All Entries Tagged With: "california property taxes"
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.
County Property Assessment-Proposition 13
The following is a simplified discussion of Proposition 13 and California property taxes in general. It is not a complete Prop 13 explanation but simply an introduction into the California property tax assessment procedures. For a complete understanding of the California property tax Law on a county by county basis, please read the Property Taxes Law Guide and The State Board of Equalization audits (this one is for Contra Costa as an example).
Pre Proposition 13
Before the passage of Proposition 13 California property taxes were raised by an annual assessment of all property located in the state of California. Simply stated California property tax was based on the fair value of your property each year as shown in the assessment on your tax bill. Each year, as California property values increased, so did the value assessment for the property tax payment.
The system worked fine until California property values began to appreciate at an accelerated rate, which then resulted in increasingly higher assessments and increasingly higher California property taxes. People who didn’t change residences or other properties found themselves with escalating California property tax bills with personal income that didn’t follow suit. The California property tax system was broken and the fix was Proposition 13.
Proposition 13
To summarize, before proposition 13 California property taxes were based upon the fair market value of your property each year. Should values increase at a greater than normal rate, so did your California property taxes.
With Prop 13 California property tax law changed extraordinarily as stated in the paragraph from Proposition 13 below:
Section 1. (a) The maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on real property shall not exceed One percent (1%) of the full cash value of such property. The one percent (1%) tax to be collected by the counties and apportioned according to law to the districts within the counties.
This meant that each year the state could collect no more than 1% of the assessed value of California real property. It went on to say that the county assessor could raise the value of the given property no more than 2% annually. As an example, if the value increased 5% this new California property tax law limited the assessment to a 2% increase.
As stated in an earlier page, when a new property is completed (completion of new construction) or when a property is sold (change in ownership) Proposition 13 provides that a base year value be determined. To assist in this determination a rule was created, Rule 2 which stated that in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it would be assumed that fair market value was the price paid in a sale of property made in an arms length transaction between a knowledgeable buyer and a knowledgeable seller neither of which was taking advantage of the other. For the purpose of making a value assessment for California property taxes, if the buyer bought a property for $500,000 from the seller with no extenuating circumstances, then $500,000 would be considered the base your value.
Proposition 13 then stated that each year the maximum assessment increase was the base year +1%. The taxpayers voted, the government cried foul but the vote carried and Proposition 13 was passed.
All went well in the property tax world as properties appreciated and taxes lagged behind until something different happened. Property values began to fall and yet the assessed value continue to be raised by 2% in accordance with Proposition 13. This presented an unforeseen problem with assessments for California property taxes which resulted in a new Proposition.
Go to PROPOSITION 8
If this is enough information and you wish to have your property taxes reduced, please call us immediately at (888) 678-9TAX or fill out the simple form below and we will contact you at your convenience.
Comments or questions are welcome.
County Property Assessment-Proposition 8
Pre Proposition 8
Before Proposition 8 (California property taxes measure) was adapted in late 1978 the voters passed Proposition 13 which held that only a 2% increase in the assessed value could be enrolled by the County assessor for any given year despite the actual amount of increase in the real property value. California property tax payers were very happy with this property tax measure as it limited their property taxes they have to pay each year in the face of an ever appreciating real estate market. But what would happen if the values actually fell?
County property tax payers understood real quick that they had painted themselves into a corner. They had a piece of legislation that said the value of Real property could be raised to more than 2% a year; now they needed something to address property tax values in a declining market.
In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that allows a temporary reduction in assessed value when a real property suffers a “decline-in-value.” A decline-in-value occurs when the current market value of real property is less than the current assessed value as of January 1 of a given year.
As an example for California property tax purposes, say your property has a value of $200,000 on January 1. The assessor needs to prepare the property tax value for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs July 1 through June 30 of each year. January 1, prior to the beginning of the fiscal year is the date of valuation for each fiscal year. So on January 1 your property was worth $210,000. But under Proposition 13 the California property tax assessor can only place an assessment $202,000, even though the market value is $210,000.
Taking the same example for California property tax purposes, say your $200,000 property has a value of $190,000 on January 1. Under Proposition 13 your property would still be valued at $202,000. But under the new Proposition 8 the assessor is allowed to enroll the lower of the factored base year value ($202,000) or the current fair market value ($190,000). The assessment should rightfully be $190,000. But is it?
Problems with the System
We’ve shown how the California property tax payer tried to deal with an unfair property tax system. Both Proposition 13 and Proposition 8 attempted to regulate the value of the assessment so that real property owners pay the right California property taxes in both an appreciating and a depreciating market. But notice the wording in the paragraph about Proposition 8:
In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that allows a temporary reduction in assessed value when a property suffers a “decline-in-value.”
