If you are referring to property taxes here, you can just appeal them with the county assessor by sending in this form (better to hand-carry it in to the Clerk of the Board on the 4th Flr. on the north end of the County Administraton Bldg., 1600 Pac. Hwy) and get your copy stamped “recieved.”
In a few months, they will send you a postcard telling you of your place “in line” to process your appeal. You don’t need to refi (a “refi” will NOT trigger a reassessment) or PAY for an appraisal to do this. All you have to do is go to:
and obtain recent sales that occurred in the last three months. Since you have a condo, start with the first 8 digits of your parcel number. If no sales come up, then go down to 7 digits, then 6 digits. Use ONLY those parcels which have a 10-digit parcel number (other condos). Do NOT use parcels which have 8-digit parcel numbers (SFR’s). Pick out recent sale comps which have similar square footage to yours to get good comps for your condo. These are the county’s own records and they cannot refute them. Print out the sale comps you will use and include copies of these comps with your Assessment Appeal application.
Obtaining a lower assessment on your property HAS NOTHING TO DO with refinancing. But you are now too late to appeal for F/Y 10/11 and will have to pay the tax shown on your bill. The bills for F/Y 10/11 were all generated last week and have been mailed or are in the process of being mailed. Your appeal will affect tax year 11/12.
