Thousands of Bay Area homeowners qualify for property tax cuts. What about Sacramento?

Thousands of Bay Area homeowners will receive automatic property tax reductions, but those in Sacramento County shouldn’t expect the same.

The reason: The Bay Area has experienced a decline in its property market value.

Under Proposition 13, California homes are typically reassessed when there’s a transfer of ownership or construction done to the property, according to a 2022 annual report from Sacramento County Assessor Christina Wynn. Proposition 8 allows county assessors to temporarily reduce the assessed values when a home’s market value declines.

The assessed value increase is capped at 2%.

In Alameda County, more than 8,000 new homeowners received automatic reductions — ranging from 5% and 10% — depending on the area where homes were purchased between January and October.

The total “assessment value reduced” was roughly $9 million, according to a statement from Alameda County Assessor Phong La. Reductions were also applied to roughly 2,300 manufactured homes and more than 100 commercial and industrial properties.

“After looking at the data, it was clear the right thing to do was provide proactive Proposition 8 assessment tax reductions to these impacted property owners,” he wrote.

Sacramento County hasn’t experienced the same market conditions.

In an emailed statement to The Bee, Wynn said county assessors are not “proactively” slicing assessed values across the county.

To qualify for a temporary reduction under Proposition 8, she said the market value of a property (as of Jan. 1) must be less than the property’s Proposition 13 value (as of Jan. 1). Even though assessors didn’t apply mass reductions across the county, homeowners can check their new assessed value using the county’s Assessed Value Look-Up online tool.

Sacramento Realtor John Campos said Sacramento’s housing market hit its peak in Spring 2022 and since then, prices are down between 4% and 5%.

“The depreciation varies by city,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “This year prices are actually on the rise despite high interest rates.”

If you disagree with the assessed value of your property or believe you should’ve received a reduction, Wynn said the next step is to file a request through the assessor’s office for a free informal review by Dec. 31.

This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 5:30 AM.