County’s Tax Rolls Surge to a Record $137 Billion

Orange County’s property values surged a record $16 billion above last year--a 13.4% increase that shows the demand for buildable land and housing remains strong.

County Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs, who released the 1989-90 tax-assessment rolls Tuesday, said the tax-roll increase was the biggest in the county’s history, putting the total assessed value of property at close to $140 billion.

“The prices are being bid way up here,” Jacobs said. “There’s a lot of money out there chasing property. There’s just not enough land.”

Jacobs attributed the 13.4% increase to real estate demands in all 28 cities in the county for the 12-month period ending March 1. The lowest increase in property value was in Newport Beach, which had only a 8.23% change. The highest was in Mission Viejo, where assessed property values jumped 23.72%.

“In the past, there would be just a cluster of four or five cities with high numbers. This year, every city has shown at least an increase of 8%,” Jacobs said.

That is because there is a shortage of buildable land, prompting buyers to look in cities that they had not found desirable before, said Jacobs, who earlier this year had forecast a total increase in county property values of 9%.

In unincorporated areas of the county, the increase change in value totaled only 3%. Jacobs said he does not know why demand for unincorporated areas was low.

The increased valuations mean $200 million more in tax dollars for city and county agencies, Jacobs said. But “stay-put” residents--those who have kept their property for several years--are protected by Proposition 13, which restricts increases in assessed property values to a 2% ceiling annually until a property is sold.

The total assessed value of property in Orange County was listed at $137 billion, up $16 billion from last year’s value of $121.6 billion. The $137-billion figure includes all locally assessed real estate except for exempt properties such as schools and churches.

Anaheim, which has an assessed value of more than $13 billion, once again held the county’s No. 1 spot in top property value. Irvine had the second highest assessed value at $12.7 billion. The lowest property values in the county were in Villa Park, with an assessed value of $471 million, and La Palma at $739 million.

SPENDING LIST

Supervisors approve a $2.9-billion budget and are warned of problems. Page 3.

1989-90 TAXABLE PROPERTY VALUATIONS

Mission Viejo recorded the highest percentage increase in taxable property values last year, as determined by Orange County Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs. Anaheim continued to lead the county in total taxable values. Here is a breakdown by cities, including the county’s unincorporated area:

City Total % Change Mission Viejo $4,575,086,078 23.72 San Juan Capistrano 1,751,837,761 20.90 Yorba Linda 3,123,179,553 20.03 San Clemente 2,845,944,123 19.80 Tustin 2,785,514,800 18.78 Cypress 2,032,676,148 17.66 Huntington Beach 10,069,945,356 14.66 Villa Park 471,042,386 14.43 La Palma 739,950,134 13.20 Fountain Valley 2,648,379,628 12.65 Costa Mesa 6,080,701,491 12.51 Westminster 2,663,231,906 12.27 Buena Park 3,021,936,460 12.25 Placentia 1,746,772,559 12.08 Irvine 12,774,078,251 12.04 Brea 2,811,064,581 11.92 Laguna Beach 2,343,216,583 11.82 Garden Grove 4,872,004,731 11.80 Stanton 926,049,187 11.77 Seal Beach 1,527,300,391 11.49 Orange 6,231,327,203 11.10 Los Alamitos 667,400,894 10.40 Fullerton 5,842,916,563 9.94 La Habra 1,926,858,677 9.81 Anaheim 13,333,606,101 9.77 Santa Ana 9,748,496,480 9.55 Newport Beach 9,906,147,832 8.23 Dana Point 2,769,265,775 N/A All Cities 120,235,931,632 15.09 Unincorporated 17,721,370,976 3.32 COUNTY TOTAL 137,957,302,608 13.43

N/A: Dana Point became incorporated in 1989.

Source: Orange County Assessor’s office