Office of Shabbir A. Khan San Joaquin County Treasurer & Tax Collector*

R1

1 - Beginning Tax Year 2013-2014, the Tax Collector conduct two tax sales each year. Although there were 8,301 properties with defaulted taxes not all properties were eligible for tax auction. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 3691 specifically states that a property must be in tax default for five years or more, or three years or more in the case of nonresidential commercial property, then the tax collector shall have the power to sell and shall attempt to sell in accordance with Section 3692. After excluding the non-eligible properties with defaulted taxes only 125 properties were included in the November 2012 tax auction. Of the 125 properties 31 properties were offered in prior years and 42 properties did not sell at all. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 3692 requires a tax auctions to be held at least once every four years. It is preferable to hold sales at least once a year, if the number of parcels justifies an annual auction, because regularly scheduled sales can often motivate redemption. Having multiple tax auctions and reoffering properties that did not sell along with a few new properties will not generate enough revenue for a cost efficient tax auction. Due to the cost of reoffering properties that did not sell at a face-to-face tax auction the Tax Collector may consider reoffering these properties at a second online auction. The legal requirements and the preliminary research will have already been completed which may make the online auction more cost efficient.

R2

1 - By December 31, 2013, the Assessor-Recorder and the Tax Collector develop, revise and/or refine departmental policies and procedures that will facilitate meaningful, timely and accurate communication between and among all parties to ensure the accuracy of all records shared by both offices. The Tax Collector and the Assessor's Office already have policies and procedures that facilitate meaningful, timely, and accurate communication. The Assessor's Office has procedures and policies in place regulating the processing of the various documents that are recorded and result in a change in ownership and therefore require that the ownership information be updated. These documents must be processed chronologically and are processed with as little delay as is possible with the current staffing constraints. Prior to the annual ownership/mailing address update request from the Tax Collector, the Assessor's Office makes every effort to insure that the most current information possible is reflected in the system. The annual tax bills, which are required to be mailed once each year by November 1st, are mailed in mid-October to the address on the tax roll filed with the Assessor's Office. Prior to mailing these tax bills the Tax Collector obtains the latest ownership information from the Assessor's Office. If properties are foreclosed and/or abandoned the new owner may not receive a tax bill. However, failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the fee owner, or assessee, from the liability to pay taxes owed. The Tax Collector's Office will continue to improve on the meaningful, timely, and accurate communication between both offices.

R3

1 - The Assessor-Recorder establish defined timelines for the processing of regular changes of property ownership by December 31, 2013 and conduct training for all staff on methods to achieve established timelines. The variable nature of this task does not lend itself to a meaningful date certain timeline. The Assessor's Office has procedures and policies in place regulating the processing of the various documents that are recorded and result in a change in ownership or vesting and therefore require that the ownership information be updated. These documents must be processed chronologically and are processed with as little delay as is possible with the current staffing constraints. The simplest transaction, are currently processed and the information input into the system within six weeks of the recording date. A Trustee's Deed Upon Sale, the recorded document that consummates a foreclosure and grants the property to the mortgage holder, is among this group of documents. The Assessor's Office Transfer Section staff members are currently provided with ongoing training to facilitate the processing of documents and the determinations regarding changes in ownership mandated by the California Revenue & Taxation Code. The Assessor's office will continue to provide training and seek options to facilitate and expedite the process with the staff currently in place.