“Kern’s Property Valued At $79 Billion For Coming Fiscal Year”

Kern County Assessor-Recorder, Jim Fitch, announced today that his Office has determined the taxable value of Kern County property for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 at $79  billion dollars.  This total, for fiscal year 2009-2010, represents an decrease of approximately $5.3 billion dollars or a 6.4% decrease in property values.  Of the taxes collected through the property tax system, the schools receive the largest portion, with the remainder going to local government agencies and special districts.  Typically, property tax revenues are one of the largest sources of revenue for the County, cities, special districts and the schools.

Assessor Fitch noted, the year’s work was dominated by the continued downturn in the housing market and the reduction of Oil & Gas properties.  He explained the Assessor is responsible for enrolling the lesser of a property owner’s base value, purchase price plus 2% each year, or the current market value for lien date.  Lien date is January 1st of each year.

The Assessor reviewed residential properties that sold from January 2002 through December 2008 and made a determination it was necessary to lower nearly 100,000 of these residential properties located within the County of Kern.  This reduction represents approximately $4 billion dollars.  Homeowners who purchased at the height of the residential market (June through August of 2006) will realize the greatest reductions in assessed value.  The average assessed value reduction for residential property owners in Kern County is $47,000 and this converts to a savings of approximately $470 in taxes.  Many of these same property owners received  reductions in last year’s taxes of approximately $600, which reflects  a $1,000 overall reduction in their property taxes over the last two years. The latest reductions will be reflected on tax statements that will be mailed by the Kern County Tax Collector in late September.

The Assessor will be notifying property owners of changes in their assessed values through Value Change Notices, which will be mailed in mid to late July.

Property owners who do not receive a Notice, but feel they may be entitled to a value reduction, are encouraged to contact the Assessor’s Office for a valuation review.  The Assessor cautiously reminds homeowners the valuation date is January 1st, 2009.  He further added since that date, the Assessor has seen a further decline in the real estate market and, if this condition continues, his Office will be initiating significant reductions again for the next lien date which is January 1, 2010.

Oil and Gas property assessments were substantially down due to the drop in oil prices and reserves.  The Oil and Gas Roll is approximately $22.3 billion dollars, which reflects a decrease of approximately $2.2 billion dollars.  The Oil and Gas Roll represents approximately 29% of the total Assessment Roll.  Kern County remains the largest oil producing County in the State, with an estimated 70% of all of the State’s reserves.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my staff for the diligent efforts they made to close this Assessment Roll timely in a year in which we processed another record-breaking amount of work.

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