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TOTAL COUNTY ASSESSED VALUE TOPS $400 BILLION 

County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Gregory Smith announced the assessed value of all taxable property in San Diego County has increased $17.9 billion over the previous year to $409.3 billion. This is a 4.59°, 10 increase in total assessed value, and includes the values of 975,679 parcels, 159,183businesses, 75,305 boats, 22,923 manufactured homes, and 5,189 aircraft.  

Benefiting from increased property tax assessments are 387 taxing jurisdictions, including the County, cities, schools, and special districts. Smith wants to reassure property owners that the 4.59% overall increase does not apply to individual properties. Under State law (Proposition 13), real property is reassessed upon a change in ownership or new construction. Except for these two instances, property assessments cannot be increased by more than 2% annually.

The Assessor's Office appraised over 63,300 properties due to changes of ownership, and 26,700 properties with new construction, for a total of90,000 reassessments. An additional 8,200 new parcels were added to the assessment roll this year because of new subdivisions and condominiums.

The five largest properties valued this year due to a change in ownership or new

construction activity were State Route 125Toll Road, valued at $600 million, Las Americas Premium Outlets at the SanYsidro border crossing, valued at $283 million, Advanced Equities Building on West Broadway in Downtown San Diego, valued at $210 million, Grand Del Mar Hotel, valued at $206.9 million, and Pacific Center I & II office buildings in Mission Valley, valued at $200.1 million.

The State Route 125 Toll Road assessment at $600 million represents the single highest assessment in San Diego County history. Additionally, two large portfolio sales involving multiple properties occurred in San Diego County during 2007. In April 2007, the Irvine Company purchased over $1 billion in office properties from Blackstone, and in October 2007, Tishman-Speyer purchased over $1 billion in apartment properties from Archstone.  

According to Smith, "The above demonstrates that the commercial market has remained strong. The residential real estate market, on the other hand, has continued to decline since hitting its peak in 2005. The sub-prime mortgage crisis and the resulting dramatic increase in the number of foreclosures have contributed to this downturn."

The cities that were most impacted by the downturn in the residential market and the subsequent reductions in value were San Marcos, Escondido, Poway, Chula Vista, and El Cajon. However, the coastal cities of Del Mar at 9.96%, Coronado at 8.74%, Carlsbad at 7.57%, and Solana Beach at 6.37% experienced the largest percentage increases, primarily due to the continued strength of the coastal residential market. 

As a result of this downturn, the Assessor's Office reassessed properties due to a decline in value. Under State law, (Proposition 8) a temporary reduction in assessed value can be made when the market value falls below the assessed value. Once reduced, the Assessor's Office must then annually review the value of the property. When the property values increase, the assessed value will also be increased but no higher than the original assessed value (plus the annual CPI increase, not to exceed 2%, as required by Proposition 13).

The Assessor's Office received over 40,000 new applications for reassessment reviews under Proposition 8. Taking a proactive approach, the Assessor's Office also reduced other properties that experienced a decline in a value for a total of 79,400 reductions.

Property owners who have had their assessments reduced will receive notice in the mail by the end of July 2008, informing them of their new assessed value. Smith wishes to remind property owners who disagree with their assessed values and who can support a lower value may file an Assessment Appeal between July 2 and December 1,2008. Necessary application forms are available from the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board at (619) 531-5777 or from their Web site at www.sdcounty.ca.gov/cob.