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California Property Tax Associates (CAPTA)

“THIS ASSESSMENT REDUCTION FILING SERVICE IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY
GOVERNMENT AGENCY. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE ASSESSED VALUE OF YOUR
PROPERTY, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN INFORMAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW, AT NO
COST, BY CONTACTING THE ASSESSOR’S OFFICE DIRECTLY. IF YOU AND THE
ASSESSOR CANNOT AGREE TO THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY OR IF YOU DO NOT
WISH TO CONTACT THE ASSESSOR YOU CAN OBTAIN AND FILE AN APPLICATION
FOR CHANGED ASSESSMENT WITH THE COUNTY BOARD OF EQUALIZATION OR
ASSESSMENT APPEALS BOARD ON YOUR OWN BEHALF. AN APPEALS BOARD HAS THE
AUTHORITY TO RAISE PROPERTY VALUES (BUT IN NO CASE HIGHER THAN THE
PROPOSITION 13 PROTECTED VALUE) AS WELL AS TO LOWER PROPERTY VALUES.”

The above disclaimer is required by AB 992.  CAPTA is pleased to include it in our website as a remedy to the growing number of fraudulent companies seeking to take advantage of the continuing problems associated with falling real property values.

While CAPTA agrees with the above premise that the Assessor should reduce a property’s value if it is over-assessed, the magnitude of the work required to accomplish this task is not possible.  As the need increases, the budget and staffing at the Assessors Office decreases.  They simply cannot do more work with less people.  That’s where CAPTA comes in.

California Property Tax Associates (CAPTA) is an expert in the field of Property Tax reduction relief . For many years we have saved thousands of Clients millions of dollars in counties throughout the State of California by representation before the Assessment Appeals Boards in the assessment reduction process.  Our Associates who will actively work on our Clients portfolios include attorneys, licensed and certified appraisers, and past and present County Assessment Appeals Board Members.

California Property Tax Assessment Appeal Experience and Services

• 20 Years Experience Reducing Assessments County by County
  
• A History of Success Across Property Types (see rotating chart on right for recent reductions)
  
• Contingency Based Fee; No Savings, No Fee!
  
• CAPTA Does All The Work
  
• All Appraisal Work Required
  
• Informal Assessment Review Filing
  
• Negotiation With Assessors Office
  
• Formal Appeal Filing- If Your Appeal Is Already Filed By You Or Another Agent-  We Can Still Represent You
  
• Negotiation With Assessors Office Prior to Assessment Apeals Hearing
  
• Full Representation at the County Assessment Appeals Board Hearing
  
• Future Year Assessment Appeal Filing Where Warranted
  
• Annual Property Tax Assessment Review to Ensure Lowest Possible Value

CAPTA is dedicated to educating property owners about their rights under the California Revenue and Taxation Code.  Some of our associates have worked to provide assessment relief and reduce property taxes since 1989.

Our mission is simple:

• Enforce our Clients Rights under Proposition 13 and ensure they never pay more property tax than what they are required to pay after applying every conceivable reduction strategy allowed by law.

In most cases our fee agreement is simple as well: You, the property owner receive property tax savings, credits, or refunds–otherwise you don’t pay. There are never any up front costs and fees are only due once you have received official notification of your savings. NO SAVINGS-NO FEE!

Over the years our associates have handled cases for a variety of clients and interests which include restaurants such as Del Taco, Sizzler, Honey Baked Hams and Burger King, vacant commercial and residential land projects, shopping centers and retail properties such as Chino Town Center and Blue Jay Village Corp., hundreds of industrial buildings such as the GFS Airport Center located at the Los Angeles International Airport, hundreds of office and apartment buildings, and countless single-family residences Statewide.

CAPTA Can Help

Our team of agents and consultants have helped property owners get through tough times like these back in the 1990’s with property tax savings and even refunds. The California Property Tax Appeal system is difficult but fair overall, but accurate taxation is the responsibility of the property owner who has the greatest interest in establishing a fair market value.

