Oct 8, 2008 1:45 pm US/Pacific
Home Values Reassessed; Local Government Pinched
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
The median home price in California has dropped more than 30 percent, and Bay Area cities and counties are losing money as homeowners ask for the value of their homes to be reassessed.
In San Francisco, about half of the 1,673 who asked for reassessments saw their property taxes reduced, according to Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.
"Eighty percent of these reductions were from people who purchased their property after 2005," he said.
The overall property value roll went down $96 million, which Ting expects will translate into a $1.1 million decrease in taxes pouring into city coffers.
Alameda County has also received a flood of requests for reassessment, said Russ Hall with the Alameda County Assessors office.
This is a reflection of the general downturn in the housing market," Hall said.
The deadline for appeal has passed, but Hall said Alameda County residents worried they are paying too much can still ask for an informal review.
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