Fresno County Property Taxes

Fresno, CA It can be a very expensive bill for many people. But a plan is now in the works that could ease some of the pain in the months ahead. With For Sale signs crowding the new development where he lives, Jamin Brazil said the value of his home has dropped like a rock in just two years. Brazil said: "The house value is down over 40 percent and obviously what I'd being paying on taxes would be 40 percent above the value of the home. It doesn't seem quite right."

That's why Brazil and hundreds of others have gone online to ask Fresno County to reassess their homes, hoping to get a break on their taxes. Since last July the County has gotten roughly 14-hundred requests, compared to just 20 the year before. So, the County is now doing automatic reassessments on about 45-thousand homes sold in the past three years. Homes, that have gone down in value at least 15-to-20 percent.

Assistant Assessor-Recorder Timothy Leming said: "Consequently we're taking a proactive approach to look at those parcles and make a reducation of their value, proportional to what we've seen a decline in the market."

But the news is not so good for those in line to pay property taxes on older homes. That's because of Proposition 13, a decades old intitative that capped assessments at 2 percent a year. Homeowner Alma Vasquez said: "If they're going to assess it, I think it should be everybody. I think it should be done evenly."

Homeowner Candy Spence said: "I'm thinking my property values have come down so much. I think my I think my taxes my taxes should come down." But even if your property value and tax bill both come down, the County says it's only temporary. Once the market slump ends, so will the tax breaks.