General Info & Terms

Assessment Roll – The official listing of all taxable property within the jurisdiction of the local Assessor.

Secured Roll – Property on which the property taxes are a lien against the real property.

Unsecured Roll – Property on which the property taxes are not a lien against the real property.

Real Property – The possession of, claim to, ownership of, or right to the possession of land and or improvements.

Personal Property – All property which is not Real Property.

Improvements – All buildings, structures, fixtures and fences erected on or affixed to the land. All fruit, nut bearing, or ornamental trees and vines not of natural growth, and not exempt from taxation.

Possessory Interests – Is the private beneficial use of otherwise tax exempt property. This can happen with grazing rights or cabin sites on government land. Boat docks and airplane hangers on government land are other examples of this type of assessment.

Reasons why the Assessor will appraise property –

1) All changes of ownership unless specifically excluded.

2) New construction.

Base Year Value – The Assessor must establish a taxable value as of the date of the change in ownership or the date of completion of new construction. This value then is called your Base Year Value.

Factored Base Year Value – The Assessor is mandated to increase the base year value by a consumer price index annually. The result is called the Factored Base Year Value. This becomes the subsequent year’s taxable value unless this indexing results in a number higher than current market. This indexing can not exceed 2% per year.

Lien Date – The date at which taxes become a lien on the property. This date is January 1st of each year. This date is also the date at which the condition of the property is reflected on the annual assessment.

Fiscal Year – July 1st to June the 30th.

Supplemental Assessments – When the Assessor establishes a new base year value for a property due to a change in ownership or new construction, this new value goes into effect the 1st of the month following the month of the activity. This new assessment then is compared to the current assessment. The supplemental is simply the difference between the two numbers. A supplemental can be positive or negative.

Homeowners Exemption – The State of California provides a small property tax break on residential owner occupied properties. The result is a lowering of the taxable value by $7,000. This requires an application.

Parent to Child or Child to Parent Exclusion – This exclusion is commonly called the family exclusion. This is misleading in that it is specific to parents and children. It can be expanded to include grandparents and grandchildren under specific circumstances. However, it does not include any other family relationships. There is a $1,000,0000 limit to this exclusion per transferor. The principal residence does not count against this limit.

This requires and application.

Transfer of Base Year Value (Prop. 60) – Law allows a taxpayer whom is disabled or over the age of 55 to move to a replacement property and not suffer any property tax consequences if the replacement property is within the same county jurisdiction as the original property, and the replacement property is of EQUAL OR LESSOR VALUE then the original. The theory is that the folks over the age of 55 no longer need the larger property and possibly can no longer take care of the larger property and should be allowed to “downsize” to a more manageable property and not have property tax consequences. This requires an application.

Transfer of Base Year Value (Prop. 90) – Same as Prop. 60 only provide that the base year value can be transferred across county jurisdictional lines. This provision was optional for counties to participate. This is not available in Tehama County. Out of the 58 counties in California there are only a handful where this is available.

Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) – Law requires that the transferee (buyer) turn this form into the County Recorder any time a document is recorded that transfers any equitable title. This document provides needed information about this particular transfer to the Assessor. This information is specific to the type of transaction as well as the financial terms of the transaction.

Change of Ownership Report – This document is basically the same document as the PCOR. However this request comes directly from the Assessor. Non compliance with this request will result in a penalty of a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2500. This form is used when there is no PCOR provided to the Recorder or when the information on the PCOR is insufficient for the Assessor to make his determinations.

Builders exclusion – Law allows for speculation builders to notify the Assessor prior to, or within 30 days of the commencement of, construction that this project will not be used by the builder. This statement, if made and approved by the Assessor, provides that the Assessor will not enroll the new value of the completed construction for a supplemental assessment. The Assessor will enroll the value for the following lien date. This requires an application.

Reassessment due to property damaged due to misfortune or calamity – When a property is damaged by a fire or flood or some other type of disaster a taxpayer may receive property tax relief. The damage must not be the fault of the property owner, the damage must exceed $10,000 and the taxpayer must notify the Assessor within 12 months of the damage. This requires an application.

Change of Address– A property owner may change the mailing address for any particular property that he/she owns. This requires a signature. The only address that will be changed is the specific property listed on the request form.