Tax Area Services Section

The Tax Area Services Section (TASS) is responsible for maintaining, recording, and reporting to the various county auditors and assessors within the state of California all changes to jurisdictional boundaries of revenue districts that are required to file with the State Board of Equalization.

What is a Tax Rate Area?

A tax rate area (TRA) is a geographic area within the jurisdiction of a unique combination of revenue districts, which includes local agencies (such as a city, county, or special district) and school districts, for the current fiscal year. Each TRA is assigned a six-digit numeric identifier, referred to as a TRA number.

What is the purpose of a Tax Rate Area?

TRAs are primarily used by county assessors and county auditors for the allocation, collection and distribution of property tax revenue in the state. TRAs can be used to determine voter residency of special revenue districts and the residency qualifications for persons to hold elected office of the governing board. School district boundaries and city boundaries can also be determined by TRA. Although TRAs can be used to determine general boundaries, they are intended for assessment purposes only and do not represent the official boundaries of any district or agency.

What is a Statement of Boundary Change?

Form BOE-400-TA, Statement of Boundary Change, is a form that is filed with the Board of Equalization when there is a creation of or change in boundaries of a revenue district that is carried on the regular city or county assessment roll. This includes cities, districts, and special zones. Form BOE-400-TA, Statement of Boundary Change, is also filed when a district previously levying and collecting taxes or special assessments based up on its own assessment elects to utilize the regular city or county assessment roll and, if utilizing the roll, has a change in boundaries. Exceptions are set forth under GOV§54904-54906. (GOV§54900, GOV§54902.2, RTC§95, RTC§122)

The statement shall be in the form required by the Board of Equalization and include a certified copy of the ordinance or resolution ordering the creation of or change in the boundary of the city, district or zone thereof, a legal description of said boundaries and a map or plat indicating the boundaries pursuant to Government Code Section 54901(a).

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The deadline to file a statement of boundary change is December 1 of the year immediately before the year in which the assessments or taxes are to be levied. (GOV§54902)

TRA datasets for each county are available annually on May 1, with preliminary information available on March 15. These datasets include change notices, TRA data tables, TRA maps, CAD/GIS files, and various reports in PDF format. Please email TASS@boe.ca.gov to obtain access to our shared BOX folder. Reply email with invite to share our folders will be generated and sent to email address provided. (Note: Previously shared links may no longer be accessible.)

TRA maps for the new assessment roll year are posted in June and include a download link for the TRA shapefile and TRA-to-District table. (Some counties are not yet converted to an online map at this time.)

A TRA consolidation is the process of combining two or more TRAs which have the same unique combination of tax agencies into one tax rate area under RTC§95(g).

TRA consolidations are generally implemented by the County Auditor’s Office. In some counties, the Department of Finance or the County Assessor’s Office may be best suited to implement TRA consolidations.

TRA Consolidation Process

Email: TASS@boe.ca.gov
Phone: 1-916-274-3250
Fax: 1-916-285-0132
Mail: State Board of Equalization
Tax Area Services Section MIC:59
PO Box 942879
Sacramento, CA 94279-0059