Board Acts on Tax Appeal Logjam

A nagging backlog of 35,000 appeals from Orange County home and business owners protesting past property tax assessments prodded county supervisors Tuesday to create two new three-person appeals boards to clear the logjam.

Supervisors also ordered a review of the entire property-tax appeal process, including whether there is adequate staffing in the assessor’s office. The assessor must provide auditors to attend appeal hearings and answer questions about how the disputed assessments were set.

“The public deserves to have their appeals heard in a timely manner,” Supervisor Jim Silva said in asking for the review.

But county officials warned that adding the new hearing boards--bringing the total to five three-person boards--won’t make a dent in clearing pending appeals without additional work from the assessor’s office. The new boards will allow more flexibility for property owners in scheduling hearing times and for hearing officers, who work about four days a week.

“The assessor has already told us that he’s at full capacity,” said Darlene Bloom, the clerk of the Board of Supervisors, whose office schedules the hearings. “We want to make sure we have greater options for scheduling so we don’t have any downtime. And if the assessor should have new funding [for more staff], we’d have the structure in place to go full bore.”

Supervisors and Assessor Bradley Jacobs have been warring for months over Jacobs’ refusal to apply for about $7 million in state funds available this year to help relieve the chronic appeals backlog. Jacobs has argued that the county would have to hire at least 15 more workers to accept the money, which comes with strict compliance requirements. The money would have to be returned to the state if the efficiency goals weren’t met.

Jacobs’ office didn’t return calls Tuesday seeking comment. Forty of the state’s 58 counties have accepted the state money, available under a temporary three-year program that began in 1995, county Finance Officer Gary Burton said. None of the counties has been asked to return the funds.

Board Chairman William G. Steiner said the county has “come a long way” in clearing assessment appeals since 1994, when 68,000 pending protests clogged the system. The county lost millions of dollars in tax money when some of the appeals lapsed beyond the two-year deadline. Appeals more than 2 years old automatically are decided in favor of the property owner.

Bloom said all of the appeals approaching the two-year deadline have been scheduled for hearings. The county is taking 13 to 18 months to process appeals, she said.

The current backlog is for tax-bill appeals from 1995-96 and 1996-97. In July, the county began accepting appeals for 1997-98 tax assessments, which must be filed by Sept. 15.

The number of appeals has been slowing in recent years, with 30,536 appeals in 1996, down from 32,500 appeals the year before. There were 36,072 appeals in 1994 and 41,419 in 1993.

County officials blamed the surge in tax appeals in the early 1990s to a downturn in the real estate industry. Property owners began appealing in record numbers to try to conform their assessments with sagging market values. Bloom said the total number of appeals over the past four years was more than all of the property tax appeals received by the county in the previous 35 years.

The three-member boards are designated by the Board of Supervisors under state law to act as local boards of equalization. The board members must be appraisers, real estate brokers, certified public accountants or attorneys; they determine the final value of property based upon evidence presented by the property owner and the assessor at the hearing.

Hearing board members earn $100 for each half-day of work and $200 for each full day.

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Taxing Questions

Appealing your property tax doesn’t have to be a daunting process. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers about reassessment:

Q: How do I know what the assessed value of my property is?

A: A valuation post card should have been mailed to you in July for the regular annual assessment. Separate notices are mailed for special assessments, referred to as “supplemental” or “escape” assessments.

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Q: What if I disagree with the assessed value of my property?

A: Property owners have a right to challenge their property assessments by filing an application for changed assessment with the Assessment Appeals Board. You may also ask the assessor for an informal review, which may result in an adjustment without requiring further action. The assessor’s office can be reached at (714) 834-2727.

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Q: How do I get an appeal application?

A: Applications and instruction booklets are available at all libraries in Orange County. If you wish to receive these materials by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped legal-size (No. 10) envelope ($1.01 postage) to: Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board, P.O. Box 22033, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Forms also can be downloaded from the Internet at https://www.oc.ca.gov/

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Q: When do I have to file the application?

A: Applications for regular appeals must be filed with the clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board from July 2 to Sept. 15. There is no cost to file. If you need additional information about the appeals process, call the clerk at (714) 834-3453.

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Q: Do I have to pay my property tax if I have filed an application?

A: Yes. You must pay your property tax bill to the tax collector while awaiting the outcome of your appeal. The assessment of your property is deemed correct until such time as it is changed by the board.

Source: County Assessment Appeals Board; Researched by JEAN O. PASCO / For The Times