By Clyde Noel

Most of us experienced the recent economic tailspin in Silicon Valley. Now the Santa Clara County Assessor acknowledges the decline had an impact on the assessment roll.

Assessor Lawrence Stone released the 2002-03 annual report last week. It provides a snapshot of the dramatic changes in the assessment roll as of Jan. 1, 2002, the lien date.

The assessed value of property in Santa Clara County increased by $11 billion, less than half of last year’s record increase of $26.9 billion. The total assessed value of all real and business personal property was $210.8 billion.

Included in that total, the Los Altos assessment roll accounts for $5.4 billion, a 5.05 percent growth from the previous year. Los Altos Hills comes in at $2.98 billion, an increase of 2.33 percent.

Stone said the state of California continues as the major beneficiary of local property tax revenue. Sixty-one percent of all property tax revenue generated by property assessments in Santa Clara County is transferred to the state to fund schools and colleges.

The assessor’s office is responsible for determining the assessed value of all real and business personal property within the county. The assessment roll includes more than 500,000 roll units of real property and business assessments and is the basis upon which property taxes are levied.

When economic conditions cause a decline in property values, property owners lose equity. If the market value of a property as of the lien date (Jan. 1, 2002) changes, the impacted property owner is entitled to a temporary adjustment. In accordance with Proposition 8, the assessed values for 29,014 properties were reduced for a total reduction of $4.45 billion.

In Los Altos, there were 612 properties that received a temporary decline, and in Los Altos Hills 132 properties were affected. The overwhelming majority of the reductions are on properties that were purchased or constructed at the top of the market, between 1999 and 2001.

Distributed by parcel count, of the total 439,681 real properties listed in the county, Los Altos has 10,596 parcels and Los Altos Hills has 2,986.

After the county assessor determines the assessed value of all assessable property in Santa Clara County, the County Finance Agency calculates and issues specific tax bills for each property. Under Proposition 13, the maximum ad valorem property tax rate is 1 percent of the property’s net taxable value. The rate includes an amount necessary to make the annual payment on general obligation bonds or other bonded indebtedness imposed by public agencies and approved by voters.

Stone’s report emphasizes that the county assessor’s office does not calculate taxes, collect taxes or allocate tax revenues.

For information on collection and allocation of property taxes, call the office of the Santa Clara County Tax Collector at (408) 808-7900 or the office of the controller at (408) 229-5200.