Property Levies Top $300 Billion in Value

The assessed value of Orange County property totals about $308.6 billion, up 8.7% over last year, officials said Friday. The added $24.7 billion in value, they said, represents the largest increase in 28 years.

The report, from the office of Orange County Assessor Webster J. Guillory, also found that Irvine remains the city with the highest total property value, assessed at $29.6 billion -- a 10.9% increase over last year.

Anaheim, meanwhile, dropped to No. 3 with total assessments of $26.5 billion, while Newport Beach replaced it as No. 2 with $26.9 billion in total value, a 9.7% increase from last year.

For the second straight year, according to the report, San Clemente had the largest percentage increase in total value -- up about 13.1% -- followed by Laguna Beach with an increase of 13%.

To put such increases into historical perspective, the total value of Orange County property in 1975 -- the year Proposition 13 went into effect, changing the way property values are assessed -- was about $27.5 billion.

Orange County property owners are mailed notices of their property’s assessed value each year, the assessor’s office said. Those values form the basis upon which county officials determine their property tax liability.