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Tulare County assessor reports 6% growth in 2025 roll, highlights Williamson Act and groundwater impacts
Summary
Assessment Services Director Steve Wise presented the 2025 assessment roll highlights, reporting 6% growth in net roll value, continued decline in Prop 8 claims, the tax effect of the Williamson Act on ag valuations, and steps the office is taking to modernize services and address groundwater-driven valuation changes.
Tulare County’s assessment roll grew 6% in 2025, adding about $3 billion and bringing the county’s total assessed value after exemptions to nearly $53 billion, Assessment Services Director Steve Wise told the Assessment Appeals Board on Monday.
Wise presented the 2025 assessment rule highlights and said the 6% increase is lower than last year’s figure but aligns with the 10‑year historical average. "The net roll value grew by 6% this year, which is a $3,000,000,000 increase, bringing the total to nearly $53,000,000,000 after exemptions," he said.
The presentation broke the roll down by property type: residential properties account for roughly 55% of assessed value, commercial and industrial about 20%, and agricultural properties about 14%. Wise attributed the comparatively small share for agriculture largely to the Williamson Act, the state program that offers tax relief to landowners who commit to agricultural use for a term, and showed how the act suppresses agricultural shares of the roll in Tulare County.
Wise also described continuing declines in Prop 8 temporary reductions since their 2012 peak and explained the assessor’s heavy reliance on computer-assisted mass appraisal tools to identify properties eligible for Prop 8 relief. He said the office mailed nearly 11,000 agricultural questionnaires earlier in 2025 to collect data about water sources, leases and crop changes; more than 2,000 were returned and used to refine valuations.
On groundwater, Wise told the board the office has layered parcel maps with groundwater sustainability agency and irrigation-district boundaries to analyze how water access affects market rents and valuations. He reported that parcels in white areas — those without irrigation-district water access — were valued about 17% lower on average than parcels with irrigation access, and that the office will update models as more data arrive.
Wise reviewed operational improvements including expanded electronic filing (about 5,200 online business filings in the year, up 836 from the prior year), an automated indexing pilot for recorded documents, a new booklet for fictitious business-name filers, and an office relocation and remodel approved by the Board of Supervisors to improve public access. He said work on the remodel would begin on July 28 and conclude next year.
Board members asked questions about timing for escape assessments after property sales, online filing limitations, and the county’s backlog for reassessments; board members urged faster processing to reduce confusion for taxpayers with impounded mortgages. Wise acknowledged the backlog and said staff is working to reduce it.
The presentation was informational; the board did not take action on the report.
