Finally, some jelly in the roll
Mono County sees property tax revenue gain.
Mono County Assessor Bob Musil presented the 2014 assessment roll at the regular Board of Supervisors on Tuesday August 12. The assessment roll delineates what the County will receive in property taxes for the fiscal year 2014/2015. “Every assessment has been negative since 2009,” Musil said. “For the first time we have turned that around.”
Given 30 percent of Mono County revenue is generated from property tax, the 1.68% increase brings the total income of almost $5.4 billion “close to the 2007 roll,” Musil said.
“We’re starting to see an upturn,” he continued. “It’s going to be a long road back. There were years in the mid-2000s where [the roll] was going up 12-15 percent annually. That’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future.”
Musil also reported that the number of foreclosures has decreased and there are “true marketplace transactions” taking placing, adding to the recovery. The County is also seeing an increase in new construction assessments “adding value in homes and businesses,” Musil said.
Musil then broke down the contribution of each community to the assessment roll. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) contributes almost 2 percent of all property tax in Mono County, and the other communities of June Lake, Walker/Coleville, Crowley Lake, Mono Basin, Bridgeport, and the Tri-Valley Area all contribute 5 percent or less. The Town of Mammoth Lakes contributes over 75 percent of property taxes in the county, including Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA).
MMSA has filed appeals of their assessed values for 2012 and 2013, and Musil told the Supervisors he expects them to appeal 2014 as well. The Board approved Musil’s request to hire a contractor from Utah, Christopher Hansen, who originally appraised MMSA when it was sold in 2005 and did the appraisal for 2012 “which is the focal point of these appeals,” Musil said.
Musil made his request because of the “specialized nature” of MMSA’s assessment, which is a “large component of [the County’s] annual assessment roll.” Based on a recent meeting with MMSA, Musil said the Mountain did not disagree about the assessed value but “want to see how [the value] was generated.” The appeals do not include June Lake Ski Area.
Hansen will cost the County $60,000 for his services, but this money is already reflected in the Assessor’s tentative budget for fiscal year 2014/2015.
Musil concluded his presentation saying that market is increasing “gradually. But it’s not [going to become] a huge bubble that could burst again,” he said.
