Sacramento County hits record $243 billion assessment roll. Here’s what that means for region

The Sacramento County assessment roll, which represents the total value of all property across the county, reached a new record of nearly $243 billion at the start of this year, officials said this week.

Sacramento County Assessor Christina Wynn announced in a news release the county saw a 5.18% increase in total gross assessed value of real, business and personal properties in the county, as of Jan. 1.

The net assessed value is a little over $233 billion, according to a Sacramento County news release. The lower figure accounts for the deduction of property tax exemptions for homeowners, disabled veterans and charitable organizations.

The year-to-year increase stems from the rise in average home prices in recent years, combined with new housing development and construction projects.

“The annual property tax roll indicates how much revenue will be generated from annual property tax bills that are sent to property owners in October,” Wynn said in an email. “This is directly related to the assessed values that are determined by the Assessor’s office and published annually as required by law.“

Wynn said in the news release that the 2024-25 assessment roll will generate approximately $2.3 billion in an estimated value of property tax revenue, including an additional $115 million in gross revenue over last year.

“The additional $115 million represents revenue growth that can be budgeted by the agencies to help fund their budgets for 2024-2025,” Wynn said. “It might provide opportunities but that is determined by those that make the spending decisions. Due to forecasting, most of this revenue has already been accounted for in the budget planning process however, the Department of Finance is the ultimate determiner if there will be additional funding available as a result of the official annual property tax roll.”

The county’s property tax revenue is one of the largest sources of revenue for Sacramento County’s general fund, the news release said.

Property tax revenue funds over 175 local government agencies such as schools, fire districts, community service, parks and recreation districts, city and redevelopment agencies.

“A positive increase indicates growth in property tax revenue i.e. funding which is shared between schools (49.1% share), special districts (17% share), Sacramento County (15.9% share), cities (11% share) and redevelopment agencies (7% share),” Wynn said.

Wynn also said the “properties appraised and assessed at market value each year include properties impacted by decline in value conditions (Prop 8), mobile homes, and personal property not subject to Proposition 13 such as boats, aircraft, and business personal property.”

Proposition 13 reflects the base value at time of purchase factored for inflation by no more than 2% annually. By law, the assessor must annually enroll either a property’s Prop. 13 value or its current market value on the lien date (January 1), whichever is less.

If the property’s current market value falls below the Prop 13. value, that lower value is commonly referred to as a “Prop 8 value” which has temporary reductions and can change up or down by more than 2% per year, according to the county.

Property values tend to fluctuate more than 2% every year, Wynn said in a news release.

“While the total assessed value for the County increased by 5.18%, the assessed value of most properties increased only 2% due to the protections of Proposition 13,” Wynn said in a news release. “Most of the roll growth resulted from assessed values established at current market levels for properties that changed ownership or experienced new construction in 2023.”

Beginning Friday, the tax collector will mail out unsecured property tax bills for 2024-25.

Property owners can request a free review of their property online, by mail or in-person, if the market value of a property is less than the assessed value. The free service is available until Dec. 31.

“Any corrections to annual secured real property values processed by September 1 will appear on the annual property tax bill issued in October,” Wynn said in a news release. “Corrections processed after September 1 will require the issuance of a revised annual secured real property tax bill.”

Property owners who disagree with their assessed value should contact the assessor’s office to discuss their concerns, the county said.