Sierra County Municipal Code Ch. 5.24 Damaged Property Tax Relief

Every person who at 12:01 a.m. on January 1st was the assessee of any taxable property, or any person liable for the taxes thereon, for the fiscal year commencing the following July 1st, which property was thereafter damaged or destroyed, without his fault by a misfortune or calamity, may, within 12 months of such misfortune or calamity, apply for reassessment of such property by delivering to the Assessor a written application showing the condition and value, if any, of the property immediately before and after the damage or destruction, which damage must be shown therein to be in excess of $10,000. The application shall be executed under penalty of perjury, or if executed outside the state of California, verified by affidavit. (Ord. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14217)

Upon receiving a proper application, the Assessor shall verify the amounts claimed on the application in the before and after condition. If the sum of the full cash values of the land, improvements and personalty before damage or destruction exceeds the sum of the values after the damage by $10,000 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 Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 170, and the taxes due on the property shall be adjusted as provided for in that section; provided, however, the amount of the reduction shall not exceed the amount of the actual loss.

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 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 of Equalization 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 the damage. The reassessments resulting from those reductions, as determined above, shall be forwarded to the Auditor by the Assessor or the Clerk of the Board, as the case may be. The Auditor shall enter the reassessed values on the roll. After being entered on the roll, said reassessments shall not be subject to review except by a court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14217)

If the amount of damage, as verified by the Assessor, is not at least $10,000, no adjustment shall be made to said roll and no taxes shall be canceled or refunded. (Ord. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14218)

If an application is not made under the provisions of SCC 5.24.010, and the Assessor determines that a property has suffered damage caused by misfortune or calamity, which may qualify the property owner for relief under this chapter, the Assessor may initiate the reassessment where the Assessor determines that within the preceding 12 months taxable property located in the county was damaged or destroyed. 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 60 days of date of mailing of the notification by the Assessor. Upon receipt of a properly completed, timely filed application, the Assessor shall proceed to reassess property in the same manner as required above. In the event that no application is made, the Assessor is hereby authorized to reassess the property as provided in this chapter and to notify the last known owner of the property of the reassessment. (Ord. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 823, eff. 1/5/95; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14219)

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, 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. 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 Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 75.41. If the damage or destruction occurred after January 1st and before the beginning of the next fiscal year, the reassessment shall be utilized to determine the tax liability for the next fiscal year. 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. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14220)

Any tax paid in excess of the total tax due shall be refunded to the taxpayer pursuant to California Revenue and Taxation Code, Division 1, Part 9, Chapter 5 (commencing with Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 5096) 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. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Prior code § 14221)

The assessed value of the property in its damaged condition, as determined pursuant to subsection (B) of this section compounded annually by the inflation factor specified in subdivision (a) of Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 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, the Assessor shall make an additional assessment or assessments in accordance with subsections (A) or (B) of this section upon completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction:

A. If the completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction occurs on or after January 1st, but on or before May 31st, then there shall be two 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.

B. If the completion of the repair, restoration, or reconstruction occurs on or after June 1st, but before the succeeding January 1st, 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.

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.

For purposes of this subsection, “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 Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 70.

The Assessor may apply California Revenue and Taxation Code, Division 1, Part 0.5, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 75) in implementing this section, to the extent that chapter is consistent with this portion of the Sierra County Code. (Ord. 941, eff. 4/17/03; Ord. 484, eff. 2/3/77; Ord. 470, eff. 7/15/76; Prior code § 14227)