Board of Equalization adopts 2025 unitary values for state-assessed utilities, railroads and telecoms

The California State Board of Equalization adopted recommended 2025 unitary values for state-assessed properties on May 28, approving staff-recommended appraisals for five industry groups that county auditors will use to prepare local property tax rolls.

The values, finalized by motions and roll calls at the meeting in Sacramento, will be allocated to counties in mid-June and included in the final state-assessed roll for board adoption in July. Jack McCool, chief of the State Assessed Properties Division, told the board that “California's state constitution grants BOE the responsibility to assess property owned or used by certain public utilities, regulated railroads, and other specified companies operating in California, enabling counties to use those values to collect local property tax.” He also said, “This year's unitary values are 8.4% higher than last year's unitary values.”

Why it matters: Unitary values set by the board determine how billions of dollars of locally collected property tax revenue are divided among counties, cities, school districts and special districts. McCool's division recommended figures after months of appraisal work and said the increases are driven largely by replacement investments by major investor-owned utilities.

Board action and key figures - Staff reported 322 state assessees with unitary values this year and said the gas-and-electric industry accounts for roughly 74% of the total unitary value. McCool attributed much of the overall 8.4% increase to large utilities replacing older, deeply depreciated equipment with new property.

- Votes taken: The board moved through industry groups in sequence and adopted staff-recommended total unitary values for each industry group: pipelines, electric generation, telecommunications, railroads (vote excluded one company when the chair recused on that company), and gas-and-electric (with three named companies handled separately after the industry vote because the chair recused).

- Public comment: No members of the public spoke on the industry-group items and staff said no written comments were received for those votes.

Staff process and confidentiality McCool explained the three-step process that follows board action: (1) adoption of total unitary value for each assessee (the action taken May 28), (2) allocation of those values to counties (work to be completed in mid-June), and (3) transmittal of the final assessed roll for board adoption in July, which will include non-unitary property and adjustments arising from appeals and audits. He told members that much of the appraisal material and recommended values are confidential under Revenue and Taxation Code section 833 and Government Code section 15619 and therefore staff must limit some public discussion of work papers.

Board members asked staff about causes of the year-over-year increases, interactions with county auditors, and whether inflation or federal policy changes feed into the values. McCool said the largest near-term driver is capital investment by the biggest utilities — in part for wildfire hardening and replacement of legacy systems — and added that county auditors review preliminary role numbers in June and often contact SAPD staff with detailed questions on large changes for local budget planning.

Votes at a glance - Pipeline industry (industry vote): Motion by Member Raul Vasquez; second by Controller M. Cohen. Roll call: Gaines Aye; Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved.

- Electric generation (industry vote): Motion by Member Raul Vasquez; second by Member Schaeffer. Roll call: Gaines Aye; Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved.

- Telecommunications (industry vote): Motion by Member Raul Vasquez; second by Member Schaeffer. Roll call: Gaines Aye; Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved.

- Railroad industry (industry vote excluding one company for which the chair recused): Motion by Member Raul Vasquez; second by Vice Chair Sally Lieber. Roll call on the industry (excluding SBE #804 BNSF Railway Co.): Gaines Aye; Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved for the industry excluding the recused company. The BNSF company was taken up later as one of the four companies voted separately.

- Gas-and-electric industry (industry vote excluding three companies for which the chair recused): Motion by Vice Chair Sally Lieber; second by Member Schaeffer. Roll call: Gaines Aye; Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved for the industry excluding the three named companies. The three named companies (PacificCorp SBE#106, Sierra Pacific Power SBE#146, Kern River Gas Transmission SBE#188) were taken up separately following the industry votes.

- Four company votes taken after recusals: The board later voted on the four companies for which Chairman Gaines did not participate (PacificCorp, Sierra Pacific Power, Kern River Gas Transmission, BNSF). Motion by Member Raul Vasquez; second by Controller M. Cohen. Roll call (Chairman Gaines not participating): Lieber Aye; Vasquez Aye; Schaeffer Aye; Cohen Aye. Outcome: approved (4–0 among participating members).

What the board will do next SAPD will finalize county allocations in mid-June and mail notices of unitary value to each assessee; the final assessed roll — including non-unitary values and any appeal- or audit-driven adjustments — will be presented for board adoption in July.

Sources and speakers Quoted: Jack McCool, Chief, State Assessed Properties Division; Vice Chair Sally Lieber; Member Raul Vasquez; Member Schaeffer; Controller M. Cohen.

Ending Board staff stressed that the adopted totals are the product of months of appraisal work, review and internal quality checks, and that county auditors and local special districts regularly review preliminary allocation numbers for budget planning. The schedule for allocations and final roll adoption remains: allocations to counties in mid-June and the final roll for adoption at the board's July meeting.