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Board enacts ordinance to add assessment‑appeal filing fee; taxpayers group objects to fee proliferation
Summary
The Kern County Board of Supervisors on a recorded vote adopted an ordinance to add a filing fee for assessment appeal applications, following staff recommendations and public comment from a taxpayer group opposed to fee proliferation.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted to enact an ordinance amending Title 2 of the Kern County Ordinance Code to add a filing fee to recover county costs of processing assessment appeal applications.
Stacy Kuwahara, representing the Clerk of the Board’s office, summarized the item and said staff met with constituents after an earlier continuation and reviewed other counties’ approaches. Kuwahara told the board that 43 counties in California impose an assessment‑appeal filing fee and that the county’s proposed approach — a per‑parcel fee — follows the majority practice. Staff’s formal recommendation to enact the ordinance was placed before the board at second reading and the board voted to adopt the ordinance.
Michael Turnipseed, representing the Kern County Taxpayers Association, told supervisors the association is concerned about the potential for many new cost‑recovery fees across county departments. Turnipseed said the county would “now have the fifth highest fee in the state of California” and warned of administrative complexity and potential disproportionate burdens on some taxpayers.
Supervisors and staff discussed the purpose of the fee. Supporters said the county faces administrative burdens from filings and that a modest fee would discourage frivolous filings and free staff time to process meritorious appeals promptly. Opponents warned that fee proliferation could deter legitimate appeals and urged the board to monitor impacts and consider targeted waivers for low‑income filers.
After discussion the board adopted the ordinance; staff clarified that if enacted the ordinance would take effect 30 days after adoption. Supervisors and staff said they will continue to review the assessment appeals process and the broader appeals workflow for possible further improvements.
The ordinance was adopted by vote as recorded at the meeting; staff said some appeals already in process will not be affected by the fee while the county will begin charging the fee for new filings after the ordinance’s effective date.
