Mono County Municipal Code Ch. 3.40 Property Reassessment After Calamities

The purpose of this chapter is to implement the provisions of Section 170 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and to provide that every assessee of taxable property, or any person liable for the taxes thereon, whose property was damaged or destroyed without his or her fault, by a misfortune or calamity, may apply to the assessor for reassessment of that damaged or destroyed property in the manner provided for by this chapter.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

To be eligible for reassessment, the damage or destruction to the property must be in excess of ten thousand dollars and shall have been caused by any of the following:

A. A major misfortune or calamity in an area or region subsequently proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster, if the 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. As used in this subsection, "damage" includes a diminution in the value of property as a result of restricted access to the property where that restricted access was caused by the major misfortune or calamity;

B. A misfortune or calamity;

C. A misfortune or calamity that, with respect to a possessory interest in land owned by the state or federal government, has caused the permit or the right to enter upon the land to be suspended or restricted.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

A. An application for reassessment shall be filed within twelve months of the misfortune or calamity by delivering to the assessor a written application requesting reassessment showing the condition and value, if any, of the property immediately after the damage or destruction, and the dollar amount of the damage. The application shall be executed under penalty of perjury, or if executed outside the state of California, shall be verified by affidavit.

B. If no application is made and the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve months taxable property located in the county has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity that may qualify the property owner for relief as provided in this chapter, 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 the notice by the assessor, but in no case more than twelve months after the occurrence of the damage. Upon receipt of a properly completed, timely filed application, the property shall be reassessed as provided in this chapter. This subdivision does not apply where the assessor initiates the reassessment of damaged property.

C. The assessor may initiate a reassessment of property where the assessor determines that within the preceding twelve months taxable property located in the county was damaged or destroyed, and the damage is in excess of ten thousand dollars.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

Upon receiving a proper application, the assessor shall verify the amounts claimed on the application, 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 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 section, and the taxes due on the property shall be adjusted as provided herein; provided, however, that the amount of the reduction shall not exceed the actual loss. If the amount of damage, as verified by the assessor, is not at least ten thousand dollars, no adjustment shall be made to the tax roll and no taxes shall be canceled or refunded.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

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 assessment to the assessment appeals board within six months of the date of the mailing of the notice. If an appeal is requested within the six-month period, the assessment appeals 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 assessment appeals board regarding the damaged value of the property shall be final, but a decision made pursuant to this section shall create no presumption regarding the value of the affected property subsequent to the date of the damage.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

Reassessed values resulting from reduction 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, those reassessed values shall not be subject to review, except by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Ord. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

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 chapter 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, 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, 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. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

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. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)

A. The assessed value of the property in its damaged condition, as determined pursuant to this chapter, 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.

B. 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.

C. When the property is fully repaired, restored, or reconstructed, the assessor shall make an additional assessment (or assessments) in accordance with Revenue and Taxation Code Section 170(h)(1), as that section may be amended from time to time.

D. 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. "New taxable value" shall, for purposes of this subdivision, 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. 06-04 § 1 Exh. A (part), 2006.)