Property tax to fall for many county homeowners

A new round of property-tax notices are heading to some Los Angeles County homeowners later this month, and the result will be a smaller tax bite for more than 400,000 local home and condo owners.

Los Angeles County Assessor Robert Quon announced this week that his office has reassessed the values of all 560,000 single-family homes and condos bought in the county between the summers of 2003 and 2009. The survey also included some home sold in earlier years in areas hit hard by the housing crisis.

The bad news: values dropped on more than 70 percent of the residences. The average plunge was $162,000 for homes and $133,000 for condos.

The silver lining for those property owners: falling prices will mean an average 2010 tax savings of between $1,500 and $1,800.

Notices of the reassessments should land in mailboxes by the end of June. The actual property tax bills will be issued in October. Householders who disagree with the Assessor’s finding—whether part of the reassessment or not—can file a free Decline-in-Value application by November 30, either by calling 888-807-2111 or filling out the form at the Assessors’ website, here.

Posted 6/4/10