CAPTA can give you Property Tax Reduction help and assistance. Now more than ever you need to protect your assets by making wise decisions in a depreciating market. CAPTA has the Agents, Consultants and systems in place and the experience you need to maximize your property tax savings and refunds. Regardless of whether you own residential property, apartments, retail, commercial, industrial or even vacant land, all real estate is subject to valuation for taxation by the County Assessors Office and should be reviewed for a reduction in value whenever possible.

CAPTA has provided answers to most of your questions throughout the pages of this site. Please feel free to browse our frequently asked questions (FAQ) section for additional information.

Ready to Get Started? There is no charge to begin and no fee is due until a reduction, refund, or savings is granted! If you would like to start the process and let CAPTA begin their investigation to determine the feasibility of receiving a reduction in your assessed value please call us immediately at 888-678-9TAX .  But time is critical; deadlines vary by County.

Land Values Continue to Fall

Japan vs USA

If you are a land owner, particularly a developer and the holder of inventory please do not be mad at the chart we have provided to the right. We are in no way predicting a “Japan style” real estate meltdown. Our only intention is to draw your attention to the urgent need you and every other vacant land owner regardless of the county, for property tax valuation reduction.

No one disputes the vacant land, particularly residential  and commercial development acreage has dropped substantially in value. The problem exists in trying to deal with the office of the assessor concerning the correct valuation. Let me give you a brief example:

In 2005 a client bought multiple parcels of residential development land along with some commercial for a total price of $24 million in anticipation of the continuation of the residential development market. The parcels range in size from 10 acres to 640 acres.  In 2008 he not only could not sell these properties for a reasonable amount, there were very few other sales other than foreclosures or deed in lieu of foreclosure properties.

In attempting to talk to the assessor’s office concerning these properties our position was simple.  First, there were no comparables within the county so our search necessarily needed to go outside of the county where the property was located. The subject assessor’s office said no. Second, it was necessary to use the sum of the property as a unit of valuation and not the individual pieces. The subject assessor’s office said no again.

The valuation from the subject assessor’s office was to find small pieces of similar properties within the county and then figure dollars per acre and multiply that times the acreage of the subject. We fought this case and eventually obtained for our client a reduction to $16 million.  Savings to this client in the 2008 year alone was over $90,000. We will continue to seek additional reductions on our client’s behalf as the market continues.  When the values begin to a appreciate we will monitor for our client the assessor increases each year, filing appropriate appeals where necessary.

As you can see in this economy the fight to reduce property taxes must be on a level seldom achieved by our competitors. We have learned to think outside the box employing every available strategy allowed by law to reduce your property taxes. If you are looking for an aggressive leading edge company you have found it. Our fee and our contract?  Click here to see them. Otherwise call us now, as the appeals deadline is rapidly approaching, at (909) 867-5000 or fill out the contact form here.

Apartments Show Higher Vacancy, Lower Rents

Apartment Values-Moody

The accompanying chart shows the state of the market relative to apartment prices in the United States. Rest assured there is also a similar chart showing Southern California in a similar trend. To quote MIT who made the chart:

The RCA Database

The commercial property index is based on the RCA database which attempts to collect, on a timely basis, price information for every commercial property transaction in the U.S. over $2,500,000 in value. This represents one of the most extensive and intensively documented national databases of commercial property prices ever developed in the U.S.

The Associates At California Property Tax have known that apartment prices were soft for some time. Still, many of our clients are doing very well with their larger complexes. In spite of their success according to their financials, and using market information as opposed to specific financial information from the subject properties, The Associates were able to find substantial reductions as shown in the chart below:

Just to simplify the reductions, that’s $100 million worth of property, reduced $38,940,208 for an annual tax savings of $412,108! Our clients will save this amount of money each year until the market turns around! Could you use a 39% reduction in your property’s value?

