Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office And Its Interaction with the Planning Department

At the sale of a property the individual appraiser (in the Assessor’s Office) reviews the Assessor’s records and the final price to see if the description justifies the price for the property. If the appraiser is concerned, he will go out and review the property to see if the description is accurate.

The Assessor’s process then relies on the individual appraiser in order to determine if justification exists for seeking escape assessments.

Property was regularly reappraised in Santa Cruz County until adoption of Proposition 13. As a result of Proposition 13, reappraisal to increase property valuation was generally limited to transfers of ownership and new construction.

Proposition 13 made regular property reviews less important because a review of building permits would identify new construction.

The Planning Department notifies the Assessor’s Office of every building permit issued.

The Jury reviewed the 134 Red Tag permits issued during 2003 for this report.

Seventeen permits involved significant changes in the habitable square footage.

The following tables illustrate the discrepancies between the planning permits and the Assessor’s Office’s computer description for the 17 properties identified. Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office and - 29 Assessor/Planning Data Comparison APN Date Last Permit Date Appraisal Reason Permit Reason Apraised Parcel 1 None Listed 9/9/2003 None Listed Remove Bedroom Parcel 2 10/18/2002 9/24/2003 100% Own Change Remove Habitable Garage Parcel 3 12/13/2003 4/18/2003 Misc. Value Change Remove 2nd Unit (Duplex to SFD) Parcel 4 4/3/2003 9/11/2003 100% Own Change Recognize Room Addition Parcel 5 2/14/2003 2/6/2003 100% Own Change Remove Room Parcel 6 1/8/1997 9/3/2003 100% Own Change Recognize Habitable Garage Parcel 7 2/28/1994 10/20/2003 Calamity Restoration Sq. Ft. Addition Parcel 8 7/19/2001 8/6/2003 100% Own Change Remove 2nd Unit (Duplex to SFD) Parcel 9 00/00/02 8/5/2003 Roll Value Change Recognize 2nd Story Parcel 10 11/26/2002 1/1/2003 100% Own Change Recognize Room Addition Parcel 11 8/7/1998 4/23/2003 100% Own Change Recognize Habitable Basement Parcel 12 00/00/94 6/12/2003 Roll Value Change Recognize Room Addition Parcel 13 2/24/1999 8/1/2003 100% Own Change Recognize New House Parcel 14 12/31/1998 1/7/2003 07(sic) Replace SFD Parcel 15 10/15/1999 8/25/2003 100% Own Change Remove 2nd Unit (Duplex to SFD) Parcel 16 12/20/2001 6/19/2003 100% Own Change Recognize 2nd Story Parcel 17 4/17/2003 4/25/2003 100% Own Change Recognize Room Addition SFD = Single Family Dwelling Table 1. Appraisal and permit information for 17 Red-Tagged parcels, 2003. Source: Assessor’s parcel database, Santa Cruz County Planning Department. - 30 Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office and Assessor/Planning Data Comparison (continued). APN Assessor Assessor Planning Assessor Planning Sq Ft Bedrooms Bedrooms Baths F/H Bath F/H Habitable Parcel 1 752 2 1 1 1 Parcel 2 1802 4 N/L 2 N/L Parcel 3 1353 2 2 3 2 Parcel 4 1439 3 3 2 2 Parcel 5 1824 3 N/L 2 N/L Parcel 6 2007 4 3 2 2 Parcel 7 2018 3 N/L 2/1 N/L Parcel 8 1120 3 3 1 1 Parcel 9 1196 1 1 1 1 Parcel 10 791 1 1 1 1 Parcel 11 1051 3 3 1 2 Parcel 12 1051 2 2 1/1 2 Parcel 13 1500 3 2 2 2 Parcel 14 1285 2 1 1 1/1 Parcel 15 1543 3 3 2 2 Parcel 16 374 N/A 2 N/A N/L Parcel 17 1128 3 2 2 2 Baths F = Full Baths Baths H = Half Baths N/A = Not Available in the Assessor's data base. N/L = Not listed in the permit. Table 2. Comparison of property descriptions on the Assessor’s database and the County of Santa Cruz Planning Department’s records on 17 Red Tag parcels, 2003. Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms. Source: Assessor’s parcel database, Santa Cruz County Planning Department. Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office and - 31 Assessor/Planning Data Comparison (continued). APN Assessor Planning Assessor # Planning # Total # Total # of Units of Units Rooms Rooms Parcel 1 5 6 1 2 to 1 Parcel 2 6 N/L 1 1 Parcel 3 4 6 1 2 to 1 Parcel 4 7 8 1 1 Parcel 5 5 N/L 1 1 Parcel 6 9 9 1 1 Parcel 7 6 N/L 2 2 Parcel 8 N/A 5 1 2 to 1 Parcel 9 4 4 1 1 Parcel 10 N/A 5 1 1 Parcel 11 6 8 1 1 Parcel 12 4 8 1 1 Parcel 13 N/A 7 1 1 Parcel 14 4 N/L 1 1 Parcel 15 6 11 1 2 to 1 Parcel 16 N/A N/L 1 N/L Parcel 17 6 8 1 1 N/A = Not Available in the Assessor's data base. N/L = Not listed in the permit. Table 3. Comparison of property descriptions on the Assessor’s database and the County of Santa Cruz Planning Department’s records on 17 Red Tag parcels, 2003. Number of Rooms and Units. Source: Assessor’s parcel database, Santa Cruz County Planning Department.

Twelve of the Red Tag permits show 100% change of ownership as the reason for the last reappraisal. One of the Red Tag permits showed an appraisal date after the permit issue date.

Thirteen Red Tag permits show significant discrepancies between the Assessor’s description and the description from the Planning Department on the permit: - 32 Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office and • Four initially reflect the added illegal rooms in the Assessor’s description but do not show the lower number of rooms when the permit required that the rooms be removed. • Seven show a lower total number of rooms on the Assessor’s description than are shown on the permit information. • Four show one unit on the Assessor’s description when the permit requires the removal of the kitchen fixtures taking the property from two units to one unit.

A property was reviewed that had a permit to recognize, as built, a new 2-story SFD that was built over 10 years earlier. This permit was taken out so that the property could be sold. The Assessor’s description of the house changed from a 600 square foot cabin to a 1,400 square foot, 2-story house at the time of sale. The new owner was correctly assessed for the fair market value of the property. The Assessor’s Office had not identified the escape assessments by the previous owners until the Grand Jury asked it to explain the assessment process on this property. This property did not show any reappraisal from the permit issuance.

The Assessor’s Office does not notify the Planning Department when it finds that modifications have been made to a structure unless there is a visible safety or environmental violation.

The Grand Jury was unable to discover whether any law requires or prevents this.

Part of the Planning Department’s purpose is to see that building construction and modifications meet the requirements for occupant safety.

The Assessor’s Office is allowed recovery of escape assessments, on real property, for four years prior to the date of discovery.

The Santa Cruz County Assessment Roll for 1968-69 amounted to just under $1.2 billion. When Proposition 13 passed in 1978, the base year 1975-76 assessment roll amounted to just under $2.5 billion. Today the assessment roll is over $24 billion, with a $1.5 billion increase last year.

The return to county government is a small percentage of the property tax revenue collected. The Assessor’s Office believes that it is hard to justify the expense of pursuing escape assessments.

Taxes that are collected based on the Assessor’s valuation are distributed in the following manner: • 56% to schools. • 13% to the county General Fund. Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office and - 33 • 12% to redevelopment agencies. • 1% to libraries. • 18% to other agencies. Conclusions