Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Assessed Properties topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board reviews private‑railroad car tax rate and adopts private and state assessed property rolls; corrects three state assessed values
Summary
The board received an informational report that set the 2025 private railroad car tax rate at 1.151%, adopted the 2025 private railroad car assessment roll, approved three corrections to state assessed values (resulting from staff calculation errors), and adopted the 2025 state assessed property roll allocating unitary values to counties.
At the July 23 meeting the California State Board of Equalization handled multiple constitutional matters in the State Assessed Properties Division, including the private railroad car tax rate, adoption of the private railroad car roll, corrections to state assessed values, and final adoption of the 2025 state assessed property roll.
Private railroad car tax rate: Jack McCool, chief of the State Assessed Properties Division (SAPD), reported the annual private railroad car tax rate that will be applied to assessed values. "This year's rate is 1.151%, which is down slightly from last year's 1.153%," McCool said. He explained the rate is computed annually by the board’s Research and Statistics Division under Revenue and Taxation Code section 11403 using state controller data; the report was informational and required no board action.
Adoption of private railroad car roll: Pamela Denopoli, SAPD manager, presented the staff recommendation for the 2025 private railroad car assessed value roll. The recommended total assessed value exceeds $1 billion; staff stated they will prepare tax bills for distribution to private railroad car taxpayers by the statutory October 15 deadline and collect taxes by the December 10 due date. Member Vasquez moved to adopt the 2025 private railroad car roll and Vice Chair Lieber seconded; the board approved the roll by roll call.
State assessed role corrections: McCool presented three recommended role changes to correct staff calculation errors identified during the appraisal season. The corrections included (1) replacing a prior‑year input used in a calculation, (2) fixing a duplicate depreciation reserve entry, and (3) adding a statutorily required 9% of value for interest on an appeal adjustment under Revenue and Taxation Code section 744(c). McCool explained the errors were human data‑entry mistakes and noted SAPD is pursuing a technology project to automate processes and reduce future errors. The board approved the three role changes by roll call.
Adoption of 2025 state assessed property roll: Jason Ibarra and Pamela Denopoli presented the 2025 recommendation for the statewide state assessed property roll. The recommendation reflected unitary values adopted by the board in May, allocations to the 58 counties, appeal adjustments, audit findings, and staff‑recommended non‑unitary values. The final role totals approximately $164 billion in assessed value. Member Vasquez moved to adopt the allocations of unitary values and staff adjustments; Member Schaeffer seconded and the board approved the role by roll call.
Context and process notes: SAPD staff said they rely primarily on assessee reporting and information from large railroad operators to allocate values and to compute days‑present counts for private railroad cars. On the role corrections, staff reiterated that the errors were confirmed by the assessees and corrected values were verified with the taxpayers involved.
No litigation or statutory changes were enacted at the meeting; the items were adoption of staff recommendations and statutory reporting.
