Bay Area REBlog

I guess the silver lining of declining home values is the fact that we may get to pay less on our property taxes!  Homeowners most likely to qualify for a tax reduction are those who bought their house or condo in the last few years – if you’ve owned your home for many years you probably will not qualify for a tax reduction as the assessed value if still less than the market value. While many assessors are automatically reducing the assessed values of homes, you can appeal this figure starting on July 2nd. In Santa Clara County you have until September 15 to file your appeal, while in San Mateo County you have until November 30.

I’m sure you’ve all received letters in the mail from companies offering to get your taxes reduced, but there is no need to pay a third party for this service. It’s free and you can gather the information and do it yourself. Here is a quick and easy power point presentation The Property Owner’s Guide to Proposition 8,  which explain the process and gives you important dates to keep track of .  Of course, a reduction in property taxes means a loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue that usually goes to schools, colleges, counties and cities, all of which are already being squeezed by our state’s financial crisis and overall reduction in spending, so don’t forget to go out and spend all that money you save on your taxes!

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