FAQ: How to Reduce Your Property Taxes this Year!

With the widely publicized reduction in home prices this past year, many homeowners are wondering about their upcoming property tax payment and looking for ways to save money.

While it might be too late to change this current property tax cycle, with the second payment due in a couple months, you can take steps to possibly save on this upcoming cycle of property taxes.

It is true that your Los Angeles County property tax is based on the price of your home when you bought it. Although prices in the county have only fallen about 8% from their highs, many people who have bought their home in the past couple of years may have a home worth less than the purchase price. For these homes, you can file an application for a “Decline in Value Reassessment” at http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/list/newsList.aspx?newsid=78. The home must have been purchased between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2007 to qualify for this temporary reduction in the tax.

The Assessor’s Office is sponsoring community meetings to publicize the program and assist homeowners with these reassessments. The only one in the Tri-Valley area of Northern LA County I am aware of is at the Lancaster Public Library, 601 West Lancaster Blvd. (zip 93535) on Wednesday, January 30 from 10am-11:30am. For more information, you can call the Assessor’s Office at Call (213)974-3211.

Questions answered in this column were asked by my clients, past clients, or prospective buyers and sellers. The questions were answered when they were asked, and they were notified if the question is a candidate for the FAQ column. Questions are chosen based on interest to a wider audience, timeliness to the current market, and possibly other factors. Those whose questions are featured in this column get a gift card to their favorite store, restaurant, mall or movie theatre in the Tri-Valley area if they allow me to publish their name or initials and the city in which they live in this column. You can email your questions for a prompt response to changhomes@gmail.com.