Appeals board does not favor assessor’s office
February 20, 2015
Tom Bordonaro
OPINION By TOM BORDONARO
I read with interest Noel Foerst’s editorial that concluded that the appeals board is biased towards the San Luis Obispo County Assessor’s Office and would like to offer some facts for consideration.
The California State Board of Equalization oversees the property tax systems and publishes various reports, one being “A Report on Budget, Workloads, and Assessment Appeals.” The 2014 report (for the 2012-13 year) reveals the following facts for San Luis Obispo County:
151 appeals were withdrawn with no change.
238 appeals were withdrawn with their value reduced.
27 appeal filers were no shows.
6 appeals were invalid.
26 appeals were resolved by stipulation (value reduced before board hearing).
39 people had their assessment reduced at the board hearing.
38 appeals were sustained at the hearing (no reduction).
I don’t know what three days Mr. Foerst watched, but the facts presented do not support his conclusion.
The full report can be found here. The 2013-2014 report has not been published yet.
Tom J. Bordonaro, Jr. is the San Luis Obispo County Assessor.
The comments below represent the opinion of the writer and do not represent the views or policies of CalCoastNews.com. Please address the Policies, events and arguments, not the person. Constructive debate is good; mockery, taunting, and name calling is not. Comment Guidelines