Don’t pay a fee to have your property taxes reduced

(Martinez, CA) – Many property owners throughout Contra Costa County are receiving an official looking document in the mail regarding a fee-based service to have their property’s taxable value reduced. Although these mailers have the appearance of an official government document, the correspondence is not from the Contra Costa County Assessor or any other Contra Costa County Office. 

The California Attorney General’s Office has posted warnings to California property owners on their website about the practices of these companies. For more information, please visit the Attorney General’s Consumer Alert at https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/prop_tax_scam.

Current scam mailers are requiring both a $40 county filing fee with the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board for a formal appeal, and a contingent fee of 30% of any tax savings as a result of filing the application. 

It is important for property owners to know that the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office does not charge a fee to complete an informal value review for our taxpayers.

Property owners who believe the current market value of their property is less than the assessed value, can file a FREE “Request for Value Review (Prop 8)” form with the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office. Please visit our webpage at http://www.cccounty.us/assessor and select “Review Your Value” to find a downloadable application.

Local tax base increases by almost $15 billion, to over $267 billion

Oakley, Antioch, Lafayette had greatest increases, San Pablo, San Ramon, Hercules had lowest

By Allen D. Payton

Just in time for Independence Day, when Americans celebrate our victory over the British in the battle against King George III and his onerous taxes, the “2023-2024 Assessor’s Close of Roll Affidavit” was signed by Assessor Gus S. Kramer and subscribed and sworn to the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, on June 30. The 2023-2024 Assessment Roll has been delivered to the County Auditor, as required by law.

The increase to the local tax base for 2023-2024 is over $14.96 billion. This represents a 5.94% increase in assessed value and brings the total net local assessment roll to more than $266.67 billion. The 2023-2024 assessment roll is the highest to date in Contra Costa County’s history.

Cities with the largest increases in assessed value include Antioch, Oakley and Lafayette with increases ranging up to 8.49%. San Pablo, San Ramon and Hercules saw the lowest assessed value increases ranging from 4.30% down to 3.86%.  The assessment roll now consists of 379,442 parcels, an increase of 1,202 over the previous year.

“I would like to acknowledge and commend the employees of the Assessor’s Office for their continued dedication and hard work which resulted in the completion and delivery of the 2023-2024 assessment roll,” Kramer wrote in his letter.

The Assessor’s annual letter to the Assessment Roll Reports can be found at: https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/79697/2023-2024-BOS-Close-of-Assessment-Roll-Letter-and-Reports-to-the-CCC-Board-of-Supervisors?bidId= 

The report shows the total Secured Value of property in the county, which includes all the real estate, is now over $267.6 billion. The Unsecured Value is the business equipment which includes computers, desks, chairs and machinery, Kramer explained. That total is now almost $7.8 billion.

“Local Exemptions (which total almost $8.7 billion) are what churches and non-profits enjoy, as well as all the homeowners’ exemptions. That’s a $7,000 deduction you have to apply for which saves you about $70 a year on your property taxes,” he shared. “That’s something I’m livid with the legislature for not increasing. In Idaho the homeowners’ exemption is 50%. Prior to Prop 13 in California, it was 25% but the legislature has never adjusted it. It should have been indexed or something.”

Asked about the difference between the charts in the report of $1 billion in the total Secured Value Kramer said. “It’s less than one-third of one percent, but we know what it is and we’re working it out. We had to get the report in by the July 1 due date.”

To learn more about your property taxes visit Assessor | Contra Costa County, CA Official Website, call (925) 313-7400 or email customerservice@assr.cccounty.us.

Due to impact of winter storms; includes quarterly tax payments

The Internal Revenue Service announced on Feb. 24, 2023, that California storm victims, including Contra Costa County residents and businesses, now have until October 16, 2023, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The deadline was previously extended to May 15 on January 10 and didn’t include Contra Costa. But that changed the following day. Then on Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced state tax returns will also not be due until Oct. 16, as well.

The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This means that individuals and households that reside or have a business in Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa County qualify for tax relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page on IRS.gov.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on January 8, 2023. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Oct. 16, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.

This includes 2022 individual income tax returns due on April 18, as well as various 2022 business returns normally due on March 15 and April 18. Among other things, this means that eligible taxpayers will have until Oct. 16 to make 2022 contributions to their IRAs and health savings accounts.

The Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief for Individuals and Businesses page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time.

The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Therefore, taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief. However, if an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.

In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2023 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2022, normally filed this tax season). Be sure to write the FEMA declaration number – 3591-EM − on any return claiming a loss. See Publication 547 for details.

The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by these storms and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.

