Property Values in 10 Cities Rise Above Average
New construction and steady property sales helped boost property values in many Southeast cities in the last fiscal year, with 10 cities recording increases that surpassed the county average of 9.7%.
Artesia, Bell, Bellflower, Commerce, Compton, Huntington Park, La Mirada, Lynwood, Paramount and Signal Hill posted above-average increases in property values in the 12-month period that ended June 30.
Long Beach recorded a below-average increase of 7.7% in property values. Long Beach finance director Jim Algie said a soft real estate market and construction slowdown contributed to the below-average growth. Property in the city was valued at $20.3 billion, second only to Los Angeles, where the value of all property topped $187 billion.
Tiny Artesia recorded the largest increase among Southeast cities. The total value of homes, industry, businesses and business property went up more than 20% in the city to $635 million, according to recently released figures from the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office.
Gilbert Parisi, special assistant to the assessor, said that the construction of a $50-million generator, and the sale of some of the city’s largest homes helped boost the value of real estate in Artesia. In addition, four strip shopping centers have been built in the city within the last two years, said Carol Wayman, assistant planner in Artesia.
Countywide, property sales and transfers accounted for 50% of the increase in property value and new construction for about 21% of the growth, according to the assessor’s report.
Under Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative limiting taxes, property values are limited to a 2% increase every year unless property is transferred or sold. When property changes hands, the assessed value is adjusted to reflect the market price. New construction can also cause significant increases in property values. The value of a business’s personal property, such as cars, planes and even typewriters and computers, is also counted by the assessor.
In general, rising property values indicate a strong economy, but Parisi said that in 1990-91, the economy had little to do with the increase. Instead, he said, the reason property values jumped in most cities throughout the county is because the assessor’s office has been updating property tax rolls.
“We have been catching up with the backlog,” Parisi said. “The county generally comes up with a 10% increase in (property values) in real good years, but we’ve been in a recession. There haven’t been any strong surges in the economy.”
In Artesia, for example, the O’Brien Energy Systems co-generator, which converts steam into electricity, was built about two years ago, but was placed on the tax rolls only last year, Parisi said.
Artesia will not realize any financial gains from the 20% increase in property values, city officials said. The city has no property tax, and officials are prevented by Proposition 13 from imposing one.
A city redevelopment agency would have been entitled to collect 1% of any increase in value of property that lies within a redevelopment area, but Artesia has no redevelopment agency.
“All we can do is be happy that the value of our property is rising,” said Wayman, the city’s assistant planner.
Property values in Cerritos, La Habra Heights, Lakewood, Montebello and Pico Rivera remained somewhat static. According to the assessor’s office, there was very little new single-family construction or home sales in Cerritos. Sales of higher priced homes in La Habra Heights were hurt by the soft real estate market, and Lakewood home sales were sluggish in general, Parisi said. In Montebello, a lack of space for development and a law restricting growth contributed to below-average increases in property values, Parisi said.
Property values in Pico Rivera rose about 3%, the smallest increase in the area. City Manager Dennis Courtemarche said there has been no new redevelopment in the city in the last year, and that Northrop Corp., which traditionally boosts values through new construction, has not expanded.
He said construction is scheduled to begin within two years on a 13-acre residential and commercial complex, and a medical center.
The Top 20 Cities Here is a look at the assessment roll for taxable property for the top 20 cities in Los Angeles County at the end of fiscal 1991.
1991 Assessed Valuation Total No. of City (Value in Billions) Assessments 1.Los Angeles $181.586 875,963 2.LONG BEACH 20.332 121,777 3.Torrance 11.077 46,097 4.Glendale 10.131 49,034 5.Beverly Hills 8.911 14,582 6.Santa Monica 8.614 26,724 7.Pasadena 8.085 42,070 8.Burbank 7.406 33,021 9.Carson 6.527 26,415 10.Santa Clarita 7.113 43,883 11.El Segundo 5.595 6,364 12.Redondo Beach 4.980 22,545 13.Lancaster 4.439 45,335 14.Palmdale 4.327 37,072 15.Pomona 4.287 34,050 16.Rancho Palos Verdes 3.875 15,989 17.DOWNEY 3.837 25,995 18.Manhattan Beach 3.797 13,859 19.Arcadia 3.760 17,753 20.West Covina 3.715 23,310
Source: Los Angeles County Assessor Kenneth P. Hahn
Southeast Property Values Here is a look at the assessment roll for taxable property in the Southeast and Long Beach areas at the end of fiscal 1991. Countywide, the tally came to $452.8 billion, an increase of $40 billion, or 9.7%, over fiscal 1990.
Total No. of City 1990 1991 % Change Parcels Artesia 526,525,288 635,250,765 20.65 3,930 Bell 593,914,157 658,590,862 10.89 4,315 Bell Gardens 581,893,895 633,516,898 8.87 4,002 Bellflower 1,698,470,903 1,877,966,212 10.57 12,730 Cerritos 3,073,647,953 3,291,679,123 7.09 15,603 Commerce 2,040,970,346 2,259,881,479 10.73 3,608 Compton 1,842,017,842 2,070,217,072 12.39 19,691 Cudahy 290,276,259 317,279,085 9.30 1,655 Downey 3,573,065,739 3,836,928,400 7.38 22,754 Hawaiian Gardens 290,880,745 317,685,407 9.22 2,552 Huntington Park 1,090,728,693 1,218,703,219 11.73 7,314 La Habra Heights 465,328,488 492,663,051 5.87 2,213 La Mirada 1,864,364,718 2,104,425,776 12.88 13,200 Lakewood 2,770,707,225 2,947,590,071 6.38 23,643 Long Beach 18,880,212,536 20,332,426,968 7.69 103,892 Lynwood 1,010,188,582 1,125,530,494 11.42 10,071 Maywood 355,053,073 383,069,958 8.74 3,402 Montebello 2,005,219,658 2,108,588,240 5.15 12,672 Norwalk 2,373,460,053 2,547,159,249 7.32 23,119 Paramount 1,302,798,029 1,447,343,886 11.10 8,295 Pico Rivera 1,990,736,204 2,054,618,618 3.21 14,217 Santa Fe Springs 2,666,486,444 2,906,192,423 8.99 5,574 Signal Hill 771,772,018 859,637,870 11.38 4,137 South Gate 2,006,545,531 2,201,985,035 9.74 15,913 Whittier 2,999,018,504 3,249,736,109 8.36 21,909
Source: Los Angeles County Assessor Kenneth P. Hahn
