Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Taxpayer Rights topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Taxpayer Rights Advocate releases 2023'24 annual report: exclusions and disaster guidance top cases
Summary
The Board's Taxpayer Rights Advocate office reported 329 completed property-tax cases in fiscal 2023'24, with 35% involving exclusions from reassessment (parent-child transfers and senior base-year transfers); the report includes a disaster-relief information guide and district-level breakdowns.
Lisa Thompson, chief of the Board's Taxpayer Rights Advocate (TRA) Office, presented the TRA's 2023'24 annual report to the Board on Feb. 19 and summarized casework and new outreach materials.
The report matters because the TRA serves taxpayers who encounter valuation or administrative problems in the property-tax system and can recommend policy or form changes to improve compliance and fairness.
Thompson said the TRA completed 329 cases in fiscal 2023'24, all property-tax matters. By district the report shows 27% of completed cases came from District 1, 30.2% from District 2, 20% from District 3 and 20.1% from District 4. About 70.5% of the caseload was valuation-related; 35% of valuation cases concerned exclusions from reassessment, primarily parent-child transfers and base-year transfers for those age 55 and over. Thompson described an example in which TRA staff helped a senior taxpayer secure a base-year-value transfer by clarifying that the appropriate comparison value is the pre-damage market value for an original residence.
The TRA published an information guide on disaster relief for damaged or destroyed property and reorganized assessor guidance on the BOE website to make Proposition 19 and disaster-related material easier to locate. Thompson said the TRA also reviews property-tax forms and instructions and noted several welfare-exemption and base-year transfer form updates were completed for 2023'24.
Board members praised the report's district-level breakdown. Vice Chair Lieber and others said the report's outreach work helps taxpayers navigate complex claims, including parent-child exclusions and disaster relief. Member Vasquez asked whether TRA calls had increased after recent Los Angeles-area fires; Thompson said inquiries have begun to rise and that some relief work typically appears later when replacement homes are completed or when additional assessment actions occur.
Thompson said the TRA will set a taxpayer-bill-of-rights hearing later in the year (historically in August) to solicit further input and noted the office coordinates with other state taxpayer-advocate offices to share best practices.
