| Decline in Value & Proposition 8
The Assessor's Office is required to lower the assessment of real property to the lesser of its current market value or the factored Proposition 13 base year value as of January 1 of each year. That value is surrendered to the Auditor by July 1 and becomes the basis of the annual property tax billed by the Tax Collector. The Assessor makes every effort to consider declines in value and to assess all property at the lesser of market value or factored base year value each year without the need for individual owners making an informal request or filing a formal appeal. Informal requests for review are considered individually by certified appraisers and can be filed by the property owner for the current year or the upcoming year. For more information, call (510) 272-3787. How does this impact your property taxes? In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that allows a temporary reduction in assessed value when a property suffers a decline in market value. For property tax purposes a decline in value occurs when the current market value of your property is less than the assessed value as of lien date, January 1 of each year.
By law, the Assessor must annually enroll either a property's Proposition 13 value (factored for inflation by no more than 2% annually) or its current market value on the lien date (January 1), whichever is less. When a property's current market value falls below the Prop 13 value, that lower value is commonly referred to as a "decline in value" assessment or simply the Prop 8 value. Proposition 8 assessments are TEMPORARY reductions for one year. Once a Prop 8 reduced value has been enrolled, that property's value must be reviewed on the subsequent January 1. As the real estate market begins to recover, the temporary Prop 8 value will be increased until it is restored back to its Prop 13 factored base year value. Increases to a Prop 8 assessment are not subject to the 2% increase limitation as are Prop 13 values. A Prop 8 value may be increased or decreased, depending on the market activity in your neighborhood. However, at no point can the value be increased above your factored Prop 13 value. You may not need to request an informal review of your property's assessment. Alameda County has been and will continue to be proactive in reviewing assessed values to ascertain whether temporary reductions are warranted. After the review is completed in June, all taxpayers will be notified of their current assessed value during the latter part of July. Once notified, if you agree with the value no action on your part will be necessary and the annual tax bill sent out in October will reflect that assessment.
If you believe your assessed value is greater than market value on January 1 and have information you'd like us to consider, you may file an Informal Request for Reassessment with our office and a certified appraiser will review the data. You also have the option to file a formal appeal between July 2nd and September 14th.
If you have questions, please call this office at (510) 272-3787 or come in person. The Assessor's office is located at 1221 Oak St., Rm. 145, Oakland, CA 94612-4288. Knowledgeable staff is available to assist you with your concerns from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. | 
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