Property Tax Bills Reflect Real Estate Doldrums

In another reflection of Orange County’s sagging real estate values, more than 290,000 local property owners will see their tax bills decrease or remain unchanged this year, County Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs said Wednesday.

Most of the county’s other 460,000 property owners can expect a tax increase of 1.1% or less, which is no more than the inflation rate.

The county this week mailed out its annual property valuation notices to 750,000 taxpayers, informing them of their upcoming tax bills.

Jacobs said the 1996-97 assessments mark the third straight year in which more than 250,000 property owners saw their taxes fall or stay level.

Nonetheless, the latest tax rolls indicate that the five-year slide in Orange County real estate values might be close to bottoming out, he said.

The number of property owners whose taxes fell or stayed flat increased by only 2,000 this year when compared with last year’s total.

By way of contrast, the number of property owners with static or declining tax assessments jumped from 185,000 in 1993 to 257,000 in 1994 and to 288,288 in 1995.

“This slide hasn’t stopped, but it is definitely slowing down,” Jacobs said. “We are maybe in shooting distance of it ending, which is good news for people concerned about their property values.”

While home sales have increased in recent months, prices remain relatively flat, leading some real estate experts to believe that the market is slowly picking up.

The county’s total property tax roll topped $173 billion this year, up about 0.46% from 1995. The increase is attributed in part to an upswing in home construction.

Eleven cities, including Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Garden Grove, saw overall property values decline, compared with 17 last year.

Laguna Beach, Irvine, Mission Viejo and 17 other cities saw increased values this year.

Seal Beach recorded the largest drop in value, nearly 4%, while Fountain Valley had one of the biggest jumps in value, 3.7%.

The assessor’s office reviewed more than 400,000 individual values to determine whether the owners deserved decreased assessments. “We wanted to make sure people were not paying more than they should be,” Jacobs said.

The assessments were based on data available as of March 1. The valuation notices mailed out this week provide information about how owners can go about contesting an assessment if they consider it too high.

With the real estate downturn, thousands of residents have demanded assessment appeals hearings over the last few years, creating a lengthy backlog that has frustrated both property owners and county officials. In addition, Jacobs said his office last year resolved about 35,000 appeals on its own based on information provided by owners.

“We have no egos when it comes to the valuations,” Jacobs said. “We want it to be what’s right.”

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New Valuations

Nearly 40% of the 750,000 property owners in Orange County receiving official valuations in the mail this week will see their property tax bills drop or stay the same. Most others will realize increases of less than 1.1%. Here is a city-by-city rundown of the property tax rolls for fiscal year 1996-97, dollar values in billions:

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Value % City (billions) Change Anaheim $15.9 .35 Brea 3.3 -.91 Buena Park 3.7 .27 Costa Mesa 6.8 -1.36 Cypress 2.7 .29 Dana Point 3.5 .26 Fountain Valley 3.4 3.68 Fullerton 6.6 -.97 Garden Grove 5.7 -1.47 Huntington Beach 12.3 -.41 Irvine 15.1 .48 Laguna Beach 3.4 2.05 Laguna Hills 2.8 21.32* Laguna Niguel 5.4 .99 La Habra 2.3 -3.05 Lake Forest 3.4 -1.48 La Palma 0.9 -.48

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Value % City (billions) Change Los Alamitos 0.8 2.44 Mission Viejo 6.3 1.41 Newport Beach 12.2 .59 Orange 7.6 .70 Placentia 2.1 .33 San Clemente 3.9 2.43 San Juan Capistrano 2.4 .07 Santa Ana 10.2 -3.54 Seal Beach 1.8 -3.95 Stanton 1.0 -2.03 Tustin 3.7 .27 Unincorporated areas 15.6 2.87 Villa Park 0.6 1.78 Westminster 3.3 .73 Yorba Linda 4.5 .60 Total $173.2 .46

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* Increase due largely to annexation of unincorporated area

Source: Orange County assessor; Researched by SHELBY GRAD / For The Times