BY LIONEL EMDE, RIPTIDE CORRESPONDENT
The San Mateo County Assessor's Office issued a report in July 2010 that indicated a slowdown in the decline of assessed residential real estate values. But the dollar amounts of assessed value declines and the estimated drop in property tax revenues for towns and cities are still staggering.
In 2008, the overall decline in assessed value of residential properties in San Mateo County was almost $4.2 billion, with an estimated property tax decline of almost $42 million. Some 27,679 properties were reassessed that year. But with only 1,601 reassessments in 2009, another $1.5 billion in value was wiped away, with a corresponding hit to towns and cities of more than $15 million in lost property tax revenues.
In Pacifica, a quarter-billion dollars in inflated values disappeared in reassessments in 2008, while in 2009, further reassessments downward were almost $49 million. Although much smaller than in 2008, it still means almost a half-million-dollar loss in Pacifica's property tax revenue last year.
The figures in the reports imply that higher-value properties were in faster decline, as can be seen in Atherton's numbers. In 2008, the total assessed reduction in values was almost $121 million on 131 properties in the wealthy town. In 2009, only 59 properties were reassessed, but the reduction was even larger at $125 million. Hillsborough, the other small and wealthy enclave in the county, tells the same story: 2008 saw 164 properties reassessed downward by $106 million, but in 2009, 124 properties were dropped by $148 million.
The San Mateo County Assessor's Office issued a report in July 2010 that indicated a slowdown in the decline of assessed residential real estate values. But the dollar amounts of assessed value declines and the estimated drop in property tax revenues for towns and cities are still staggering.
In 2008, the overall decline in assessed value of residential properties in San Mateo County was almost $4.2 billion, with an estimated property tax decline of almost $42 million. Some 27,679 properties were reassessed that year. But with only 1,601 reassessments in 2009, another $1.5 billion in value was wiped away, with a corresponding hit to towns and cities of more than $15 million in lost property tax revenues.
In Pacifica, a quarter-billion dollars in inflated values disappeared in reassessments in 2008, while in 2009, further reassessments downward were almost $49 million. Although much smaller than in 2008, it still means almost a half-million-dollar loss in Pacifica's property tax revenue last year.
The figures in the reports imply that higher-value properties were in faster decline, as can be seen in Atherton's numbers. In 2008, the total assessed reduction in values was almost $121 million on 131 properties in the wealthy town. In 2009, only 59 properties were reassessed, but the reduction was even larger at $125 million. Hillsborough, the other small and wealthy enclave in the county, tells the same story: 2008 saw 164 properties reassessed downward by $106 million, but in 2009, 124 properties were dropped by $148 million.
Comments