Our office is working diligently to review the approximately 23,500 properties affected by the January wildfires and process assessment (value) reductions where appropriate. So far, about 18,000 reductions have been granted — 60% of which were based on claims filed by property owners, and 40% of which were based on our proactive efforts to provide tax relief to fire victims. The remaining properties will require further review, which will continue in the months ahead.
For those properties that have been granted disaster relief, Notices of Assessed Value Change have been mailed to inform property owners about the reductions applied to their property’s 2024 assessments. However, the information contained in these notices has been confusing to some property owners.
This confusion is largely due to how property taxes are calculated. The 2024 assessment and tax bill covers the fiscal year from July 2024 through June 2025. For properties affected by the January wildfires, reductions are prorated, and the notices reflect the undamaged property’s value before the disaster and the reduced value after. In other words, affected property owners pay taxes based on the property’s full value for the 6 months before the property was damaged, but reduced taxes for the six months after.
While disaster relief on the 2024-2025 tax bill was prorated, the 2025–2026 tax bill, issued in fall 2025, will reflect the reduced value for the entire year.
Following the processing of approximately 18,000 wildfire-related assessment reductions, the Assessor’s Office mailed Notices of Assessed Value Change and, in many cases, the Auditor-Controller’s Office mailed refund checks to affected property owners. However, both offices have begun to receive notices and refunds, returned to the County as undeliverable, because the mailing addresses on record for those properties are no longer valid. In numerous cases, the property related to the notices and refunds — and with it, the mailing address of record — was destroyed in the wildfires.
To ensure that important property assessment and tax-related documents, including property tax refunds, are sent to a location where property owners will receive them, those whose property was affected by the wildfires are urged to update their mailing address with the Assessor’s Office.
To update a mailing address, visit our Change of Mailing Address webpage.
As property owners affected by the wildfires begin planning to rebuild, it is important to distinguish between the standards related to the planning and rebuilding processes and those related to the post-reconstruction assessment process – they are different. Here’s a simple guide to help you understand:
EXPEDITED PERMIT REVIEW (110% Size Standard)
To help affected property owners rebuild quickly, the Governor and local governments have implemented an expedited permit review process for reconstruction projects in wildfire-affected areas. This expedited process is available for reconstruction projects where the replacement structure will not exceed 110% of the original structure’s size and use.
Governor-Declared Misfortune and Calamity (120% Value Standard)
Separate and apart from the permitting process, the Assessor’s Office administers two programs that allow a property owner to retain their property’s pre-damage tax base after a structure has been damaged or destroyed and is later rebuilt.
The first applies when the damage or destruction to the original structure is caused by a Governor-declared disaster – such as the January wildfires. In such cases, if the property owner builds a replacement structure within 5 years of the date of damage, and its market value does not exceed 120% of the property’s pre-disaster market value,[i] the property’s pre-damage tax base will be reinstated. Any construction that exceeds 120% will be assessed at market value and added to the property’s reinstated pre-disaster tax base.
However, due to the age of many of the affected homes, rising property values, processing delays, and rising costs of construction, it is anticipated that very few homeowners will qualify to keep their pre-damage tax base under this standard.
MISFORTUNE AND CALAMITY (“Substantial Equivalence”)
The second program similarly applies when property is damaged or destroyed, but the cause of that damage or destruction is not a Governor-declared disaster. Under this standard, an affected property owner may rebuild a replacement structure that is “substantially equivalent” to the original structure, and, upon completion, have their pre-damage tax base reinstated.
Substantially Equivalent means similar in size and use. As with the Major Misfortune and Calamity standard above, if square footage or features that did not exist before the damage are added during the reconstruction process, those additions will be assessed at market value, and that value will be added to the property’s reinstated pre-damage tax base.
For more information about the assessment of rebuilt property, visit our Disaster Relief (Misfortune & Calamity) webpage.
