Butte County Municipal Code § 21-73 Reassessment of property

* Editor's note—Article V, §§ 21-70—21-80 is derived from Ord. No. 1581, § 1, adopted Dec. 10, 1974.

It is the purpose of this article to provide property tax relief pursuant to the authority vested in the board of supervisors by the Revenue and Taxation Code Section 170 as amended. This article shall be effective in Butte County only so long as the legislature continues to grant the authority therefor either by Revenue and Taxation Code Section 170 or a substituted section of that code.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 3986, § 1, 7-22-08)

(a) Who may file. Any person who, at 12:01 on January first, was the owner of, or had in his possession, or under his control, any taxable property, or who had acquired such property after such date and is liable for the taxes thereon for the fiscal year commencing the immediately following July first, which property was thereafter damaged or destroyed, without his fault, by misfortune or calamity, may apply to the assessor of Butte County for reassessment of such property.

(b) Contents of application. The assessor shall provide, free of charge, forms on which applications are to be made. The application shall show:

(1) The name and address of applicant.

(2) A description of the property which is the subject of the applicant sufficient to identify it on the assessment roll.

(3) A description of the misfortune or calamity claimed to be the proximate cause of the damage to or destruction of the property.

(4) A statement of the condition of the property immediately before and immediately after the damage or destruction of the property.

(5) The full cash value immediately before and immediately after the damage or destruction of the property.

(c) To be in writing. The application shall be in writing and signed by the applicant with a declaration under penalty of perjury that the statements made in the application are true. If the application is executed outside the State of California, it shall be sworn to before a notary public or other person authorized to administer oaths.

(d) When to be filed. The application must be filed not later than twelve (12) months following the date of the occurrence of the misfortune or calamity causing the damages to or destruction of the property, and shall be filed in the office of the county assessor.

(e) Filing after twelve (12) months. Any person who has failed to file within the first twelve (12) months following the date of the occurrence of the misfortune or calamity may petition the board of supervisors at any time within the succeeding six (6) months for reassessment of the property. Upon a showing by the applicant that failure to file within the twelve (12) month period was due to reasonable cause and circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control and occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary care and the absence of willful neglect, the board of supervisors may authorize the reassessment of the property.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 2197, § 2, 3-17-81; Ord. No. 3986, § 2, 7-22-08)

Upon receipt of a timely application on the prescribed form the county assessor shall ascertain:

(1) Whether the application was filed within the time prescribed by Section 21-71(d);

(2) Whether the applicant is the person who is liable for the taxes on the property;

(3) Whether the extent of the damages is in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00); and

(4) Whether the damage to or destruction of the property was caused by a misfortune or a calamity without the fault of the applicant.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 3986, § 3, 7-22-08)

Upon receiving a proper application, the assessor shall appraise the property and determine separately the full cash value of land, improvements and personalty immediately before and after the damage or destruction. If the sum of the full cash values of the land, improvements and personalty before the damage or destruction exceeds the sum of the values after the damage by ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) or more, the assessor shall also separately determine the percentage reduction in the value of land, improvements and personalty due to the damage or destruction. The assessor shall reduce the values appearing on the assessment roll by the percentages of damage or destruction computed pursuant to this section and the taxes due on the property shall be adjusted as provided in Section 21-79; provided, however, that the amount of the reduction shall not exceed the actual loss.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 2197, § 3, 3-17-81; Ord. No. 3986, § 4, 7-22-08)

The assessor shall notify the applicant in writing of the amount of the proposed reassessment. The notice shall state that the applicant may appeal the proposed reassessment to the local board of equalization within six (6) months of the date of mailing the notice. If an appeal is requested within the six (6) month period, the board shall hear and decide the matter as if the proposed reassessment had been entered on the roll as an assessment made outside the regular assessment period. The decision of the board regarding the damaged value of the property shall be final, provided that a decision of the local board of equalization regarding any reassessment made pursuant to this article shall create no presumption as regards the value of the affected property subsequent to the date of the damage.

Those reassessed values resulting from reductions in full cash value of amounts, as determined above, shall be forwarded to the auditor by the assessor or the clerk of the local equalization board, as the case may be. The auditor shall enter the reassessed values on the roll. After being entered on the roll, those reassessed values shall not be subject to review, except by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. No. 3986, § 5, 7-22-08)

If no application is made and the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve (12) months a property has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity, which may qualify the property owner for relief under this article, the assessor shall provide the last-known owner of the property with an application for reassessment. The property owner shall file the completed application within twelve (12) months occurrence of said damage. Upon receipt of a properly completed, timely filed, application, the assessor shall proceed to reassess the property in the same manner as required above.

(Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 2197, § 4, 3-17-81; Ord. No. 3986, § 6, 7-22-08)

If the assessor determines that a property has suffered damage caused by a major misfortune or calamity in an area or region subsequently proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster, and if that property was damaged or destroyed by the major misfortune or calamity that caused the Governor to proclaim the area or region to be in a state of disaster, the assessor may reassess the property in the same manner as required above.

(Ord. No. 4145, §§ 1, 2, 5-22-18)

* Editor's note—Former §§ 21-74—21-78 were repealed by Ord. No. 3986.

The tax rate fixed for the property on the roll on which the property as reassessed appeared at the time of the misfortune or calamity shall be applied to the amount of reassessment as determined in accordance with this article, and the assessee shall be liable for:

(a) A prorated portion of the taxes that would have been due on the property for the current fiscal year had the misfortune or calamity not occurred, such proration to be determined on the basis of the number of months in the current fiscal year prior to the misfortune or calamity; plus

(b) A proration of the tax due on the property as reassessed in its damaged or destroyed condition, such proration to be determined on the basis of the number of months in the fiscal year after the damage or destruction, including the month in which the damage was incurred. For purposes of applying the preceding calculation in prorating supplemental taxes, the term "fiscal year" means that portion of the tax year used to determine the adjusted amount of taxes due pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 75.41 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. If the damage or destruction occurred after January 1 and before the beginning of the next fiscal year, the reassessment shall be utilized to determine the tax liability for the next fiscal year; provided, however, if the property is fully restored during the next fiscal year, taxes due for that year shall be prorated based on the number of months in the year before and after the completion of restoration.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 2197, § 5, 3-17-81; Ord. No. 3986, § 12, 7-22-08)

Any tax paid in excess of the total tax due shall be refunded to the taxpayer pursuant to chapter 5 (commencing with section 5096) of part 9 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as an erroneously collected tax or by order of the board of supervisors without the necessity of a claim being filed pursuant to chapter 5.

(Ord. No. 1531, § 1, 12-10-74; Ord. No. 1802, § 1, 3-8-77; Ord. No. 2197, § 6, 3-17-81)

The assessed value of the property in its damaged condition, as determined pursuant to Section 21-73 compounded annually by the inflation factor specified in subdivision (a) of Section 51 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, shall be the taxable value of the property until it is restored, repaired, reconstructed or other provisions of the law require the establishment of a new base year value.

If partial reconstruction, restoration, or repair has occurred on any subsequent lien date, the taxable value shall be increased by an amount determined by multiplying the difference between its factored base year value immediately before the calamity and its assessed value in its damaged condition by the percentage of the repair, reconstruction, or restoration completed on that lien date.

(Ord. No. 3986, § 13, 7-22-08)

(a) When the property is fully repaired, restored, or reconstructed, the assessor shall make an additional assessment or assessments in accordance with subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section upon completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction:

(1) If the completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction occurs on or after January 1, but on or before May 31, then there shall be two (2) additional assessments. The first additional assessment shall be the difference between the new taxable value as of the date of completion and the taxable value on the current roll. The second additional assessment shall be the difference between the new taxable value as of the date of completion and the taxable value to be enrolled on the roll being prepared.

(2) If the completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction occurs on or after June 1, but before the succeeding January 1, then the additional assessment shall be the difference between the new taxable value as of the date of completion and the taxable value on the current roll.

(b) On the lien date following completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction, the assessor shall enroll the new taxable value of the property as of that lien date.

(c) For purposes of this section, "new taxable value" shall mean the lesser of the property's (1) full cash value, or (2) factored base year value or its factored base year value as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 70 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(Ord. No. 3986, § 14, 7-22-08)

The assessor may apply Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 75) of Part 0.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code in implementing this article, to the extent that chapter is consistent with this article.

(Ord. No. 3986, § 15, 7-22-08)

When the assessor does not have the general authority pursuant to this article to initiate reassessments, if no application is made and the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve (12) months a property has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity, that may qualify the property owner for relief under this article, the assessor may, with the approval of the board of supervisors, reassess the particular property for which approval was granted as provided in Section 21-73 and notify the last known owner of the property of the reassessment.

(Ord. No. 3986, § 16, 7-22-08)