How Property Taxes are Calculated in the South Bay of Los Angeles

CALCULATION OF PROPERTY TAXES
Property Taxes in the South Bay of Los Angeles County are computed by the standard 1.0% of the property’s assessed valuation (in accordance with Proposition 13, a property’s assessed valuation is the original purchase price, plus the cost of improvements, based on the value of permits pulled, plus an increase in valuation of 2% per year) plus additional tax rates for voted bonded indebtedness, plus direct assessments such as school parcel taxes. Copies of building permits are sent to the Assessor. New buildings, additions, and other structures require an appraisal. Structural repairs and/or replacement are not appraisable in most situations. The assessed valuation of a property may also be decreased for one or more of the exemptions discussed below.

The following is the property tax rates and direct assessments for the cities in the South Bay:

Palos Verdes Estates: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.067866% plus direct assessments of approx. $1,400-$1,600 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, fire suppression fee, emergency services tax, sewer fees and flood control.

Rancho Palos Verdes: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.067866% plus direct assessments of approx. $800-$1,000 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc.

Rolling Hills Estates and Palos Verdes Peninsula: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.067866% plus direct assessments of approx. $700-800 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc.

Rolling Hills: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.067866% plus direct assessments of approx. $1,700-2,000 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..The largest item causing the large additional property tax add-on is about $1,200 for trash pickup which is billed through the property tax bills. There is an additional assessment for the Homeowners Association for the City of Rolling Hills of ,2% (two/tenths of one percent) of the assessed value of the property which is billed separately by the Association, with installments due on 12/10 and 4/10. This assessment goes to maintain the private roads, the guard houses and personnel, and other city amenities within this private gated community.

El Segundo: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.071697% plus direct assessments of anywhere up to about $200-$300 per parcel for other misc. local taxes.

Manhattan Beach: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.068597% plus direct assessments of approx. $500-700 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc.. Depending on the area, there may also be a direct assessment for the undergrounding of utilities.

Hermosa Beach: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.037488% plus direct assessments of approx. $200-$300 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..

Redondo Beach: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.106685% plus direct assessments of approx. $500-$600 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..

Torrance: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012is 1.102817% plus direct assessments of approx. $300-400 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..

San Pedro: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.245849% plus direct assessments of approx. $100-$200 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..

Lomita: The property tax rate for the fiscal year 2011-2012 is 1.207183% plus direct assessments of approx. $400-$500 per parcel for such items as school parcel taxes, etc..

Taxes are assessed for the fiscal year running from July 1st through June 30th, with property tax bills payable in two installments on December 10th and April 10th. If a property changes ownership during the year, a supplemental tax bill will be prepared prorating the tax increase due to a change in valuation over the remainder of the fiscal year. If a change in ownership occurs between January 1 and May 31 this will result in two supplemental assessments and two supplemental tax bills. The first supplemental bill is for the remainder of the fiscal year in which the event occurred. The second supplemental bill is for the subsequent fiscal year.

ACCESSING PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT INFORMATION ON PROPERTIES
Click the link below to visit the L.A. County tax Assessors office web site. Enter an address (or if an address doesn’t work, choose two cross streets near the address) and then click on the map parcel to see that parcel’s assessed valuation. Then click on the tab for the most recent year’s property tax bill. Link: http://assessormap.co.la.ca.us/mapping/viewer.asp

DECLINE IN VALUE
If the current market value is less than the actual assessment, the Assessor’s Office may reduce the assessed value of any real property.

The following are the steps to appeal your property tax assessment valuation in Los Angeles County:

1) Request the “Application for Changed Assessment” form.

2) You may select to see a Hearing Officer which expedites the appeal process or you may meet directly with the Appeals Board.

3) Mail the Completed Form to:
County of Los Angeles
Assessment Appeals Board
P.O. Box 53596
Los Angeles, CA 90053-0596

4) The Assessment Appeals Office reviews the application.

5) An appointment card will be mailed to you.

6) The Assessment Appeals Board recommends you attend a Public Education Seminar to help you with the Appeals process

6) Bring relevant evidence to support opinion of value.Hearings are conducted on a first come first serve basis. Feel free to contact me to obtain a current comparative market analysis of your property indicating its current value.

7) If you do not agree with the Hearing Officer’s Recommendation, you can request a Board hearing within 14 days of the Hearing Officer’s hearing date

8)The Board makes final assessment decision and approves or rejects Hearing Officer’s Recommendations.

