Mother Lode Assessed Property Values Up Five Percent
Sacramento, CA — In what is being called an encouraging economic sign, Mother Lode assessed property values are up five percent this year over last.
According to California State Board of Equalization (BOE) Vice Chair George Runner, these values grew that amount in Tuolumne, Calaveras and Mariposa counties from $14.4 billion to $15.2 billion in 2015-16 over the previous year. Runner reports that county-assessed property values gained 4.9 percent while state-assessed values increased by 5.8 percent.
Each year by January 1, county assessors must assess the value of each home within its jurisdiction along with other residential and commercial property. The assessed values are then used to set each parcel’s property tax due the following December as well as in April of the subsequent year. BOE does the same for properties such as privately owned public utilities and railroads, providing the basis for their annual tax bills.
“Property values throughout California continue to rise,” states BOE Vice Chair Runner. “In some areas of the state we saw more growth than others — but overall this is an encouraging sign for our economy.”
Runner points out that this is the fifth consecutive year the total value of the state’s county and BOE-assessed properties has seen gains, which he largely attributes to the recovery of the housing market in California. The latest figures show values at $5.209 trillion, an increase of $289.9 billion — up nearly six percent — from 2014-15. He adds that values, statewide, are over 14 percent higher than in 2008-09, which was during the previous peak. Breaking down valuations by location, those in the 43 inland counties rose 5.8 percent; for the 15 coastal counties, which hold more than 60 percent of the total assessed valuation, the figure was up by six percent.
Overall, 56 counties posted year-to-year increases in assessed value, most of which showing two percent gains; 33 had gains of five percent or more; only two counties experienced a year-to-year decline in value.
