Property 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.

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.

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.

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.

Faced with a daunting backlog of 25,000 assessment appeals from county property owners, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to revamp the appeal hearings system and hire about a dozen temporary employees to speed up processing. The reforms will cost $370,000, but officials said the new measures may shave weeks or months off the waiting period that frustrates thousands of homeowners seeking property tax relief.

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 letter about "Unfair Assessments" from Ray Ackerman (April 21), who claims that in order for property taxes to be fair "each and every homeowner should pay . . . in accordance with the current value of the property," shows that the writer just doesn't get it. What does he want? To buy a house and then see taxes go up every year based on reassessment? "Fairness" is not necessarily equal to "sameness." One of the reasons for Proposition 13 was the ever-increasing escalation of property assessments, throwing off the financial planning of those on fixed incomes who thought they were protected by the solid value of a fixed asset, but who were at the mercy of market forces beyond their control.

City and county governments throughout California are wrestling with the single largest financial issue to hit them since passage of Proposition 13. Called into uncertainty this year by the passage of Proposition 218 are millions of dollars of tax and assessment revenue that municipalities have counted on to pay for government services, including police and fire protection, street lights, library services and, in the case of Palmdale, maintenance of landscaping around housing subdivisions.

Two Leisure World homeowners on Thursday sued the Laguna Hills retirement community for donating $542,000 to the fight against building a commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Warren T. Finley and Donald H. Rez, both trustees of Leisure World estates, filed suit in Orange County Superior Court asking that the Yes on Measure S campaign be barred from spending any more of the funds, which came from mandatory property assessments at Leisure World.

Supervisor William G. Steiner said Thursday he has asked county Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs what measures could be taken to reduce the massive backlog of property assessment appeals, and whether internal changes in the assessor's office would permit quicker and more efficient property evaluations. "I detect a frustration by constituents and friends, and even my own family on this issue," Steiner said. "I was asking Brad for his perspective.

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.

Stepping up its battle against West Nile, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved new rules that would allow officials to issue fines of up to $1,000 a day on residents who don't remove dirty standing water from their property. The rules, among the first of their kind in the state, would allow local vector control officials to enter private property with recorded mosquito problems and clean stagnant water if the owners won't do it themselves.

Los Angeles County's red-hot housing market drove property assessments to a record high this year, notching a $55.3-billion increase over 2003, the county assessor's office reported Wednesday. The factors fueling the increase -- a brisk seller's market, low interest rates, a scarcity of land available for development and stiff competition among buyers for starter homes -- are familiar to anyone shopping for a house. Property assessments reached $781 billion as of Jan. 1, a 7.

Tax bills totaling more than $805 million have been mailed to property owners, Ventura County Treasurer-Tax Collector Lawrence L. Matheney said this week. While the bills might be unpleasant for individual homeowners, the numbers are good news for the county as a whole, said Matheney, terming it "the one bright spot" in the state budget crisis. "Unfortunately, it's a little bit like a Band-Aid over a gushing wound, but at least we've got a Band-Aid," he said.

The fate of the city's new police station will wind up in the hands of voters if the City Council calls for a special election. The council, at a hearing Sept. 26, will decide whether a special election is necessary. The election would give Buena Park residents the chance to decide whether they want to pay for construction of the proposed facility, which would be adjacent to the existing police station.

Millions of dollars from state lawmakers, leftover money in the county treasury and higher property assessments mean public safety and mental health programs won't have to be cut as much as expected in the coming year, according to a revised $1.06-billion budget the Board of Supervisors will consider today. In his new revision, interim Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford said he needs to cut only $7.9 million in spending instead of the $12.4 million he proposed two weeks ago.

A Superior Court judge has ruled that 10 cable TV companies may proceed with their civil rights lawsuit against the Orange County assessor's office for what they allege is discriminatory treatment. Judge Jonathan H. Cannon's ruling Thursday reversed an August decision by another judge dismissing the lawsuit. In that decision, then-Superior Court Judge Gary Taylor--now a U.S.

The Orange County tax assessor's office won a round in its battle with 10 Orange County cable television companies Friday when a Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against the county and Assessor Brad Jacobs. The cable firms, outraged over a new method of valuing their property that has led to a doubling and tripling of their property taxes, alleged in the lawsuit that their civil rights were being violated by discriminatory tax treatment.

Residents have long claimed that increased truck traffic on Happy Camp Road is ruining their lives. Now a county assessment appeals board has agreed, granting whopping reductions in the values of two properties--with perhaps others to follow. The rulings are bittersweet victories for property owners Frank Zamrock and Suzanne Thomas.