A reader sent the following query to Circling the News: “We owned a condo on Via de la Paz. The building is insured through the California Fair Plan. The property taxes are covered under Prop 13.
“My question is: ‘would the rebuilt building still be covered under Prop 13? I have asked many people, and no one seems to have any idea of the answer.’”
Circling the News reached out to Susan Shelley, Vice President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association who spoke to the L.A. County Assessor.
Here’s the answer to your reader’s question, from the L.A. County Assessor:
- What happens to my property’s assessed value when/if I rebuild my home?
- The reduced value remains in effect until the property is fully repaired, restored or reconstructed. At that time, the factored base year value (Proposition 13 value with annual Consumer Price Index adjustments) will be restored as long as it is substantially equivalent to the property’s prior assessed value prior to the damage or destruction.
As a rule of thumb, if you add square footage, the Assessor will assess the incremental square footage at the current market value.
The “reduced value” referenced in the answer is the lower assessment that the property will receive due to the damage or destruction. (There’s a form to request that reassessment.)
There may be some additional complications with a condo building if the common areas are rebuilt differently. But if the new building is “substantially equivalent,” the Prop.13 base-year value should be restored.
Shelley than gave the L.A. County Assessor’s web page with information and resources on disaster relief and also property tax base-year transfers to a new home: click here.
She also included the link to the fact sheet on property tax relief for homes impacted by a disaster: click here.
Shelly, who is an editorial writer and columnist for the Southern California News Group, writing on local, state and national issues, also included this personal message. “I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your home. What an awful trauma to go through. My heart goes out to you. Hope you and everybody in the Palisades can rebuild quickly.”
https://assessorqa.lacounty.gov/real-estate-toolkit/disaster-relief
Sue, here is a link to the County Assessor site to submit the disaster relief form online. It’s a unique link for ONLINE submission that avoids having to download the form and mail it in. After you click on the link, click on the forms tab and the submit on line tab will pop up.