Even in the face of declining property values throughout California, county-assessed values continued to increase in all but six counties. The statewide average increase was 4.8 percent, as locally assessed property, before exemptions, grew from $4.38 trillion to $4.59 trillion.
This growth is a phenomenon stemming from the acquisition
value system of Proposition 13. (Cal-Tax:
For details on this phenomenon, which provides local
governments with a stable source of revenue even during housing market
fluctuations, read this 2007 column by Cal-Tax President Teresa
Casazza.)
The six counties with actual declines were Merced (2.4 percent), San Benito (1.04 percent), San Joaquin (0.99 percent), Solano (0.05 percent), Stanislaus (6.24 percent) and Yuba (3.79 percent). However, each of these counties had healthy growth in 2007. Merced, for example, had an 11.3 percent increase in the assessment roll last year, so the two-year growth is 8.9 percent. If local officials didn't spend the entire increase in property tax revenue last year (which they might have done, due to heavy pressure from public employee unions), the two-year average would provide for some modest growth in spending.
The big winner this year was Inyo County, with a 29.63 percent increase, followed by Kings County (13.12 percent) and Mono County (10.83 percent) as the other counties that posted double-digit increases.
The county- by-county roll change for 2008-09 is as follows:
|
COUNTY |
2007-08 Roll (Before Exemptions) |
2008-09 Roll (Before Exemptions) |
$$ Increase (or decrease) |
% Increase (or decrease) |
|
Alameda |
$197,589,813,473 |
$207,212,661,324 |
$9,622,847,851 |
4.87% |
|
Alpine |
697,933,378 |
746,799,362 |
48,865,984 |
7.00% |
|
Amador |
4,590,078,383 |
4,909,747,522 |
319,669,139 |
6.96% |
|
Butte |
18,261,237,754 |
19,267,804,124 |
1,006,566,370 |
5.51% |
|
Calaveras |
7,122,050,442 |
7,181,513,556 |
59,463,114 |
0.83% |
|
Colusa |
2,390,335,042 |
2,476,643,297 |
86,308,255 |
3.61% |
|
Contra Costa |
159,832,329,473 |
160,674,492,828 |
842,163,355 |
0.53% |
|
Del Norte |
1,719,324,084 |
1,824,475,689 |
105,151,605 |
6.12% |
|
El Dorado |
26,969,360,337 |
28,007,680,710 |
1,038,320,373 |
3.85% |
|
Fresno |
58,738,981,143 |
60,075,002,705 |
1,336,021,562 |
2.27% |
|
Glenn |
2,297,325,053 |
2,457,323,850 |
159,998,797 |
6.96% |
|
Humboldt |
10,289,485,595 |
10,976,498,398 |
687,012,803 |
6.68% |
|
Imperial |
10,298,232,143 |
11,206,363,728 |
908,131,585 |
8.82% |
|
Inyo |
3,413,822,531 |
4,425,508,706 |
1,011,686,175 |
29.63% |
|
Kern |
79,648,167,276 |
84,162,409,136 |
4,514,241,860 |
5.67% |
|
Kings |
7,817,731,713 |
8,843,215,645 |
1,025,483,932 |
13.12% |
|
Lake |
6,829,425,931 |
7,107,854,562 |
278,428,631 |
4.08% |
|
Lassen |
2,038,418,079 |
2,165,631,645 |
127,213,566 |
6.24% |
|
Los Angeles |
1,037,882,000,000 |
1,109,013,000,000 |
71,131,000,000 |
6.85% |
|
Madera |
11,352,458,362 |
12,114,726,788 |
762,268,426 |
6.71% |
|
Marin |
53,851,204,144 |
56,950,709,774 |
3,099,505,630 |
5.76% |
|
Mariposa |
1,935,500,029 |
2,063,815,489 |
128,315,460 |
6.63% |
|
Mendocino |
8,925,644,917 |
9,378,254,145 |
452,609,228 |
5.07% |
|
Merced |
20,534,600,191 |
20,042,405,769 |
(492,194,422) |
-2.40% |
|
Modoc |
864,439,746 |
917,322,534 |
52,882,788 |
6.12% |
|
Mono |
5,330,874,396 |
5,908,130,193 |
577,255,797 |
10.83% |
|
Monterey |
52,116,362,098 |
53,330,040,922 |
1,213,678,824 |
2.33% |
|
Napa |
26,100,174,432 |
27,672,383,052 |
1,572,208,620 |
6.02% |
|
Nevada |
16,142,677,189 |
16,835,724,701 |
693,047,512 |
4.29% |
|
Orange |
427,008,515,595 |
444,727,299,863 |
17,718,784,268 |
4.15% |
|
Placer |
58,518,939,502 |
60,095,434,565 |
1,576,495,063 |
2.69% |
|
Plumas |
3,652,375,091 |
3,973,490,433 |
321,115,342 |
8.79% |
|
Riverside |
239,508,199,710 |
242,980,389,491 |
3,472,189,781 |
1.45% |
|
Sacramento |
137,707,020,735 |