Title
Auditor-Controller and the Assessor recommending the Board adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 032-2023 regarding Revenue and Taxation Code Section (§) 531.2(c), authorizing the proration of real property escape assessment taxes between the prior assessee and current owner(s).
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Adopting the resolution will allow the County to prorate taxes resulting from real property escape assessments between prior assessee and new owner(s), avoiding tax liabilities that are disproportionate to the time of ownership while increasing the amount of taxes that remain secured (a win-win scenario).
Normally, when a property changes ownership, the new owner is essentially responsible for property taxes on real property from the date of change of ownership. If real property was underassessed in the current and/or prior tax years, escape assessment taxes occur. In the case of an escape assessment tax liability with a change in ownership within a certain timeframe, the County currently follows RTC §531.2 (the standard methodology) which causes the prior assessee to be liable for the portion of escape assessment taxes attributable to the beneficial use of the property by the new owner(s).
To address this, RTC §531.2(c)(1), as amended in the early 1990’s, allowed the Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution authorizing the proration of the escape assessment taxes between the prior assessee and current owner(s) based on the number of days of ownership by each. Until 2018, the County’s property tax administration system was incapable of managing such a proration. The Assessor and Auditor have recently mapped a process using the Megabtye system to accomplish the proration of escape assessment taxes pursuant to RTC §531.2(c). This board letter and resolution seeks to enact RTC §531.2(c) to allow for this proration of escape assessment taxes.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose not to approve the Resolution.
PRIO...
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