A Need to Know : Owners of quake-damaged homes were kept in the dark about status of tax break

At about the same time that Los Angeles County victims of the Northridge earthquake were urged to ease their plight by seeking a break on their property taxes, the rules of the game were being changed in Sacramento. But the consequences were not fully explained. If they had been, some people might have changed their minds about applying for the break. At the very least, an adequate explanation from the state might have eased the shock of what several may face now.

Prior to 1994, for example, the tax break available to property owners facing a calamity such as the 1993 wildfires ran through the entire fiscal year. But the supporters of the law that took effect in 1994 had broader considerations in mind. Specifically: how to give owners a legitimate break while protecting the tax bases of localities.

The solution: have the tax break last only as long as it takes to repair and restore that property to its pre-calamity condition and value. What that means is that some portion of the 74,000 county property owners who received tax breaks will be getting a supplemental boost to their regular property taxes, coinciding with the end of the fiscal year in question and the date their earthquake repairs were considered complete.

The only thing simple about it is this: If you got a tax break of six months, but had completed your repairs in five, you have to give the one month back.

Many don’t see it that way. “They’re asking us to give [the tax breaks] back,” said Sue Rosen, who own a single-family residence in North Hills with her husband, Art. “In the end, it was like a loan.”

We’re not surprised that it seems that way to the Rosens and probably to many others. That’s wrong, but the Rosens, and other recipients of the tax break, are intelligent people. If they had been given a clearer indication that it would have been wise to hang on to a portion of their tax break in case some of it had to be returned, we’re sure they would have. Certainly our state lawmakers and county officials can enact and enforce changes in the law without leaving a financially troubled citizenry in the dark.