San Rafael, CA – With a local emergency proclamation in place because of recent storm damage, qualified property owners in Marin County might be entitled to property tax relief.
Storm damage must be $10,000 or more for a property owner to be eligible for emergency property tax relief.The Marin County Board of Supervisors ratified a state of emergency proclamation on January 10 because of relentless storms that began December 27. According to the Marin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, Shelly Scott, her office is proactively identifying taxable real and business personal property that may have been damaged or destroyed by recent storms and whose owners may be entitled to property tax relief.
The emergency relief may be available for taxable property including residences, commercial buildings, boats, aircraft, and business personal property locally assessed. However, the tax relief is not applicable to business inventory or personal items such as household goods and furnishings. According to California law and Marin County ordinance, some property owners or persons responsible for property taxes may be entitled to relief if they are without fault and their loss equals or exceeds $10,000.
The types of disaster-related property tax relief may include:
- Reduction in assessment for percentage loss in value to qualifying properties due to damage or destruction to land, improvements and taxable personal property.
- Reduction in assessment for percentage loss in value as a result of restricted access caused by the misfortune or calamity.
- Transfer of base-year value to a comparable property.
- New construction of real property that is reconstructed in a timely manner after a disaster and that is substantially equivalent to the full value prior to the disaster may be excluded from reassessment.
Additional information regarding these provisions and application form for disaster relief is available online or may be obtained by writing the Office of Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, County of Marin, P.O. Box C, San Rafael, CA 94913 or by telephone at 415-473-7215 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Emails may be sent to assessor@marincounty.org.