Do You Qualify for an Property Tax Reduction? San Francisco, CA

"As our economy continues to recover and the San Francisco housing market follows suit, many home owners have had success with reducing their San Francisco Property Taxes.  "How?", you may ask, given property taxes are based on the last sales price of the property and are rarely adjusted by the city?  Here's a quick and dirty explanation:

1. If you own a home and it's your primary residence, you may apply for a $7,000 exemption from your assessed value.  New property owners will receive an application automatically with their supplemental assessment bill. Existing property owners should first confirm they were not granted this exemption on their current bill.  If you are not receiving it, you can call the SF Assessment Board at 415.564.5542.
2. Can you lower your property tax base due to market value decline? There have always been a variety of ways to lower your tax base.  Disaster relief, builder's exclusion, veteran's exemption, exclusions/exemptions for parent to child change in ownership and several others.  With the volatile market, the Assessment office will review individual owner's requests to reduce their tax base.  The first step is contacting the Valuation Division - 415.554.5596.  If a reduction is "justified," the value will be reduced.  If the Valuation Division doesn't agree, an owner can apply to the Assessment Appeals Board for relief.  If you file an assessment appeal on an existing value, you have to file with the County Assessment Appeals Board (City Hall - Room 405)."

...Read this article and more in the new issue of MarketTracker, courtesy of Zephyr Real Estate. Also in this issue:

Most Recent Sales
San Francisco Market Overview
A Peek at Potrero Hill
Bay Area News Bites - Dolores Park, SF Airport, America's Cup, San Francisco 49ers

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