[quote=joec]This is pretty interesting. Out of curiosity, do they do the higher assessment to raise more revenue or is it a power trip thing for the assessors?[/quote]

None of the above, joec, it’s automatic in keeping with Prop 13. Your assessment will be raised 2% per year unless you fight it (or unless the assessor has automatically lowered it [temporarily]) as they have many in hard-hit areas.