Assessment Practices Survey Report Released for Siskiyou County

Johan Klehs, Vice-Chair, State Board of Equalization (BOE), today released an assessment practices survey report on Siskiyou County.

Once every five years, the BOE conducts a review of each county's property tax assessment functions to determine whether properties are being assessed properly and to identify areas where improvements should be made. Issued as an "Assessment Practices Survey," the report provides an overview of how well the duties of the assessor are performed and includes recommendations to correct assessment deficiencies and improve compliance with state law.

The BOE found that most properties in Siskiyou County are being assessed properly and the overall quality of the assessment roll meets the minimum standards required by the state to qualify for augmentation funds. However, the report provides several recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the assessor's operations. Included among those recommendations are the following:

• Notify disaster relief applicants of the proposed reassessments and appeal rights.



• Apply the low-value property exemption to all classes of qualifying properties.



• Do not use minimum valuation factors for older machinery and equipment.

The review focused on the quality of the 2001-02 Siskiyou County assessment roll, which contained 47,499 assessments having a total enrolled value of $2.27 billion.

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Note: A copy of the Siskiyou County Assessment Practices Survey Reportis available upon request.