NR# 14-K
Date: April 19, 2001
Customer and Taxpayer Services Division

Assessment Practices Survey Report Released for San Mateo County

The Board of Equalization (BOE) today released an assessment practices survey report on San Mateo County announced Johan Klehs, Member, State Board of Equalization (BOE).

Approximately once every five years, the BOE conducts a review of each county's assessment functions. Issued as "Assessment Practices Surveys," these reports make recommendations to strengthen or improve local property tax assessment programs.The current report provides 26 recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the assessor's operations. They include:·

• Use the BOE-prescribed change in ownership statement.
• Use current income to determine the restricted value of California Land Conservation Act lands.
• Annually review manufactured home assessments and enroll the lower of the factored base year value or current market value.

The Board's County Property Tax Division conducted the review of the assessor's operation to ensure that properties are being assessed properly and efficiently. The review focused on the quality of the 1998-99 San Mateo County assessment roll, which contained 234,671 assessments having a total enrolled value of $66.861 billion.

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Note: A copy of the San Mateo County Assessment Practices Survey Report is available upon request.