Would you like to pay less in property taxes this year?  

If you are a homeowner, you may not be aware the State of California allows for a review of the assessed or taxable value of your home.  [Proposition 8 – California, 1978] This generally applies to homes purchased somewhat recently and especially between approximately 2002 – 2010.

To obtain a review of your assessment, you must complete and submit an application before the end of April 2012 to the Assessor’s Office along with several examples of why you feel your taxable property value should be lowered for the year.  The good news is, as a licensed REALTOR®, I can easily research and complete the form on your behalf.  I am offering this service at no charge to friends, family, and clients.  If you are interested, here is what I would need and what you can expect:

• Contact me by email or phone by April 15 to confirm your interest.  I will need to know your full property address and assessed value from your last property tax bill.
• I will research to see if you might benefit from an assessment review and, if so, provide a list of possible comparable recent sold properties in your area.  From these, you may choose which properties you would like to use for examples on the application. These are what will be used to come up with an “Opinion of Market Value.”
• Next, I will submit the form on your behalf to the Assessor’s Office and provide you a copy of the information we submitted.  You will then be notified by the County Assessor of the final decision by the Assessment Appeals Board.  If your property tax is lowered for the year, there is no guarantee it will be lowered to a specific amount, but I am willing to volunteer the work and it could definitely be worth a shot.

If you, or anyone you know, could possibly benefit from this, please contact me.  In this current economy, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to save some money, so I am more than happy to provide this valuable service!

One final important note, you must request a review each year as it will be automatically reset by the Assessor otherwise.

A Tax Year is not the same as a Calendar Year (i.e. January through December).  The 2011 Tax Year is July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012.  The 2012 Tax Year is July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.  There are specific important dates to remember and for your convenience, they have been copied below from the County of San Diego Treasurer-Tax Collector website:

Property Tax Calendar

Oct. 1 – Annual Secured Tax bill mailing begins.

Nov. 1st – First installment due Secured Property Tax due

Dec. 10th – First installment delinquent date Last day to pay first installment without penalty (A 10% penalty attaches thereafter)

Feb. 1st – Second installment due Secured Property Tax due

Apr. 10th – Second installment delinquent date Last day to pay second installment without penalty (A 10% penalty and a $10.00 cost attaches thereafter)

May 10th – Treasurer-Tax Collector mails a reminder notice of any unpaid, secured taxes

Jun. 30th – Last day to pay current taxes and penalties prior to default

Jul. 1st – Delinquent secured accounts are transferred to the defaulted tax roll and an additional 18% annual interest charge (1.5% per month) is applied to the base amount, plus a $15.00 redemption fee