County Says Fewer Owners Due Tax Refund

Far fewer property owners than originally believed might be due tax refunds because the county failed to hear their assessment appeals before the legal deadline, county officials said Monday.

Working through the weekend, officials found that at least 150 of the 300 parcels believed to be past or near deadline were not acted upon because the property owners withdrew their appeal requests. Investigators were still reviewing the remaining 150 cases late Monday.

“I’m somewhat relieved. But I find this incident intolerable,” Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “We haven’t seen the end of this issue.”

Officials said Monday that they are still trying to determine how many property owners are due refunds and how the county could have missed the deadline for appeals.

The investigation began last week after an appeals board ruled that the county must accept Bank of America’s valuation of property in Brea because the county missed a Sept. 15 cutoff date to hold an appeals hearing. The bank’s valuation was $100 million less than what the county claimed.

Officials said that ruling could cost the county as much as $3 million.

Under state law, the county has two years from the time a property owner files an assessment appeal to resolve the case by holding a hearing. If the county misses the deadline, the property is automatically assessed at the value suggested by the property owner.

When the real estate market faltered in the early 1990s, tens of thousands of Orange County property owners requested new assessments.

At one point last year, the county faced a backlog of 68,000 appeals. The backlog prompted the Board of Supervisors to hire more assessment workers--a move that significantly quickened the appeals process. But the county still faces a backlog of 36,000 appeals.

Officials are now trying to determine what role the backlog played in the missed deadlines.

“I don’t see the problem as due to a lack of resources,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said. “It’s a system breakdown.”

The investigation has yet to determine exactly how the deadlines were missed or who is responsible, Vasquez said.

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Both the county assessor’s office and the clerk of the Board of Supervisor’s office play roles in the appeals process. Last week, County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said officials from both offices should have known about the deadline.

“This should not have happened to begin with and it should not happen again,” Vasquez said. “I’m extremely disappointed that those who are generally responsible . . . have basically allowed this to happen.”

A handful of county workers has spent the last week pouring through more than 3,000 assessment records, said Phyllis A. Henderson, the clerk of the board. The process has been slowed somewhat because a few case files proved difficult to find, she said.

Steiner said that while he considers the missed deadlines to be a “very serious matter,” it should be noted that the property owners who receive refunds because of the error might have won them anyway if the appeals board ruled in their favor.

“I’m not excusing the behavior,” Steiner said. “We need to get beyond just the blame and make sure this scenario is not repeated.”