Lake County supervisors voted to continue consideration of an ordinance that would stop billing property taxes on secured parcels assessed under $5,000, giving staff and stakeholders more time to craft alternatives.

The item was introduced by Patrick Sullivan, the county treasurer and tax collector, who said the proposed ordinance would target secured real property valued at $5,000 or less and that those parcels represent a large share of the county’s inventory (staff cited roughly 13,500 parcels, more than 22%). Sullivan told the board that these low-value parcels have delinquency rates roughly five to six times higher than other properties and that, in aggregate, the county bills roughly $246,000 on such properties but collects about $160,000, leaving significant net loss once postage, staffing and processing are considered. "We really were basically spending more actual dollars than it's worth to try to collect these fees," Sullivan said.

Auditor‑Controller staff and the assessor joined Sullivan in describing operational impacts. The Auditor‑Controller said the tax system vendor Megabyte and local fire districts have been consulted and that a mechanism could let fire districts place direct charges on $0 bills and pursue those charges separately, preserving an avenue to recover some fees even if the county stops sending regular tax bills for the smallest parcels.

Clear Lake City Manager Alan Flora, speaking during public comment, urged the board not to move forward immediately. Flora said the ordinance could eliminate "one of our most powerful tools related to code enforcement and responsible property management" and cited local parcel counts showing many vacant parcels and a high percentage of out‑of‑town owners in Clear Lake. "I see this as an attempt to stop the bleeding," a Zoom commenter added in support of the fiscal rationale but said cities need time to coordinate on enforcement tools.

Several supervisors warned the ordinance treats a symptom rather than root causes such as paper lots and fragmented ownership. Supervisor Sabatte called the proposal "swiping it under the rug" and asked the board to pursue upstream fixes, including potential memoranda of understanding with cities and chapter‑8 direct sales to acquire and consolidate problem parcels. Board members and staff also noted calendar constraints: tax-roll programming and vendor recoding would need to be completed months in advance of bills going out, so staff asked the board not to delay long past January if it intends to adopt the change for the next roll.

Rather than vote on the ordinance today, Supervisor Sabatte moved to continue the item to Jan. 13 at 11 a.m. The motion passed on a 4–1 vote; the clerk did not record individual votes by name in the transcript. The board did not adopt the ordinance today; staff said they will participate in working groups and return with additional proposals and details by the January date.

What happens next: the item is scheduled for further review on Jan. 13 at 11:00 a.m. Staff flagged that any ordinance change will require work with Megabyte to implement coding changes ahead of the July tax-roll process. If the board adopts the ordinance later, staff said the measure could be rescinded or amended if a more comprehensive solution (for example, agency purchases or a coordinated chapter‑8 acquisition strategy) is identified.