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Economy

Falling Home Values Take A Toll On Property Tax Revenues

San Diego County Treasurer/Tax Collector, Dan McAllister, stands beside a chart of how the County spent its property tax money in 2009 on March 30, 2010.
San Diego County Treasurer/Tax Collector, Dan McAllister, stands beside a chart of how the County spent its property tax money in 2009 on March 30, 2010.
Falling Home Values Take A Toll On Property Tax Revenues
Property taxes are due next month. San Diego County’s Tax Collector says falling property values will show up in this year’s property tax totals for the first time.

Property taxes are due next month. San Diego County’s Tax Collector says falling property values will show up in this year’s property tax totals for the first time.

Dan McAllister says San Diego County expects to collect $50 million less in property taxes this year than last.

He says that’s because more than 200,000 San Diegans applied to have their property value reassessed downwards last year. Most of them were granted. That’s about 22 percent of the county’s tax base.

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“So when that percentage of the tax base drops, it’s bound to derive less income,” McAllister said. “There is going to be less money to work with than in years past.”

San Diego County collected $4.5 billion in property taxes last year.

McAllister says delinquencies are down because banks pay property taxes on houses that go into foreclosure. He says the county mailed out almost a million tax bills last fall and slightly more than 4 percent of the first installments remain unpaid.

The second installment is due in less than two weeks. The payment must be received by Monday, April 12th.

Starting this Thursday, April 1st, the county will reopen all five branch offices, including those in Kearny Mesa and Chula Vista that were closed due to budget cuts. Property owners can also go to El Cajon, San Marcos and the County Administration Building on Harbor Drive.

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