Property Taxes: Special Assessments and Direct Assessments

Even though you pay your basic property taxes your property tax bill may seem unusually high especially during this housing crisis and economy you might have a Special and/or Direct Assessment on your property. A classic example of a Direct Assessment that might be applied to your home if the voters in your city decided to establish a sewage system in a neighborhood that is older where most of the homes use septic tanks. The direct assessment pays for this change to your neighborhood. This will vary based on the location your property, and there might be charges necessary to pay off any voter-approved general obligation bonds or other indebtedness, special assessments, or direct levies.

Most of the time, a direct assessment would be added on to your property tax bill over several years so the taxpayers are not inundated by the special assessment to pay for the improvement. Special and Direct Assessments have a reason they are added on to your basic assessment such as an improvement to a city and when that new improvement has been paid for the special or direct assessment is complete and will no longer be on your property tax bill. Normally, this type of debt is usually fraction of a percent increase in your existing property tax rate.

Direct assessments are placed on your property tax bill by the county tax collector for the local levying agency or district, not on behalf of the assessor, auditor-controller, and/or the county tax collector departments. Keep in mind, that Special and Direct Assessments are voter approved taxes so if there is any issue with it, it did not come from the Office of the Assessor. To find out more or to dispute a special assessment on your property, contact the levying district. Normally this information is on your property tax bill.

It is not wise to refuse to pay a property tax bill that has the special or direct assessment, even when the direct levy amount is under review. Remember that even if you disagree with your property tax bill it is always wiser to pay the bill and get refunded later than to have an outstanding tax bill on your house. The processes to remove a delinquent property tax bill and all of the fines, require several signatures and forms within the Assessor and Tax Collector and is pretty messy. So keep it simple, pay your property tax bill, any exception to this would be an extreme case.

About the Author: Valerie Faltas, Property Tax Expert has been involved in all facets of real estate for over ten years including assessments, appraisals, estates and trusts, investing and much more. She is a Certified Property Tax Appraiser, Licensed Residential Appraiser and a member of the International Association of Assessment Officers. As a real estate investor and advisor she is well versed in all aspects of real estate. To contact Valerie Faltas go to her website: www.propertytaxlittleblackbook.com.

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