California Extension Matches IRS

In addition, California is extending the tax filing deadline for Californians impacted by December and January winter storms to October 16, 2023 – aligning with the IRS

In addition to tax relief measures that Governor Gavin Newsom announced in January, California is also extending the state tax filing and payment due dates to October 16, 2023 for Californians impacted by the winter storms in December and January. This aligns California with the Biden Administration, which announced that the IRS extended various due dates until October 16, as well.

“As communities across the state continue recovering from the damage caused by the winter storms, California is working swiftly to help recovering Californians get back on their feet,” said Governor Newsom. “The state is aligning with the Biden Administration and extending the tax filing deadline in addition to the tax relief announced earlier this year.”

Last month, Governor Newsom announced tax relief for those impacted by winter storms, giving people the ability to claim a deduction for disaster loss and extending certain filing deadlines.

The following counties are eligible for this extended tax relief, per the IRS announcements here and here:

Residents and businesses in Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba counties who have been affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides are eligible for tax relief.

TAX EXTENSION

To help alleviate some of the hardship many have endured during this trying period, the FTB has extended the filing and payment deadlines for individuals and businesses in California until October 16, 2023.

This relief applies to deadlines falling on or after January 8, 2023, and before October 16, 2023, including the 2022 individual income tax returns due on April 18 and the quarterly estimated tax payments, typically due on January 17, 2023 and April 18, 2023. Those payments were previously extended to May 15, 2023 for those impacted by winter storms.

The IRS announced tax relief for Californians affected by these winter storms. Taxpayers affected by these storms qualify for an extension to October 16, 2023 to file individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments. This includes:

• Individuals whose tax returns and payments are due on April 18, 2023.
• Quarterly estimated tax payments due January 17, 2023, April 18, 2023, June 15, 2023, and September 15, 2023.
• Business entities whose tax returns are normally due on March 15 and April 18.
• PTE Elective Tax payments due on June 15, 2023.

CLAIMING DISASTER LOSSES

Taxpayers affected by a presidentially declared disaster may claim a deduction for a disaster loss. Taxpayers may claim a disaster loss when filing either an original or amended tax year 2022 tax return.

When filing their return, taxpayers should write the name of the disaster in blue or black ink at the top of their tax return to alert FTB. If filing electronically, taxpayers should follow the software instructions to enter disaster information. If a taxpayer receives a late filing or payment penalty notice related to the postponement period, they should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.

Additional information and instructions are available in FTB Publication 1034, 2022 Disaster Loss: How to Claim a State Tax Deduction.

Disaster victims can receive free copies of their state returns to replace those lost or damaged. To do so, they should use form FTB 3516 and write the name of the disaster in blue or black ink at the top of the request.

For a complete list of all disasters declared in California, see the chart on FTB’s disaster loss webpage.

 

 

Sacramento – On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) held the first of at least three public Property Tax Abatement Workgroup meetings. The Board received presentations from policy experts and stakeholders on the development of new housing, focusing on how to best address the need to build 2.5 million new housing units to address California’s housing gap, including how to provide new housing opportunities for the “missing middle.” The workgroup consists of Board Chair Malia M. Cohen, who represents District 2 and District 3 Board Member Antonio Vazquez.

“As Chair of the Board of Equalization, which administers California’s $85 billion property tax system, I am deeply encouraged by today’s discussion with housing policy experts,” said Chair Malia M. Cohen. “The presentations of these experts both highlighted the reality of our housing crisis, associated equity issues, and the opportunity to address the development of new housing through creative and innovative solutions.”

“Today’s meeting focused on property tax abatements as a tool to incentivize new housing construction and increase the inventory of affordable housing. Property tax abatements have been used before, particularly in New York City, to build tens of thousands of new housing units to address the housing needs of the ‘missing middle’. It makes sense to consider whether similar property tax abatement strategies could work in California,” Cohen concluded.

In upcoming meetings of the Property Tax Abatement Workgroup, the BOE will examine strategies to ensure that revenue for schools and local governments are protected under any property tax abatement programs. The BOE will also explore how local government, labor, businesses, and developers can work collaboratively to build new housing under such abatement programs.

The BOE will hold additional meetings of the Property Tax Abatement Workgroup at the Board’s upcoming August 31st and September 28th board meetings. At the conclusion of the BOE’s Property Tax Abatement Workgroup, the Board will issue a report.