MAINTAINING YOUR EXISTING PROPERTY TAX BASIS IF YOU ARE 55 OR OLDER AND SELL YOUR PROPERTY
Proposition 60, passed in 1986, and modified by Proposition 90, passed in 1988, allows “qualified” individuals over the age of 55 to transfer the base year assessed valuation from a former residence (“original property”) to a replacement residence, of equal or lesser value and that meet other certain conditions. Link: http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/propositions60_90.htm which discusses this issue in detail. Effective January 1, 2007, claims must no longer be filed within 3 years, however if the claim is filed after 3 years, relief will be granted beginning with the calendar year in which the claim was filed. In addition, any upgrades paid by the buyer outside of escrow and not reflected in the sales price must now be reported on the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report so as to be included in the determination of the “equal or lesser value” test. You must file claim form BOE-60-AH, OWN-89 .

HOMEOWNER’S EXEMPTION ON PROPERTY TAXES
If you own a home and occupy it as your principal place of residence on January 1, you may apply for an exemption of $7000 off of your assessed value. This will save you over $70 a year on your property taxes. All you need to do is file a simple one page form with the county tax assessors office. For information click on this link at the L.A. county assessors office: http://www.lacountyassessor.com/extranet/guides/exemptions.aspx . You must file form BOE-266, ASSR 515, ASSR 517 . If you do not know if you have a homeowners exemption on file, go to the assessormap link in the first paragraph above, and review the property tax information for your property.

PARENT TO CHILD TRANSFER EXEMPTION
Under Propositions 98 and 193, property transferred between parents and children (Proposition 58, effective 1986 form BOE-58-AH, OWN-88 ) and from grandparents to grandchildren (Proposition 193, effective 1996 formBOE-58-G, OWN-143 ) is not reassessed for property tax purposes. In order to take advantage of this, however, a claim must be filed with the county tax assessors office. The exemption to reassessment is 100% of the assessed value for the parents/grandparents principal residence plus the first $1,000,000 of assessed value for other property transferred. This is, of course, only for California property.See http://www.lacountyassessor.com/extranet/guides/prop58.aspx for additional information on filing this claim. For estate planning purposes, it is important to understand the details of this exemption. For instance, a family home left to several children as tenants-in-common would be eligible, however if some of the children sell their interest to the other child, the property would be reassessed for this interest sold. The exemption is only for parent to child, not child to child. Therefore, it would be advantageous to leave a family home, with a low property tax basis, to one child, and to leave other assets of comparable value to the other children. You must file forms

DISABLED VETERANS EXCLUSION
If you are a California veteran who is rated 100% disabled, blind, or a paraplegic due to a service-connected disability (or if you are the unmarried widow of such a veteran), you may be eligible for an exemption of up to $150,000 off of the assessed value of your home by filing claim form BOE-261-G (P1-P5), EXM-32 .

BUILDERS EXCLUSION
Certain new construction may be excluded from supplemental assessment. The property must be for sale and the builder must file the necessary claim form ASSR-9 with the Assessor’s Office prior to or within 30 days from the start of construction. If the form is not filed, a supplemental assessment is sent to the builder upon completion of construction.

SEVERELY AND PERMANENTLY DISABLED EXCLUSION
A severely and permanently disabled person, who buys a new home, may be able to have his/her old assessed value transferred to the new home. You must file a claim form .BOE-62, OWN-112

DISASTER RELIEF
If a major calamity, such as fire or flooding, damages or destroys your property, you may be eligible for property tax relief. In such cases, the Assessor’s Office will reappraise the property to reflect its damaged condition. In addition, when you rebuild it in a like or similar manner, the property will regain its pre-damage valuation basis for tax purposes. To qualify for property tax relief, you must file a Misfortune or Calamity Claim forms ADS-820 ) instructions ADS-820.2 )with the Assessor’s Office within 12 months* from the date the property was damaged or destroyed. In addition, the loss must exceed $10,000* of current market value.

The following is a link to other forms for other various property tax exemption requests for Los Angeles County : http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/list/forms.aspx

TRANSFER TAX ON SALE:

The County of Los Angeles levies a transfer tax upon the sale of a property of $1.10 per thousand dollars of the sale price. In addition, the City of Los Angeles levies an additional transfer tax of $4.50 per thousand dollars, and the City of Redondo Beach levies an additional transfer tax of $2.20 per thousand dollars.

This information was obtained from my website at Property Taxes