Taxpayer Rights Advocate: 33 cases closed last month; outreach underway for Aug. 20 Taxpayer Bill of Rights hearing

Lisa Thompson, chief of the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office, reported that her office completed 33 cases last month and provided a breakdown by board member district and by case type.

"We completed 33 cases, 8 were in Chairman Gaines' district, 11 were in Vice Chair Lieber's district, 4 were in member Vasquez's district and 10 in Board Member Schaffer's district," Thompson told the board. She said five cases were administrative and 28 were valuation cases; exclusions from reassessment accounted for the largest valuation subcategory with 11 completed cases, followed by six change‑in‑ownership matters. Of the 11 exclusion cases, seven were transfers between parents and children, two were base‑year value transfers for seniors, and two were base‑year transfers after a disaster.

The TRA office is preparing outreach for the 2025 Taxpayer Bill of Rights hearing set for Aug. 20, 2025 at the board's meeting. Thompson described LTAA number 2026016 (issued June 4) notifying assessors and interested parties about the hearing and said posters and flyers were mailed to county agencies on June 6. The communications team recorded a public service announcement that aired before and during the board meeting.

Thompson said the TRA office focuses on taxpayer education materials and county outreach and that many counties maintain fact sheets on their websites to help taxpayers understand reassessment, exclusion and transfer rules. She offered to answer members' questions at the end of the report.