Property Tax Agencies Told to Improve Their Service

Seeking to simplify the county’s labyrinthine property tax collection system, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered various agencies to seek ways to expedite the appeals process for homeowners who have overpaid property taxes.

“Nothing infuriates the public more than paying the government money that they know they are going to get back,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who introduced the motion. “It drives people batty.”

The board directed the five county agencies that handle property assessment appeals to find ways to get tax refunds out more quickly. The number of appeals has jumped from 32,000 in 1992 to an expected 130,000 this year.

The supervisors also ordered the newly appointed chief information officer Jon Fullinwider to audit the county’s antiquated technology.

Officials have blamed the flood of assessment appeals filed during the past five years on county budget cuts which have left many departments without the computer technology that could speed the process.

The delays in refunds started in the early 1990s. As the recession deepened, property values dropped and homeowners found themselves stuck with tax bills that did not reflect the lower, correct value of their houses.

Angry property owners responded by filing appeals with the county Assessment Appeals Board to get refunds--a process that can take up to two years.

As appeals have increased, officials say, the collection system has fallen steadily behind the technology curve.

Employees at the county assessor’s office--charged with determining the value of property--must still sift through property deeds manually because the records have never been entered into the computer system.

Further, the county departments involved in the collection and refund process--the assessor, treasurer-tax collector, auditor-controller and registrar-recorder--use incompatible computer software, which requires some of the information to be entered by hand.

“We have not been able to keep up with technology, and the downturn in the real estate market and budget constraints have made things tougher,” said Rick Auerbach, director of operations at the assessor’s office.

The assessor’s office took in about $5 billion worth of property taxes during the last fiscal year. Most of the money went to the state to pay for county schools, and most of the rest was divided among the county government, various cities and community redevelopment agencies.

On Tuesday, Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said the priority for the new chief information officer will be to modernize the technology used in the assessment appeals process.

The chief information officer is a new county post, and Fullinwider--the former director of information services in San Diego County--will earn $125,000 annually. He will be responsible for the county’s information and technological systems.