The agenda of the July 27, 2022 meeting of the Property Tax Abatement Workgroup can be found at this link: https://www.boe.ca.gov/meetings/pdf/2022/072622-PAN-Jul.pdf

As the BOE Board Member for District 2 Cohen represents nearly 10 million constituents residing in 23 counties in Northern and Central California, extending from Del Norte County in the north to Santa Barbara County in the south, including Contra Costa County. She is the youngest Constitutional Officer serving in California and is the first African American woman to be elected as chair of the Board of Equalization in its 141-year history.

The Board of Equalization is California’s statewide elected tax board. Its five members include four members elected in districts, and the State Controller. Under its constitutional mandate, the BOE oversees the assessment practices of the state’s 58 county assessors, who are charged with establishing values for approximately 13.6 million assessments each year. In addition, the BOE assesses the property of regulated railroads and specific public utilities and is responsible for the alcoholic beverage tax and tax on insurers.

Note: This news release may discuss complex tax laws and concepts. It may not address every situation and is not considered written advice. Changes in law or regulations may have occurred since the time this news release was written. If there is a conflict between the text of this news release and the law, decisions will be based upon the law and not this news release.

“Don’t Tax the Sun” event is part of the largest ever submission of live and video-recorded public comments in CPUC history

Organizers claim tax will boost utility profits at the expense of clean energy needs 

San Francisco—Hundreds of solar workers, consumers, clean energy advocates, community leaders, conservationists, and climate activists will join together at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) headquarters building in San Francisco on Thursday to protest the CPUC’s latest proposal to tax rooftop solar and drastically reduce the credits consumers receive for selling their solar energy back to the grid.

After a brief rally, solar supporters will line up to give public comments during the CPUC meeting. In Los Angeles, another thousand solar supporters will record their video testimonials to submit to the CPUC. Combined, Thursday’s actions are expected to be the largest ever submission of live and video-recorded public comments in CPUC history.

• WHAT: 500+ ‘Don’t Tax the Sun’ rally and largest ever CPUC public comment submission
• WHEN: Thursday, June 2 at 11:00am PDT
• WHERE: CPUC headquarters at 505 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco where the CPUC will be opening its doors to in-person public comment.
• WHO:  Large and diverse coalition of solar supporters.
• VISUALS: Rally and more than 500 solar supporters lined-up to give public comments wearing bright red ‘Don’t Tax the Sun’ tee-shirts with signs and banners.

The CPUC is currently considering changes to “net energy metering,” the state policy that makes rooftop solar more affordable for consumers of all types by compensating them for the excess energy they produce and share with their neighbors. Currently 1.5 million consumers use net metering, including thousands of public schools, churches and affordable housing developments, and it is the main driver of California’s world-renowned rooftop solar market. As a result of net metering, working and middle class neighborhoods are just under half of the rooftop solar market and the fastest growing segment today.

Big utilities want to change the rules in their favor in order to eliminate a growing competitor, keep consumers stuck in utility monopolies, and maintain the need for costly and often dangerous transmission lines that are a key driver of utility profits and ratepayer costs.

Despite the overwhelming popularity of rooftop solar and net metering in California, the CPUC is considering a proposed decision, favored by investor-owned utilities, to implement a monthly solar penalty tax while also slashing credits consumers receive for their excess solar energy.

The CPUC had previously proposed a similar steep tax on rooftop solar and an immediate gutting of the credits of solar consumers. The unpopular proposed decision was shelved for an indefinite amount of time earlier this year after intense backlash and public disapproval from Governor Newsom. The CPUC’s recent ruling to re-open its net energy metering procedures seems again to be pursuing a tax, this time hidden and under a different name.

By contrast, solar supporters want to keep solar growing and affordable for all types of consumers, ensure California remains on track with its clean energy and land conservation goals, and accelerate the growth of solar plus storage to build a more resilient electric grid.

About Save California Solar

Save California Solar is a coalition formed to help ensure that rooftop solar continues to grow and benefit every Californian. Save CA Solar includes more than 600 diverse organizations and helped generate 150,000+ public comments submitted in support of net metering ahead of the CPUC proposed decision. Learn more at www.savecasolar.org.

 

Working on proposition for November ballot; would save $1,000 per year on average

The only law protecting seniors and other property owner dollars against inflation and real estate is Proposition 13. The most your real estate taxes can be raised is 2% a year under Prop 13.

Presently Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer and several other assessors throughout the California are working to increase the homeowner’s exemption from $7,000 a year to $100,000 a year minimum. This would give every homeowner almost a $1,000 a year reduction in their property taxes.

Prior to Prop 13 passing in 1978 the homeowner’s exemption was 25% of the assessed value. That also is an alternative to the $100,000 homeowner’s exemption being proposed. Please stay tuned for a proposition that addresses this on our upcoming November 2022 ballot.

