Calaveras County Assessor’s Office

Leslie K. Davis Assessor

Dear Property Owner:

It has come to our attention that your property may have experienced damage that might qualify for reassessment. State Law refers to this as“Reassessment of Property Damaged or Destroyed by Misfortune or Calamity.” If your property qualifies for reassessment,we will reduce the assessment and issue a correction that is prorated for the number of months that the property is in a damaged condition.

“Misfortune or Calamity” means that the damage occurred through no fault of the property owner. Common examples include wind damage and wildfires. In order to qualify for reassessment, the physical damage must exceed $10,000 and the damaged property must be assessed. We have enclosed an Application for Reassessment. If you qualify for reassessment, please complete the attached form and return it to this office no later than 12 months after the date of damage. We strongly encourage you to include copies of repair estimates and photographs of the damaged property.

You may continue to qualify for certain exemptions while you are repairing the property. On the reverse side of this letter, we explain what happens to the assessed value of property when damaged and when repaired. We hope that it answers any questions you may have about this process.

Sincerely,

Leslie K. Davis Assessor

891 Mountain Ranch RoadSan Andreas, CA 95249209.754.6356assessorpublic@co.calaveras.ca.us

Damage or destruction to property due to calamity or misfortune is eligible for reassessment and a reduction in property taxes. Section 170.0 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State of California and Calaveras County Code Chapter 3.32 govern how the damage property is reassessed.

Calamities must be discovered within 12 months of the damage. If a calamity occurred more than 12 months prior to the discovery, the only remedy is a reduction in value as of the lien date, January 1.

Applications

If a calamity is discovered, an application will be sent to the person who is liable for the property taxes in the fiscal year in which the calamity occurred because, under State Law, an application for reassessment must be made by the person who owned the property on January 1st or the person who acquired the property after January 1st and is liable for the property taxes.

Theapplicationmustbefiledwithin12monthsofthedateofdamage. Thedamagemusthavebeencausedbymisfortuneor calamitywithoutthefaultoftheownerorapplicant. Thedamagetothetaxablepropertymustbeinexcessof$10,000. The application must be executed under penalty of perjury or, if executed outside the State of California, verified by an affidavit.

Iftherequirementsaremet,thepropertywillbereassessedtoreflectthepercentageoflossduetothemisfortuneorcalamity. A rollcorrectionwillbeprocessedandacorrectedtaxbillorrefundwillbeprocessedbytheAuditor. Thereductionwillbebasedon the reduction in value for the months that the property is in a damaged condition.

Ifanapplicationisnotreceived,theAssessorisauthorizedtoreassesstheproperty. However,everyeffortmustbemadetoobtain the necessary information from the property owner.

Reassessment

The appraiser must determine the percentage reductions in the value of the land,improvements, and personal property. Those percentages are used to calculate the reassessment. For example, assume that a property that was worth$230,000 before a calamity experienced damage that destroyed a detached garage worth$15,000. The percentage calculation follows:

Market Value of Land
Market Value of Improvements Total Value

Land Improvements Total

Before

$ 030,000 $ 200,000 $ 230,000

Assessed Value

$ 015,000 $ 115,000 $ 130,000

$ $ $

% Chg

0.0 7.5

After

030,000 185,000 215,000

% Chg

0.0 7.5

Reassessed Value

$ 015,000 $ 106,375 $ 121,375

Inthisexample,althoughthecost/valueofthedamageexceeds$10,000thevaluewillonlybereducedby$8,625. Underno circumstances can the reduction exceed the actual loss.

Reconstruction

When the damaged property has been restored or repaired, the factored base year value of the damaged component is added back to theassessmentroll. Ifpartialreconstructionhasoccurred,theassessedvaluewillbeincreasedbyanamountdeterminedby multiplying the percent of the repair and the factored base year value of the damaged component.

To continue our example, if the garage is reconstructed and it is 60% complete on the following lien date then $5,175 [factored] will beaddedtotheroll. Theassessedvalueofthepropertyinitsdamagedconditionisinflatedbythesamefactorusedonall properties.So,iftheinflationfactorfortheyearinquestionwas2%,thevalueaddedwouldbe$5,278. Oncompletionofthe restoration, the factored base year value of the damaged component will be added to the roll. The restoration is subject to a supplemental assessment.

New Construction

Ifnewconstructionoccurs,thenewconstructionisassessedconsistentwiththeRevenueandTaxationCode. Thereisno provision for a property owner to “reconstruct” improvements that are larger than the original improvement. For example if a garage is reconstructed with additional square footage or as living area it will trigger an increase over the factored base year value.

Annual Review

It is necessary to review properties affected by calamities every year until the property and its base year value have been restored. The review is needed to ensure that the land value continues to inflate and the proper value for the improvements is enrolled.

IMPORTANT

Applications will not be accepted more than 12 months after the date of damage.

Calaveras Tax Assessor Re Butte Fire Damages – form to file