising tax reductions to 128,000 homeowners, greater tax reductions can be granted to homeowners who individually file their own re-assessment appeals to the Clerk of the Board. Here's why? The County Assessor's Office only gives a limited tax reduction ranging from $200-$600 becauuse it assesses your property, rather than appraise it. This assessment is based on a national average, but the value of homes in some neighborhoods have declined by more than 50%; homeowners in these neighborhoods should recieve more in tax reductions. If you hire an expert to file the appeals application for you for a reasonable amount of money, this is the best way to go. These experts are real estate appraisers who know how to evaluate and compare the final sales in the immediate neighborhood with an unbiased opinion. I recommend Pacific Coast Securities, an Orange County- based tax reduction company to file the application for you. I've searched around and this company is the cheapest, charging only $79 for their services. Visit their website at pcsappeals.com.