Property tax petitions, which generally decrease
assessed value.
The recession depressed many properties' market values - about 23 percent of homes in the county - below the
assessed value, and that knocked down taxes.
Only 14 percent of Lane County properties had a market value below the maximum
assessed value as of Jan.
Tepe said an assessment of $15 per $100,000
assessed value would raise $27.
In the real estate boom that followed passage of the ballot measure and that lasted until about five years ago, market values soared far above
assessed values and it was hard to imagine that market prices could plunge so severely they would drag down the
assessed values.
Each property that changed ownership resulted in an average increase of $262,000 in
assessed value.
So on those houses, the
assessed value has increased by the amount allowed by law, and so have taxes.
Before Proposition 13 was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1978, the average property tax rate in California was 3 percent of the
assessed value, and there was no limit on annual increases, according to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which backed the landmark measure.
For this tax year, residential property has an average
assessed value that is 65 percent of its market value.
Lancaster property owners are already paying $28 a year per $100,000
assessed value on a 1999 Lancaster School District bond measure, which is scheduled to be paid off in 2024 but might be finished earlier because of rising property values.
Challenges to the 98/99 actual
assessed value of $65.