An even more incredible thing is that when we spoke to the client in Property 2 above, he told us he thought the properties were worth maybe a total of $32 million from their assessed value of $36 million. When we analyzed the financial statements we felt that his property was well worth the $36 million should he place the property for sale on the market. But we took the case anyway and began negotiating with the appraiser in the assessor’s office. We approached the value for assessment purposes on the market instead of the subject, with a great deal of success. This “outside the box” thinking saves our clients far more than they expect.

Still not convinced? Why not read our frequently asked questions?  or, simply call us at (909) 867-5000.

San Bernardino County Assessor Report Card

San Bernardino County

No one needs to see another chart like the one on the right. Many  (commercial property owners) will say this is not representative of the commercial property market relative to property tax assessment in San Bernardino County. We must disagree.

As home sales rose as they did for the years preceding 2007 so did the demand for related commodities.  Furniture, towels, landscaping, dishes and a whole host of other items were in demand during these years. Developers scurried to keep up with the demand to satisfy the consumer. The consumer had money from the rapidly appreciating prices. Then came the fall.

Now the consumer has no money. Houses are not selling and the commercial property market is overbuilt and highly leveraged. This is a fact. The wise among us are cutting costs wherever they can. It is also a fact that one of the highest expenses in real estate ownership is county property tax.  The Associates can cut your property taxes-or you don’t pay! But first, let’s look at the San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office.

By law, the California State Board of Equalization audits each county assessor to determine compliance with property tax law. Overall, the counties do a good job but not without deficiencies. This is where we can help. Look at the excerpts of the last audit report:

San Bernardino County Assessment Practices Survey

The assessment practices survey program is one of the State’s major efforts to address these
interests and to promote uniformity, fairness, equity, and integrity in the property tax assessment
process. Under this program, the State Board of Equalization (BOE) periodically reviews the
practices and procedures of (surveys) every county assessor’s office. This report reflects the
BOE’s findings in its current survey of the San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office.

The assessor uses non-BOE certified staff to value property.

The assessor’s written procedures fail to conform to section 170 and San Bernardino
County disaster relief ordinance.

The assessor does not file quarterly section 69.5 reports with the BOE.

The assessor inconsistently assesses California Land Conservation Act (CLCA) properties.

The assessor fails to assess all possessory interests, and erroneously reappraises possessory
interests whenever there is only a change in the annual rent.

The assessor lacks uniform procedures for valuing historical property.

The assessor fails to create separate appraisal units for leach pads, settling ponds, and
tailing facilities as required in section 53.5. In addition, the assessor fails to determine
market value for mining

The assessor’s mandatory audit program continues to be in arrears.

The assessor uses unsupported minimum percent good factors and inappropriately uses
untrended valuation factors in the appraisal of certain high-tech property types.

The assessor continues to erroneously classify manufactured homes as real property and
does not annually enroll manufactured homes at the lesser of the factored base year value
or the current market value.

========================= End of Report================================

Sacramento County Assessor Office Report Card

Prices Trend Down

The chart to the left shows the dramatic fall in homes listed for sale. The fact that many who wish to sell cannot and so are hidden from the transactional analysis is seldom discussed. The fact of the matter is, the housing market is down and continues to fall, and the commercial market is in the process of following.  If you own commercial property and don’t believe this to be true simply go to the top of this page and click one of the property types such as apartments and look at the chart produced by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The numbers don’t lie.

As commercial property values fall it becomes increasingly important to protect the bottom line. We have many Sacramento County clients for whom we have saved  hundredths of  thousands of dollars.  Each year we will continue to save them money if values continue to fall. We are the most aggressive  Sacramento County property tax company and we fight to secure our clients the lowest possible value under the property tax law.

Sacramento County Property Tax Assessor

Many of our clients and Sacramento County  property owners believe the County Assessor will automatically reduce values if warranted. In some cases this happens. But not often and not in a sufficient quantity. The Sacramento County Assessor has a big job to do and overall does it well. Nevertheless there are countless opportunities to see a reduction in assessed value that our clients wish to have in order to protect the bottom line of their company. For our residential property owners it’s much the same. Money saved and not paid to the county is money earned. The Associates at California Property Tax can help you in this endeavor. But first, let’s take a look at the Sacramento County Assessor’s office.

