The County Tax Assessor will reassess your property for free! It is their job!
Many opportunists have been mailing to countless homeowners offering to act as intermediary between the property owner and the county tax assessor to get their property tax lowered. Property tax base reassessment is, after all, the silver lining in declining real property values. Prop 13 puts a cap on property tax assessment values but not a floor. So it is a good idea to consider whether recent sales may indicate that your property has declined in value below what it might be assessed by the accounty.
San Mateo County indicates on their website that they are automatically evaluating 45,000 properties in the county including every property purchased after January 1, 2002. If your property doesn’t fit that description but you still think the property valuation will be too high, you can go to the website and apply for evaluation online. It is easy. Just click here.
Santa Clara County indicates that they will mail the tax assessments in May. If you think the assessment is too high, the process for reevaluating is spelled out in their site, just click here.
For a review of the process, just download this pdf:
ssc-contesting-your-assessed-value1
For a review of the property tax calendar, just download this pdf:
ssc-assessors-calendar-of-important-dates
So…promise me – don’t sign up with a third party to get lower property taxes – you’re already paying the county for the service of reassessment and a third party won’t help.
