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What are all of these charges on my
property tax bill? |
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Your property tax bill consists of three separate categories
of levies: General Tax Levy, Voter Approved Indebtedness,
and Direct/Special Assessments. That portion of the bill labeled
General Tax Levy is the only amount controlled by Proposition
13. This tax is limited to a maximum of 1% of the assessed
value of your property (the "land" and "improvements"),
and can be no more than 2% greater than the previous year's
tax bill. The portion labeled Voter Approved Indebtedness
includes taxes levied to repay bonds approved by the voters.
This amount varies greatly from county to county depending
upon the number of local bond issues approved. Under current
law, local general obligation bonds require a two-thirds majority
vote to pass.
The portion of the bill labeled Direct/Special Assessments
is now controlled by Proposition 218. Assessments now require
a majority "YES" vote of the property owners, with
each owner voting the dollar amount of their assessment. Fees
charged for the property related services of sewer, water,
and refuse collection can be imposed without a vote, but may
not be greater than the cost of providing the service
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What if I don't agree with the assessed
valuation of my property? |
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If you feel the Assessor's valuation is
incorrect you should first call the County Assessor's Office
and discuss your valuation with an appraiser. If you cannot
reach an agreement with them, your next step is to file an appeal
with the Assessment Appeals Board in your county. You will find
their phone number listed in the County Government section of
your local telephone directory. Please be aware that there is
a limited window of opportunity to file an appeal; be sure you
meet the deadlines. |
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How do property taxes affect the value
and marketability of my home? |
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Special taxes and assessments such as Mello-Roos
Districts are secured by a lien against your property. Until
the bonds issued by the district are paid off, whoever owns
the property must pay for this debt. This means that buying
a home in a Mello-Roos or Assessment District is like buying
a home with another mortgage already attached to it. Wary buyers
know to consider a home's tax burden when determining the total
cost of the home, and for Mello-Roos districts, sellers are
now legally required to provide the buyer with a Notice of Special
Tax. However, it is important to note that no disclosure requirement
currently exists for Assessment Districts, which place a similar
lien and debt burden against your home. |
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What is Mello-Roos and why do I have
to pay it? |
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Mello-Roos is a form of financing that
can be used by cities, counties, and special districts (such
as school disricts). Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts
(referred to as "CFDs") raise money through special
taxes that must be approved by 2/3rds of the voters within the
district. A CFD is formed to finance major improvements and
services within the district which might include schools, roads,
libraries, police and fire protection services, or ambulance
services. The taxes are secured by a continuing lien and are
levied annually against property within the district. |
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How do I pay my Mello-Roos Special Taxes? |
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In almost all cases, Mello-Roos special
taxes are levied as part of the annual property tax bill. You
should be able to find your Mello-Roos special tax as a line
item on that bill. In rare cases, a Mello-Roos district will
send out its own bill. To find out more about this bill, you
will need to contact the agency directly. |
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Can a Mello-Roos district foreclose
on my home? |
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Bonds issued by a Mello-Roos district constitute
a lien against your property. If you fail to pay a Mello-Roos
special tax, the district may foreclose on your home and use
a portion of the proceeds to collect the unpaid amounts. It
is important to know that accelerated foreclosure laws apply
to Mello-Roos districts, which means that a district can initiate
foreclosure 150-180 days after your payment is overdue. |
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Is my property subject to 180 day accelerated
foreclosure? |
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If your property is part of a Mello-Roos
District (Community Facilities District), a 1915 Act Assessment
District, or certain other special financing districts, your
home is most likely subject to accelerated foreclosure. While
the County must wait for five years to foreclose on a property
because of delinquent taxes, Mello-Roos and Assessment districts
can begin foreclosure proceedings 150-180 days after one of
their tax charges becomes delinquent. |
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Why do I have to give a buyer a Notice
of Special Tax when I sell my property? |
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Since July of 1990, California Civil Code
Section 1102.6 has required that sellers make a good faith effort
to give property buyers a "Notice of Special Tax"
if the property is in a Mello-Roos district. The notice must
include the current year's maximum special tax for the parcel,
the rate at which that maximum tax may increase per year, and
the final date in which special taxes may be collected for bonded
indebtedness. Property sold "as is" is not exempt
from providing this disclosure, as stated in Section 1102.1
of the California Civil Code. |
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What is a 1915 Act Bond? |
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1915 Act bonds are commonly issued by an
assessment district to raise money needed to build infrastructure
(sewer trunkline, utility line, roads, etc.). The properties
that directly benefit from the improvements are then assessed
an annual amount on the property tax bill. Normally this will
be listed as an Assessment District or Assessment Bond line
item on your tax bill. It is important to note that the assessments
are secured by a lien on your property, and the district has
the right of accelerated foreclosure if assessments are not
paid when due. |
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How are tax rates determined? |
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Your tax rate varies based on the location
of your property. A tax rate includes a general 1% tax levy
applicable to all property tax bills, voter approved (pre-Proposition
13) special taxes, and voter approved debt issues for your particular
area. The general tax levy is based on state law and is limited
to 1% of assessed value (or $1 per $100 of assessed value).
The tax rates for voter approved debt are computed each year
based on the amount needed to pay principal and interest on
the debt. Special tax rates are normally determined on a specific
formula or can be approved at a fixed rate for a specified duration.
