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Tulare County board deems Kelch assessment appeal timely after closed-session review
Summary
The Tulare County Assessment Appeals Board voted to accept a petition to deem an assessment-appeal application by Calvin Wayne and Bettina Marie Kelch timely after applicants presented a timeline showing the county delayed mailing a tax bill; the approval allows the Kelches to proceed with formal appeals tied to the 2022–23 base year.
The Tulare County Assessment Appeals Board voted to accept a petition to deem timely an assessment-appeal application filed by Calvin Wayne and Bettina Marie Kelch, allowing the Kelches to proceed with formal appeals tied to the 2022–23 base tax year.
The Kelches told the board they received a notice of supplemental assessment dated April 24, 2025, but did not receive the corresponding tax bill until July 17, 2025. They said they filed a completed assessment-appeal application with the clerk on July 30, 2025—13 days after receiving the tax bill—and asked the board to deem the application timely because the county’s delay prevented them from meeting the assessor’s 60-day filing deadline.
The petition matters because, the applicants said, the 2022–23 tax year establishes the base taxable value that affects subsequent years. “Once we receive the required paperwork, our appeal was filed in a timely manner, 13 days,” applicant Bettina Marie Kelch told the board while describing a packet of exhibits and a timeline she provided to the panel.
Kelch’s exhibits (labeled A–E in the record) included the assessor parcel number, assessment number, dates of ownership change and supplemental assessment, copies of the tax bill and envelope, the Board of Equalization form used to file the appeal, and a printed copy of the Assessment Appeals Board website guidance the applicants relied on.
Board members and staff discussed a conflict between the county clerk’s website and the Assessment Appeals Board guidance about the 60-day filing period; a deputy counsel recommended a brief closed session with legal counsel. After recessing to consult with counsel, the board returned and Chair Brad Maske complimented the applicants’ presentation and moved to approve the petition as timely filed. The motion was seconded, all members answered “aye,” and the motion carried.
Chairman Maske also asked that the clerk’s website be corrected to match the board’s actual procedures. A county staff member clarified the discrepancy was on the clerk’s website rather than the assessor’s site.
With the board’s action, the Kelches’ application for the 2022–23 base year remains in the formal appeals process; the board’s ruling on timeliness does not itself decide the underlying valuation. The applicants told the board they had already requested an informal review with the assessor’s office and elected to proceed formally.
Procedural notes: the applicants’ petition referenced the county’s filing deadline of June 23, 2025 (60 days after the notice) and asserted the county’s later mailing of a tax bill prevented timely filing under that county deadline. The applicants relied as well on Assessment Appeals Board guidance stating supplemental-assessment appeals are filed within 60 days after the mailing date printed on the tax bill or the postmark, whichever is greater.
The board’s action restores the applicants’ right to a hearing on the valuation for the 2022–23 tax year and preserves their related appeals for subsequent years that depend on that base year valuation.
