When
you purchase a home, the county tax assessor reassesses
the property and sets a new property tax amount based
on your purchase price. Your property taxes will be
approximately 1% of your purchase price, plus any voter
approved bonded indebtedness of the community. (A common
one here is the "Mello Roos" assessment which is added
to the property taxes for every home located within
the Mt. Diablo School District. This is an additional
$67 per year which is added to your tax bill. Another
common item is for "pest abatement" and may be about
$4 per year. Or a bond for a sewer district which can
be $200 per year.)
Thereafter
. . .
In
future years, the tax assessor is allowed to increase
the accessed value by 2% appreciation per year.
Homeowners Exception
This
is a deduction of $7,000 from the "accessed value" and
applies only to owner-occupied properties. Once you've
purchased a home you will received a card to fill out
to apply for the exemption. The card must be completed
and returned between March 1st and April 15th. Applications
submitted after April 15th, but before the end of the
year will qualify for only 80% of the exemption.
Supplemental
Tax Bill
Boy
does this one cause problems. Yes, the tax assessor
reassesses the property when it is sold, but they don't
always get the new tax bill amount "into the system"
as it were and the first tax bill that many buyers receive
is one which reflects the rate for the previous owner.
So you get this bill, think "wow" the taxes aren't as
high as I though, pay the bill, send it off and think
you are done. Nope. Expect that you will get another
tax bill, this one called the Supplemental Tax Bill.
It will cover the difference between the old rate (which
you already paid) and the new rate (which you really
owe).
EXAMPLE:
$250,000 purchase price
YEAR
1
$250,000
less $7,000 Exemption = $243,000
$243,000
x 1% = $2,430 tax bill (plus any special bond assessments)
YEAR
2
$250,000
plus 2% appreciation = $255,000
$255,000
less $7,000 Exemption = $248,000
$248,000
x 1% = $2,480 tax bill (plus any special bond assessments)
YEAR
3
assume
you add on a new bathroom valued at $15,000
$255,000
plus 2% appreciation = $260,100
$260,100
plus $15,000 addition = $275,100
$275,100
less $7,000 homeowners exemption = $268,100
$268,100
x 1% = $2,681 tax bill (plus any special bond assessments)
YEAR
4
$275,100
plus 2% appreciation = $280,602
$280,602
less $7,000 homeowners exemption = $273,602
$273,602
x 1% = $2,736 tax bill (plus any special bond assessments)
If
you now sold your house for $300,000, the property tax
bill for the new owner would be based on the $300,000
purchase price.
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