Property Assessment

Los Angeles County's real estate market continues to climb out of the depths of the recession of the early 1990s, but the region's more affluent neighborhoods have made markedly greater gains than other areas, according to property tax data to be released today. Overall, the county's real estate assessments increased by $30 billion, or 6%, last year, a boost that shuts the door on years of decline in property values that led to government crises and financial hardship for homeowners.

Supporters of Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, who was arrested last month in a sweeping corruption case on suspicion of taking bribes to reduce property assessments, are now being asked to donate money so he can make bail. An email sent Friday afternoon from Noguez's personal account — signed by "Friends of John Noguez" — asked for contributions to the assessor's legal fund. "As you may know, our friend John Noguez is in trouble and needs our support more than ever," the email said.

The City Council has instructed an engineering firm to begin gathering information that will be needed if the council decides to levy a controversial property assessment. The assessment is estimated at $90 per household, but could be lowered if the council cuts services instead of trying to raise enough revenue to overcome a $1.2-million deficit in the city budget.

Los Angeles County could receive almost $50 million less than expected in property taxes next year, according to the latest estimates, which could lead to cuts in law enforcement, education and other services. Last year, Assessor John Noguez estimated that the county property tax base would grow by almost $18.7 billion for the next fiscal year. But he revised that figure to $5.1 billion last week. Property in Los Angeles County was valued at $1.1 trillion last year. Taxes paid on that real estate is the county's largest source of locally generated revenue and helps fund a variety of services and agencies, including the Sheriff's Department, county education office and Fire Department.

California could raise $6 billion a year for its strapped local governments and schools by assessing business property at current market value, a tax group says. "The assessment of business property is completely irrational, completely indefensible and riddled with holes," said Lenny Goldberg of the California Tax Reform Assn. The group put together a 132-page study of how they say Proposition 13 should be changed.

Fueled by rising home prices, Los Angeles County's property assessments jumped by 11% last year, reaching a record $950 billion, according to a preliminary report issued Tuesday by the county assessor. The fast-growing cities of Lancaster and Palmdale led the way, increasing by 29.2% and 21.1% in 2005. They were followed by Azusa (17.7%), Signal Hill (15.2%) and Malibu (14.3%). A full list of property assessments by city can be seen at the assessor's website: www.lacountyassessor.com.

Officials in this fast-growing San Bernardino County bedroom community have proposed a "gang tax" to combat increased crime triggered by the movement of Los Angeles-based street gangs into neighborhoods here. The proposed Gang Assessment District property tax would total $24 a year for each homeowner and as much as $72 an acre for commercial landowners.

A troubling sign of the times for Los Angeles County is a decline--the first in 22 years--in the property assessment roll, the official value index of all property assessments in the county. The $10.2-billion drop reflects factors such as the recession, the Northridge earthquake and the problem of the county assessor's office not having enough workers to update the roll fully.

The Buena Park School District on Monday rejected a proposal to charge property owners an annual fee to pay for the maintenance of school recreational facilities, a controversial move being considered by several other Orange County districts trying to cope with state budget cuts.

A robust local housing market helped increase property assessments in Los Angeles County by nearly $50 billion this year, the county assessor's office said Wednesday. Low interest rates, short supply and a strong demand for single family homes contributed to higher home prices, resulting in a 7.4% jump in assessed values, according to a report released by the assessor's office. Property assessments totaled $725.7 billion for 2003, compared with $675.9 billion in 2002, the report said.

A popular program that allows homeowners to tap low-interest government financing to install energy-efficient solar panels, windows and insulation has stalled, leaving tens of thousands of green improvement projects across the country in limbo. Most local and state governments stopped providing the funds after federal regulators warned that the so-called Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE, posed "unusual and difficult" financial risk and that homeowners who participate in the program may by violating their mortgage terms and face foreclosure.

For the first time in 13 years, the assessed value of all property in Los Angeles County has declined, according to a report released Thursday by the county assessor's office. County property rolls lost about $1 billion in value last fiscal year -- losses driven largely by downward reassessments of homes as the housing market has slumped. Property in the county is now valued at $1.1 trillion, a 0.09% decrease compared with the year before, according to the assessor's annual report.

Don Atkins shared his life with Ted Horzella for 37 years. For the last three years of Horzella's life, the men were registered with the state of California as domestic partners. But when Horzella died in 2005 at the age of 76, Atkins was shocked to learn his annual property tax bill would rise from $1,400 to $10,400. He paid an attorney $6,700 to fight his assessment and Los Angeles County an additional $20,000 in taxes.

If you're a homeowner, you may have received an official-looking letter recently informing you that your property needs to be reassessed for tax purposes. The cost of the reassessment is $179, but you'll have to pay an additional $30 if you don't mail in your application within the next few weeks. "It's a scam," Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach told me. "They're trying to make you think the letter comes from my office so you'll pay them to do something you could do yourself for free."

There's no monthly membership for a home gym, no lines for exercise machines or commute times to the local fitness center. For some homeowners, it's making a lot of sense to stay home to work out. Real estate developers and builders say homeowners increasingly are choosing to build in-home gyms as a must-have amenity, mainly to get and stay fit, but also to pump up the appeal of their property.

Steady single-family home sales last year amid the Los Angeles area's limited mid-priced housing supply helped push the county's property tax assessment rolls over the $1-trillion mark for the first time, officials said in a report to be released today. The county's 2006 assessed value grew by 9.3%, or $88 billion, over the previous year, despite widespread anxiety over a real estate slowdown.

A group of Laguna Beach fire victims who contend that the county has appraised their vacant properties at too high a price appeared before an independent appeals board Thursday to ask that their property values--and property taxes--be lowered. In all, 22 of the 366 property owners whose homes were destroyed in the devastating Oct. 27 wildfire are contesting the county's assessments.

Fueled by rising home prices, Los Angeles County's property assessments jumped by 11% last year, reaching a record $950 billion, according to a preliminary report issued Tuesday by the county assessor. The fast-growing cities of Lancaster and Palmdale led the way, increasing by 29.2% and 21.1% in 2005. They were followed by Azusa (17.7%), Signal Hill (15.2%) and Malibu (14.3%). A full list of property assessments by city can be seen at the assessor's website: www.lacountyassessor.com.

The upcoming election here will attract national attention as residents vote on who will lead their reconstruction. But beneath the hullabaloo is an obscure, less riveting issue that advocates of change say could be just as big a step in helping the city reinvent itself. Now is the time, they say, to revamp the city's antiquated system of property assessment, a system that some view as wasting money and encouraging cronyism.