Notice that the amendment “allows” a temporary reduction. Some County assessor’s have held they are not required to reduce values. Others have been very forthcoming in recognizing the value declines and have been very proactive. But they can never do the job of recognizing individual property valuation changes. So they are held to doing mass appraisal for the most part on housing tracts and across very similar properties. Invariably, some are too high and some are too low. And still there is another problem.
Once the property taxes and the value have been reduced under Proposition 8, the County assessor is charged with raising the California property tax value when the value increases. Once again this is very subjective. The assessor enrolls a value of $195,000 for the coming year. Should it have stayed at $190,000? Should it have dropped further? Should it have been $193,000. All of these answers are dependent upon one person’s opinion of value. Are you content to let the assessor’s office make that determination?
Let’s look at some bigger numbers. In one of our examples of a recent reduction achieved on a property in central California, a $36 million property was reduced to $15 million. That’s an annual property tax savings of $226,000 for our client. Maybe next year the California property tax assessor wants to raise the assessment up to $25 million. Will that be correct? Maybe it should be $22 million. The difference is some $30,000 in California property taxes paid. That’s a lot of money for one man’s opinion.
So there you have it. Under Proposition 13 the value can only be raised 2% per year. Assuming the annual property tax values appreciate greater than 2% there is no dispute. But if the values depreciate there is only one thing to do: fight!
Go to PREPARING THE APPEAL
If this is enough information and you wish to have your property taxes reduced, please call us immediately at (888) 678-9TAX or fill out the simple form below and we will contact you at your convenience.
Comments or questions are welcome.
Why California Property Tax Associates?
Welcome to the California Property Tax Associates commercial properties website. We dominate Commercial property tax reduction in this State with a long history of success! Click this link if you are seeking information concerning residential real property assessments.
We are the property tax experts in the State of California. We are not accountants or attorneys but many of our clients are, and yet choose California property tax Associates for good reason: we are one of the most successful companies working to reduce property tax assessments in California. Unlike our competitors, we think outside the box!
Why is it necessary to retain a leading edge company with forward thinking, a company that dominates in it’s field? Read the excerpt from an article written by attorney Eric Miethke about the property tax appeals process entitled “Why Taxpayers Hate the Property Tax System”:
“Most practitioners and property tax managers share a common bond: they feel that rather than being a system of adjudicating legitimate disputes, the property tax appeals process has become a system of rubber-stamping assessor values, even when those values are arbitrarily determined.
How could practitioners and property tax managers come to this conclusion? Simply stated, because it is the correct one. The property tax appeals system is inherently unfair, and is designed to provide maximum revenue collection and de minimus due process for taxpayers.”
So you see the need for a company with our kind of experience and thinking. Beginning 20 years ago our principals began working to reduce California property taxes in the form of assessment reduction and appeal throughout the state of California. In county after county, from apartments to commercial shopping centers, vacant land to industrial parks, we have been extraordinarily successful in reducing California Property Taxes for our Clients for only one reason: we think outside the box.
In the State of California property tax is determined under the provisions of Proposition 13 as delineated in the California Property Taxes Law Guide. Each county then has the responsibility to comply with these laws and are subject to audit to ensure compliance. But each county has its own interpretation of these property tax laws and does not need to follow the States guidelines completely. Therefore it becomes very important that county property tax reduction agents and consultants understand the possibilities in each given case.
California Property Tax Associates has vast experience throughout the different Counties in the State of California with a history of success. We use every conceivable strategy to secure the greatest possible reduction in assessed value for each of our clients. And, our experience is not limited to representing commercial property owners because we are real property owners and managers.
Our principals own and manage California real property as well as an international residential development project. We are landlords in our properties with tenants like 7-Eleven, Alberto’s Mexican Food, Dominos Pizza and ColdStone Creamery. We understand commercial property like no other property tax consultant or agent can.
Please go on the the next page for more California Property Tax Information or, to speak with one of our Consultants you may call (909) 867-5000 or (888) 678-9TAX. If you prefer, simply fill out the form below and we will contact you at your convenience. Deadlines vary by county, but for most counties it is November 30. Our costs and fee structure is simple: No Savings, No fee! But act now; once deadlines pass you have lost your right to appeal. Do not allow this opportunity to pass without beginning the process. Please call or write today. Don’t pay more California Property Taxes than you have to.
Comments or questions are welcome.
