Candidate for
Assessor/Recorder/Clerk; County of San Diego

Protecting Proposition 13 +

Proposition 13 of was passed by the voters at the same time of my first election to the Board of Equalization. And because the Board is responsible for writing the property assessment Rules for the entire state I had a part in writing the initial rules which interpreted the ballot initiative. The important change that the Proposition brought to the property tax system was to limit the annual growth in property assessed values and the tax rates. These changes were locked in the State Constitution requiring a vote of the entire State to change them. Thus today, two percent is maximum increase in assessed value allowed each year while you own the home. If substantial improvements are made to a home, just the value of the improvement can be added to the home's assessed value. This predictable system for annual home valuation also provides a stable funding score for local government. I believe, though it may at times have temporary inequities, it is by far best property tax system and that should not be tampered with.

Property Tax Initiative of November 1978-

After Proposition 13 was passed people (including myself) raised questions about what happens if the property values go down. The November 1978 Property Tax initiative was then written and placed on the statewide ballot. This initiative allowed for a reduction in the Prop 13 assessed value if the current market value of property dropped below the homeowner's assessed value. The assessor can reduce any prior year value he/she believes is greater than the current market value. In the current recession all property values have been reduced and a great many of the values in San Diego County have fallen below their Prop 13 value. It will be my first priority upon taking office to put new fair values in place.

Additonally:

Streamlining the Business Property Assessment process;
Moving more documents to the Web;
Creating an appeals process that works;
Processing of documents in a faster method.
Electronic filing of documents