San Diego County Property Value Is Up 6%

The total assessed value of almost 985,000 taxable properties in San Diego County at the beginning of this year was 6 percent higher than last year, up to $433.4 billion, county Assessor/Recorder/Clerk Ernest Dronenburg Jr. announced Friday.

He said that after subtracting certain parcels owned by such entities as nonprofits and the disabled, the land should generate an estimated $417 billion in property taxes.

"The majority of homeowners in San Diego County will only see an increased value of less than one-half of 1 percent," Dronenburg said. "Under Proposition 13 values cannot grow more than the California Consumer Price Index or 2 percent, whichever is lower."

He said the index increased less than one-half of 1 percent.

The 2 percent limitation does not apply to homes that had their taxable values reduced during the recession, when ownership changes hands or if there is new construction, he said.

Property owners who have been reassessed at higher values will be notified after July 7, according to Dronenburg.

Those who disagree with the new assessments and can support a lower value can file an appeal between July 2 and Dec. 1. Application forms are available from the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board, at (619) 531-5777, or online at sdcounty.ca.gov/cob.

In addition to the real estate parcels, the Assessor's office also values business personal property and boats and aircraft. For the 2014 assessment roll, 57,661 businesses, 13,172 boats and 1,722 aircraft were valued.

Cities and school districts rely heavily on property tax revenue to pay for services. All eighteen cities in the county experienced positive assessed value growth.

The city of San Marcos had the highest growth with an increase of 8.7 percent. The city of San Diego's increase was 6.2 percent. The smallest increase was in National City, at 2.5 percent.

—City News Service