By Linda Taaffe
The Peninsula’s economic slowdown will mean lower tax bills for thousands of Santa Clara County residents this year as property values continue to plunge.
County Assessor Larry Stone announced last week that the market value of at least 32,756 properties dipped below their assessed value during the past year, requiring the county to readjust those property owners’ 2003-04 tax bills.
Under Proposition 8, the assessor must temporarily reduce the assessed value of a property whenever the market value is lower than the factored base year assessed value. The base value is established as a result of a change in ownership or new construction. The market value is determined Jan. 1 of every year.
“Typically, property owners who purchased property recently (1999 to 2001) are more likely to receive a temporary reduction … than property that has not transferred ownership in several years,” Stone said in an open letter to county residents.
The number of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents who will receive reduced tax bills will not be available until July 1, when the assessor submits all property values to the county, a spokesman said last week.
If the market mirrors last year’s assessments, Santa Clara County could be facing another record-year of reductions. The county collected $4.45 billion less in property taxes last year after making assessment adjustments on 29,014 properties, in one of the largest one-year reductions in the county’s history, according to the county assessor’s annual report.
“For every $3 added to the assessment roll due to new construction, $4 was eliminated due to the decline in assessed values caused by deteriorating market conditions,” according to Stone’s annual report.
Last year property values in Los Altos Hills experienced the sharpest declines in the county, according to the report. Assessed values dropped 28.71 percent. Values in Los Altos dropped 21.88 percent. Mountain View values experienced a 16.26 percent decline. The median county decline was 16.53 percent.
The county lowered tax bills for 612 Los Altos properties and 132 Los Altos Hills properties.
