Commonly Used Terms

Proposition 13 - Base Value

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, established the base-year value concept for property tax assessments. Under Proposition 13, assessments for the year 1975-76 serve as the original base year values. Thereafter, a new base-year value is established whenever a property is purchased, newly constructed or changes ownership. The base-year value is increased a maximum of 2 percent per year.

Proposition 8 – Temporary Decline in Value

Proposition 8 was passed in 1978 and requires the Assessor to temporarily lower the assessed value of property. Under Proposition 8 the Assessor will review the market value as of January 1, and enroll for the following tax year the lesser of:

• Factored-Base-Year Value (Proposition 13) - The base year value defined above adjusted not more than 2% annually for inflation. This adjusted value is known as the “factored base year value.”

or

• Market Value (Proposition 8) - As defined in Revenue and Taxation Code Section 110, "The amount of cash or its equivalent that property would bring if exposed for sale in the open market under conditions in which neither buyer nor seller could take advantage of the exigencies of the other, and both the buyer and seller have knowledge of all of the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used, and of the enforceable restrictions upon those uses and purposes."

Base Year Value - Under Proposition 13 the assessment year 1975-76 serves as the original base year value. Thereafter, any assessment year in which real property, or a portion thereof, is purchased, is newly constructed, or changes ownership shall become the base year used in determining the assessment for such real property.

Lien Date - March 1 prior to 1997. The time when taxes become a lien on Property, and the time when property is valued for tax purposes. This date is January 1st, beginning in 1997, and March 1st prior to 1997.