“We’re working with the Jarvis Gann group,” Kramer said. “If there was ever a time to help homeowners this is the time with inflation, increased values, and increases in interest rates.”

“The state should have indexed the exemption in 1978 but they were greedy and did not,” he added.

As this proposition develops, he will keep the public informed, Kramer shared.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

April 2, 2022

Subject: Your Property Taxes

Dear Property Owner,

Help us provide you with the best service possible and let us help you avoid high-interest rates and penalties. Please remember to pay the second installment of your property

Taxes on or before April 10, 2022.

If you have any questions or concerns about how to make your payment you can contact the

County Tax Collector’s office at: (925) 957–5280.

If you have any questions or concerns about the taxable value of your home, please take the opportunity to call us at the County Assessor’s office at (925 )313-7400.

You’re welcome to visit the Assessor’s office at 2530 Arnold Drive in Martinez. We’re open to the public 8AM to 4PM Monday through Friday to help you with your property tax questions.

Gus Kramer

County Assessor

In case you have paid your property taxes in full or you do not own property in Contra Costa County, please disregard this notice.

Families can miss out on thousands of dollars by not filing by April 18

CALIFORNIA – United Ways of California is urging Californians to file before the April 18 tax filing deadline. According to the most recent data from the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), filing for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is down 5% among Californians this tax season compared to this day last year, and while nearly 4 million California residents claimed the tax credit last year, less than 35% of those eligible have filed for the credit this year. Thousands of dollars in tax credits are available to California residents – and all they have to do is file their taxes to receive them. There are numerous no-cost tax filing options available and Californians are encouraged to visit MyFreeTaxes.org to utilize United Ways’ free tax filing program and tax education resources, provided in both English and Spanish.

Advocates are concerned at the low filing numbers this close to Tax Day, as 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. However, it’s not too late for working families in California to get additional tax credits from the state – California is offering two tax credit programs to help families stay afloat:

• The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) ranges from $255 to over $3,000 and is available to families with incomes up to $30,000.
• If you qualify for the CalEITC AND have a child under the age of 6, families can file for the Young Child Tax Credit(YCTC), which provides up to an additional $1,000 per child.

United Ways of California urges families to stay away from pay-to-file companies to file for these tax credits, which can save filers 13-20% of their tax refund, an average of $400. According to an audit by the Treasury General for Tax Administration, more than 14 million taxpayers in 2019 may have paid tax software providers when they could have filed for free.

“United Ways throughout California are providing IRS-certified volunteers at no cost to these hardworking families, helping them navigate these tax credit programs and get their tax returns submitted early,” said Pete Manzo, United Ways of California president and CEO. “The money can add up to quite a lot. In fact, some families can receive thousands of dollars – depending on their income and family size. With quick, safe, no-cost tax filing programs like MyFreeTaxes.org, all eligible Californians should claim these life-changing tax credits.”

Federal tax credits are also still available to families – even if households made $0 – like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which provides up to $3,600 per child under the age of 18 as of December 31, 2021, and EITC, which adds up to $6,728 if the filer made less than $57,414.

As of March 2022, the IRS had a backlog of 7.2 million unprocessed individual returns for 2021, a far higher number than the typical one million. Families should expect to experience delays when filing their taxes this year, so it’s important to file as early as possible. The agency also added new regulations around claiming EITC or CTC to prevent identity fraud, so filers should be prepared for an additional delay if filing for these programs.

“Utilizing [free tax prep assistance] is essential to someone in need, you never know what someone has to go through in their lives financially,” said Crystal Vargas, a Kern County resident who filed through United Ways’ services. “I always come here knowing I’ll be taken care of—people don’t need to feel the financial burden of paying someone for their taxes and not knowing what exactly the process is. I plan to spend some of my refund on paying back my student loans and catching up on bills, and the rest to savings for emergencies.”

Nearly one in three California households—over 3.5 million families (33%)—do not earn sufficient income to meet basic needs, making it more important than ever to file by the April 18 deadline – the smallest delay in receiving tax returns could provide challenges to families who need to cover daily expenses and meet basic needs. For more information, free assistance, and to see if you qualify for no-cost tax filing, filers should visit MyFreeTaxes.org or text “taxes” to 211-211 to find a free tax filing site near them.

United Ways of California improves the health, education and financial results for low-income children and families by enhancing and coordinating the advocacy and community impact work of local United Ways across California. United Ways of California was formed in 2008 by California’s local United Ways seeking to work together to educate state and national leaders about policy issues affecting community impact goals in health, education, and financial stability.