What is an “escape assessment”?
There is no escaping property taxes, right?
According to the Sacramento County Assessor, “An “escape assessment” is a correction to a property’s assessed value on the local property tax roll. The correction is made because the Assessor’s Office discovered a property or a taxable event that should have been assessed but was not. Current and/or prior year tax rolls may be affected. The most common reasons for an escape assessment are overlooked or unreported new construction, a missed change of ownership… or the removal of an exemption.”
Why am I talking about escape assessments? I just finished up some property tax consulting work for an East Sacramento home owner who needed research for his property’s value over the past four years. I love this type of work because it’s exciting to analyze the market for a number of years to establish a value over time. In this situation the owner inherited the property in 2008 from a friend, but the Assessor’s Office was not informed at the time of the death of the original owner, which should have triggered a reassessment. When the Assessor discovered the death and change of ownership, they sent the new owner a “Notice of Proposed Escape Assessment”, which basically means the Assessor’s Office enrolled new assessments for the property for the past four years. The home owner can appeal the values within 60 days of the issuance of the notice. Since the owner disagreed with the value put on the tax roll by the Assessor for 2008-2011, he hired me to show what market value was during each of these respective years.
NOTE: In situations like this the owner can appeal property taxes for multiple years in the past, but that’s not the case in typical “decline in value” situations. If you have been overtaxed for the past several years, for example, but you did not formally dispute your property taxes at the time, then there is nothing you can do once the appeals deadline passes on November 30 of the given year. All you can do is wait until the next year to appeal your property taxes.
Does that make sense? Let me know if you have any questions.
If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.
No related posts.
Tagged as: advice for appealing taxes · dispute property taxes in Sacramento County · East Sacramento · escape assessment · Home Appraiser · Notice of Proposed Escape Assessment · property tax consultant · Sacramento County Assessor
truly fascinating. thanks. do you know if there is any way for the low prop 13 tax rates to pass to beneficiaries upon inheritance, or does inheritance trigger new property taxes always?
Thanks. There are really so many rules when it comes to taxes and transfers. It’s very important to read up on what is allowed. The rule of thumb is when there is a change in ownership, there will be a reassessment of property value (or in other words a new Prop 13 value). But there are circumstances and certain types of transfers that do not fall under the category of a “change of ownership”. I am not a tax attorney of any sort, so I definitely refer others to read the fine print and consult an attorney or tax code specialist. Disclaimers out of the way, these links are helpful:
Rule 462.240. The Following Transfers Do Not Constitute a Change in Ownership. http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/property/current/ptlg/rule/462-240.html
Rule 462.160. Change in Ownership—Trusts.
http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/property/current/ptlg/rule/462-160.html
FAQ for Exclusion from Reappraisal under propositions 58/193 [Transfers Between Parent and Child; Grandparent and Grandchild]
http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/propositions58.htm
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION—PROPERTY TAX Subchapter 4. Equalization by State Board (370–500)
http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/property/current/ptlg/rule/461.html
The proposed escape assessment was sent to the escrow office that had moved sincethe time we oppened the escrow. Consequently, we did not receive the notices the assessors office had sent out. Now, six month has passes and the assessor office sent us a delequant tax bill. I feel we do not owe the tax because we were not aware of the notices. This was a prop 58 case.
Please help
Fred G.
Thanks
the increased amount in real property valuation over the regular assessed valuation from a delayed reappraisal of the property and/or an erroneously applied homeowner’s exemption valuation reduction. secured property supplemental tax bill retroactively taxes the supplemental assessment of property on a pro- rata basis as a result of the assessor’s reappraisal of property
Thanks for your comment.