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Is there any way I can reduce the amount
of property taxes I pay? |
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If you are having difficulty paying your property taxes,
you may qualify for the State's property tax postponement
or property tax assistance programs for people who are blind,
disabled, or 62 years of age or older. If your annual income
is $24,000 or less, you may have the option of having the
State pay all or part of your property taxes. This deferred
payment is a lien on the property and becomes due upon sale,
change of residence or death. For more information on property
tax postponement, call the State Controller's Office at 1-800-952-5661.
If your total annual household income is $12,000 or less,
you may qualify for property tax assistance, whereby the State
provides a cash reimbursement to pay for your property taxes.
Filing for the program will not reduce the amount of taxes
owed, nor will it result in a lien being placed on your property.
For more information on property tax assistance, call the
State Franchise Tax Board at 1-800-852-5711.
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What is a Homeowner's Exemption?
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The most common type of exemption is the
Homeowner's Exemption for an owner-occupied residence. Homeowners
who own and occupy a dwelling on January 1st as their principal
place of residence are eligible to receive a reduction of up
to $7,000 of the dwelling's full cash value. The law provides
that once you file a homeowner's exemption claim and receive
the exemption it is not necessary to file each year as long
as you continue to own and occupy the residence on which the
exemption is claimed. "Dwelling" means a building,
structure or other shelter (including boats) constituting a
place of abode, whether real or personal property. |
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Why did I receive a supplementary tax
bill after purchasing my new home? |
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Article XIII-A of the California Constitution
(Proposition 13) requires that real property be reappraised
whenever a change in ownership occurs. When a transfer occurs,
the Assessor receives a copy of the deed and an appraisal is
made to determine the new market value of the property. The
property owner is then notified of the new assessment, and has
the right to appeal the value if he does not agree with it.
The amount of the supplemental assessment is the difference
between the prior assessed value and the new assessment on the
property. This value is pro rated, based on the number of months
remaining in the fiscal year. Thereafter the new owner pays
the full tax based on the new assessed value. The previous owner
is liable for the tax due up to the date of sale; the new owner
is responsible for the tax after the date of sale. |
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Will I receive a tax bill if I pay taxes
through an impound account? |
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If your taxes are paid through an impound
account, your lender will receive your annual tax bill and you
will receive an information copy. Supplemental tax bills, however,
are not sent to your lender. They are mailed directly to you.
It is your responsibility to contact your lender to determine
who will pay the supplemental tax bill. |
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What are the consequences if I fail
to make a timely payment? |
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If you do not pay the first installment of your annual tax
bill at the Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office by 5 p.m. on
December 10* or payment is not postmarked by that date, then
the taxes become delinquent and a 10% delinquent penalty is
added to any unpaid balance. If you fail to pay the second
installment by 5 p.m. on April 10,* or payment is not postmarked
by that date, it becomes delinquent and a 10% penalty plus
a charge of $10.00 is added to the unpaid balance. If you
fail to pay either or both installments at the Treasurer-Tax
Collector's Office by 5 p.m. on June 30,** or payment is not
postmarked by that date, then the property becomes tax defaulted
and additional penalties and costs accrue. *If either December
10 or April 10 falls on a weekend or holiday, taxes are not
delinquent until 5 p.m. the next business day. **If June 30
falls on a weekend or holiday, taxes must be paid by 5 p.m.
of the preceding business day or the property will be tax
defaulted.
If your property is part of a Mello-Roos or Assessment District,
your property may be subject to an accelerated foreclosure
lien. This can result in additional interest, penalties, collection
costs and legal fees if you don't pay your tax bill on time.
If your property is in one of these special financing districts,
you should make every effort to pay your bill on time. Or,
you should contact the District and attempt to pay that portion
of your bill separately to avoid any accelerated foreclosure
action.
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Why can't I find my property? |
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The most common difficulty with finding
a property is matching your search value with the value we have
in our property tax database. Our full search tips section should
help. |
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What does a "Server Timed Out"
error mean? |
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A "Server Timed Out" usually
means that the search value you used is too general, and took
the server too long to try to compile a list of search results.
This usually happens when you enter only a few numbers of an
address or letters of a name and our site's search engines tries
to find matches with every record that beings with those letters/numbers.
Occaisionally this will also happen when you enter a very common
last name. To avoid these kinds of errors, simply make certain
that you've entered a complete name or number. |
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I don't want my property tax information
available online. How do I delete my information? |
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The tax roll information that makes up
our database is public domain and availalbe through local agencies.
Therefore, even if we deleted your property tax data from our
database, it would still be available to the public. California
Tax Data cannot remove individual records at this time, and
has no plans to do so in the future. |
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When I purchased my report, I added it to
my favorites/bookmarks. Why doesn't it work when I try to go
back? |
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Our reports and searches are dynamically
built every time you use our site. The information that you
entered in the search is not saved when you create a bookmark
or favorite. That means that when you try and come back using
a bookmark/favorite, our site does not know what you're looking
for and sends you to our main page. To learn how to save a reports,
see our reports help section. |
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How do I access reports I've already
purchased? |
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To see a list of reports you've purchased,
first login to your membership information center. An membership
info link is located at the bottom of every page (and at the
top if you're logged in). Once you're in your membership information,
simply click the 'view purchased reports' link. This will give
you a complete history of reports purchased on your membership
for the last 90 days. It is sorted with the most recent purchases
first. |
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California Property Tax Questions