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These three departments deal with different facets of your property taxes. Some counties combine these departments because they are not as large and dont have a need for three separate organizations. Everything begins with the Assessors Office, first in deciding what is assessable and then processing the valuation of that re-assessment and all of these decisions are made by your state law.

Assessments go through a procedure within the Assessors Office, to determine the value for that assessable event or assessment year. At the end of the fiscal year all of the values for the year are sent to the Auditor-Controller to apply the correct tax rate (percentage) to each property which varies in each tax rate area and determines the actual dollar amount you owe. The tax rate is set based on the area you live in and the local taxes applied to your local community in addition to the state levied taxes. The tax rate is usually a percentage of the value determined by the Office of the Assessor.

In addition, if in a tax rate area has a special assessment or a direct assessment it is added by the Auditor-Controller’s Office. Finally the data is sent to the Tax Collector’s Office who distributes the bills, collects the money and deposits it in the County Treasury. These three departments compse the property tax branch of your county government and each handle their responsibilities separately.

For example, if you found out you had a lien or delinquent taxes on your property, you need to go to the Tax Collector’s Office to pay them and have the lien lifted and the records brought up to date. However, if you had an issue with the amount of property taxes or the value in which your property taxes are based on you would contact the Office of the Assessor, because that is what the Assessors Office is responsible for. For example, if you had a value issue, you would go to your Assessor, and how to do this is detailed in both the California Little Black Book and also the National Little Black Book.

Once the value is adjusted by the Assessors Office it would get sent to the Auditor-Controller who would adjust the actual dollar amount you owe, and then forward that to the Tax Collector’s Office where you would receive your adjusted bill. Usually, the two offices that handle public service are the Assessor and the Tax Collector, the Auditor-Controller is the silent partner. Normally, any public service issue that needs to be resolved with the Auditor-Controller is requested by the Assessor.

This can be an intricate process and sometimes values are adjusted by the Assessors Office and somehow the actual bills sent out by the Tax Collector’s Office are not adjusted. This happens when the Auditor-Controller, for whatever reason has not adjusted the right bill or there was some sort of processing error. Remember all of these departments are mass processing organizations and they do the best they can however it is your responsibility to make sure that your values are accurate. When this happens a special request needs to be sent by the Assessors Office to have a particular value adjusted and then that will be forwarded to the Tax Collector’s Office who will issue a correct bill. Remember all issues can and will be resolved with a little bit of effort, education and patience.

About the Author: Valerie Faltas, Property Tax Expert has been involved in all facets of real estate for over ten years including assessments, appraisals, estates and trusts, investing and much more. She is a Certified Property Tax Appraiser, Licensed Residential Appraiser and a member of the International Association of Assessment Officers. As a real estate investor and advisor she is well versed in all aspects of real estate. To contact Valerie Faltas go to her website: www.propertytaxlittleblackbook.com

I applied with the Los Angeles County Assessor early 2003, I was one of 900 applicants for 25 positions as a Real Estate Appraiser Trainee. I was one of the 25 chosen for the class they hired that year. As a trainee I went through an 18 month probation period and a 12 month training with them including classroom training, many exams, field training in all aspects of real estate appraisal, property tax law and the processes within the Assessor’s Office. If had I failed any one of my series of exams or gotten a bad performance review I would have been kicked out of the program.

At the end of the year long training I took an exam with the State Board of Equalization to be Certified as a Property Tax Appraiser. I was promoted from Trainee to Appraiser. Independently, I chose to become a licensed Residential Appraiser through the Office of Real Estate Appraisers meaning I could do private appraisals also, ones used by banks. I personally purchased my first home at the age of 23, my second at the age of 24, my third at the age of 25. While I was learning appraisal and assessments I was also buying, selling and repairing homes so I saw all aspects of real estate. Additionally, I was the administrator of a family estate while in college so I had already had a background in trusts and estates and my experience working for the Assessor and in real estate had shed light on what I had done years earlier with my family.

The position I had is considered to be prestigious because of the nature of the job. Determining assessments, people paid property taxes based on the amounts I determined every day. I affected over 6,000 properties in Los Angeles County while I worked for the Assessor. The prestige comes from the nature of the job and the knowledge acquired. There is definitely a false sense of power that goes along with the position because if taxpayers really understood the law and how it all works, suddenly the prestige would be gone because the bottom line is always the numbers.

My job changed with the real estate industry: different types of work during different types of markets. I had an excellent reputation within the Assessors Office, was known for being fast, proficient and thorough. I was chosen by higher level management several times to work on different projects and help with other departments within the Office. When I left the Assessor to go to law school (which I dropped out of), months even up to a year after I left, taxpayers would ask for me since I would assist them more than others who worked there. Even the clerks in the office would come to me with problems since they knew I would assist them. I had a bright future with the Assessor and would have risen through the ranks had I chosen to stay there.

NATIONALLY: In just about every state in the US property taxes are a percentage of market value. Market value is the critical factor. The greatest issue is that every Assessor’s Office in every county in all states is a massive assessment government entity. They have hundreds of thousands of valuations to complete year after year and usually don’t have enough man power to do the work based on quality instead of quantity. The Assessors exists to serve, to do their jobs to follow the law and to be as fair as they can be. Frequently values aren’t what they should be simply because they don’t have the time or the man power to be more thorough.

CALIFORNIA: California Property Taxes are different than the rest of the country. As the real estate market was declining homeowners were calling and coming into the Office looking for help. I was assistinghomeowners get the temporary tax break called Prop 8 and I knew a much more bigger break they could get. I know a way for taxpayers in California to get a PERMANENT break in their property taxes. The typical taxpayer in an urban area lost over a $250,000 in value which means $3,000 PER YEAR in property taxes! Totally legal, just out of the box – really just a different way of looking at the law and it wasn’t okay for me to share. Most who work for the Assessor aren’t aware of this loophole! Day after day, homeowner after taxpayer…I knew a much better way. Most taxpayers wouldn’t qualify for the temporary break based on the perimeters of it. I felt compelled to make this loophole known so that I could help taxpayers in a substantial way. So, I left and created the Property Tax Little Black Book.

If a taxpayer can get their loan modified to permanently lower how much they owe on their home why shouldn’t the same be applicable to their property taxes? The law is ALWAYS on the taxpayers side…they just dont know it!

While I worked for the Assessor I processed single family home values at 3 or 4 an HOUR… some were higher than they should have been since I didn’t have the time to make sure they were right and some were lower also. Only if the homeowner complained was the assessed value researched. All taxpayers need to learn some basic appraisal and assessment to ensure they are aren’t overpaying property taxes. Understanding is the key. Every homeowner can understand and handle this process to feel in control of what they are being taxed on their house.

Truthfully the Assessor is afraid of the people because the people, the tax payers, the homeowners are the ones who keep them in office. No one in assessments wants to deal with a disgruntled tax payer!

This is the bottom line: its not us against them or them against us. Its just understanding and dispelling fear in times like today. This is the GREAT news about this low real estate market! Its a time for taxpayers to save and educate themselves so that they can be proud of their home ownership and know that they can save. Low real estate market means: modified loans, lower property taxes! Yes, the real estate market is down and this is how it can help you! This is one of the many reasons the retraction of the economy is good!

My vision, my goal is to empower the homeowner! No more fear. Fear comes from ignorance and my goal is to educate and ultimately dispel fear. In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power. – JFK Feel free to contact me! I look forward to hearing from you.

About the author: Valerie Faltas, Property Tax Expert has been involved in all facets of real estate for over ten years including assessments, appraisals, estates and trusts, investing and much more.