The California State Board of Equalization is mandated by law to audit the office of the county assessor throughout the state of California to assure compliance with the property tax laws. And Sacramento County, the most recent audit produced some interesting results. They are presented here in excerpts from the actual report which can be read in its entirety by clicking here. We wish to point out that in no way are we attempting to slander the assessor’s office. We merely wish to point out that they have the ability to make mistakes, mistakes that can cost you money. We are experts at finding and correcting those mistakes whether they are errors in judgment or factual errors. Let’s look at the report.

In the area of change in ownership, the assessor’s website provides inaccurate information
about transfers of base year value by persons over age 55, and the assessor adds the value of
improvement bonds to sales prices of real property without developing the evidence required
to support the addition.
• The assessor has not enrolled all new decks and patios as new construction at their full cash
value; and he does not obtain copies of building permits from Sacramento County’s
Environmental Health Division.
• The assessor’s California Land Conservation Act (CLCA) program has several shortcomings:
(1) the assessor has not enrolled significant areas of taxable vineyards and nonliving
improvements; (2) he does not use market-derived expense rates when valuing CLCA
property; (3) he improperly classifies irrigation wells as unrestricted improvements on CLCA
property; (4) has not consistently established base year values for trees or vines; (5) he does
not treat restricted CLCA property as a separate appraisal unit; and (6) he inappropriately
issues supplemental assessments on restricted land when there is a change in ownership.
• The assessor has not correctly identified and enrolled parcels of taxable government-owned
land and has not completed the valuation of taxable government-owned properties for the
current roll.

The assessor should revise his possessory interest (PI) procedures in several areas: (1) he
inappropriately reapraises month-to-month tenancies at the airports, marinas, and other
public property as annual changes in ownership; (2) he has not followed rule 21 when
assessing possessory interests created by written agreements with a stated term of possession;
(3) he does not review all private uses at the fairgrounds that may qualify as PIs; and (4) he
incorrectly assesses the possessory interests of a private concessionaire who provide banking
services at a state university.
• The assessor does not send the Right-of-Way Property Statement (Form BOE-571-RW) to
pipeline owners, and he does not maintain pipeline right-of-way assessment records in
accordance with section 401.8.
• The assessor does not correctly determine the appraisal unit for mineral properties as
required by rule 469.

The assessor accepts business property statements that are not BOE-prescribed forms or that
lack a proper signature, and he does not consistently apply the penalty for late filed
statements.

• The assessor does not consistently identify and correctly classify taxable personal property in
apartment complexes, personal property owned by one-way paging companies, or pollution
control equipment financed by state bonds, and does not use Assessors’ Handbook Section
581, Equipment Index and Percent Good Factors, as intended.
• The assessor does not review significant differences found in business property statements
filed by leasing companies.
• In the area of vessel assessments, the assessor does not add a sales tax component to the
suggested values in published vessel value guides, and accepts unsigned vessel property
statements.
• The assessor’s manufactured home assessment program has several areas of weakness: (1) he
does not classify manufactured homes as personal property as required by section 5801; (2)
in one year, he enrolled escape assessments for a group of manufactured homes based on an
inappropriate edition of a published value guide; (3) he incorrectly issues supplemental
assessments for manufactured homes voluntarily converted to local property taxation; and
(4) he inappropriately adds sales tax to used manufactured home values derived from the
NADA appraisal guide when they are resold or voluntarily converted to local property
taxation.
• Some taxable animals have escaped assessment.

=============================End of Report==============================

To restate what we said earlier, we in no way want to have given the office of the assessor in Sacramento County. Overall they do a good job. But there are many, many properties that require constant attention. The Associates at California Property Tax have the time and attention to give to your property. We can ensure that the taxes you pay are the taxes you owe and not a penny more area. We work on a contingency basis, so we don’t get paid unless we perform. You can readily see our feet and our contract by clicking  Our Fee.  the deadline is coming in just a few short weeks. Contact us today.