Property tax assessments – Court of appeals weighs in on tax assessment

Description

Abstract: Property taxes often represent a significant chunk of an owner’s annual expenses. Yet many taxpayers simply accept the billed amounts calculated by their assessors. But that might not be wise, as a recent case in California illustrates. This article explains how the California Court of Appeals, applying property tax laws similar to those in some other jurisdictions, found that a county’s assessment improperly inflated a hotel’s value, thus improperly inflating the hotel’s property taxes. A sidebar explains that it’s important to scrutinize and perhaps challenge a tax appraisal. SHC Half Moon Bay, Inc. v. County of San Mateo (Cal. App. 2014)