Chapter 66-6 — REASSESSMENT OF DAMAGED PROPERTY

The purpose of this chapter is to effectuate Revenue and Taxation Code Section 170 by providing for reassessment of property damaged or destroyed by major misfortune or calamity so as to allow reduced taxes for the part of the tax year in which the property was damaged or destroyed.

(Ord. 82-39).

Article 66-6.4. Applicability

To be eligible for reassessment under this chapter property must have been damaged or destroyed by a major misfortune or calamity, in an area or region subsequently proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster due to the misfortune or calamity. As used in this section, "damage" includes a diminution in the value of property as a result of restricted access to the property where such restricted access was caused by the major misfortune or calamity.

(Ord. 82-39).

Article 66-6.6. Administration

An application for reassessment must be filed within twelve months of the Governor's proclamation that the area is in a state of disaster. Application for reassessment shall be made by delivering to the assessor a written request for reassessment. Such written request must show the condition and value, if any, of the property immediately after the damage or destruction, and the dollar amount of the damage. The applicant must verify the facts stated in the written request by executing the request under penalty of perjury and, if executed outside the state of California, verify the facts stated therein by affidavit. If no such application is made and the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve months a property has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity which may qualify the property owner for relief, 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 sixty days of the date of mailing of notification by the assessor but in no case more than twelve months after the occurrence of said damage. Upon receipt of a properly completed, timely filed application, the property shall be reassessed in the same manner as required in Section 66-6.604.

(Ord. 82-39, amended by Ord. 2003-08).

If no application for reassessment is made, and if the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve months a property has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity, which may qualify the owner for relief under this chapter, the assessor may, with the approval of the board, reassess the property for which the approval was granted as provided in Section 66-6.604 and notify the last known owner of the reassessment.

(Ord. 82-39, amended by Ord. 2003-08).

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 damages or destruction exceeds the sum of the values after the damage by ten thousand dollars or more, the assessor shall also separately determine the percentage reductions in 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 subdivision, and the taxes due on the property shall be adjusted as provided in Section 66-6.610; provided, however, that the amount of the reduction shall not exceed the actual loss.

(Ord. 82-39).

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 assessment appeals board within six months of the date of mailing the notice. If an appeal is requested within the six 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 regarding any reassessment made pursuant to this section shall create no presumption as regards the value of the affected property subsequent to the date of damage.

(Ord. 82-39, amended by Ord. 2003-08).

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 assessment appeals board, as the case may be. The auditor shall enter the reassessed values on the roll. After being entered on the roll, such reassessed values shall not be subject to review, except by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. 82-39).

The tax rate fixed for property on the roll on which the property so reassessed appeared at the time of the misfortune or calamity shall be applied to the amount of the reassessment as determined in accordance with this section and the assessee shall be liable for: (1) 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, (2) 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. 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. 82-39, amended by Ord. 2003-08).

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. 82-39).

The assessed value of the property in its damaged condition, as determined pursuant to the foregoing provisions, compounded annually by the inflation factor specified in subdivision (a) of Revenue and Taxation Code Section 51, 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.

When the property is fully repaired, restored or reconstructed, its new taxable value shall be the lesser of (1) its full cash value, or (2) its factored base year value or its factored base year value as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Revenue and Taxation Code Section 70. The new taxable value shall be enrolled on the lien date following completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction.

(Ord. 82-39).

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the auditor shall not change the roll or recalculate taxes under this chapter in any case where the taxpayer shows that doing so would increase the taxes otherwise due, for a period including both the tax year of the damage and the next following tax year.

(Ord. 82-39).