With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
Did Your Property Get Storm Damage? You Could Be Eligible For A Tax Cut
One of the severley damaged homes after the recent atmospheric river on Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles
(
Noah Berger
/
Getty Images
)
Maybe your L.A. home flooded during a recent heavy downpour. Maybe an Orange County mudslide damaged your home. Or maybe you're one of the unlucky Palos Verdes Peninsula residents whose homes are at risk of slowly sliding away.
Wherever you are in California, if something you own gets assessed for property taxes and it’s been damaged during a disaster, you could qualify for a tax cut. Here’s how:
How the tax cut works
The state’s tax law says that if a major calamity such as a fire, earthquake, or flooding damages or destroys your property, you may be eligible for property tax relief if the county has adopted a disaster relief ordinance (spoiler: all California counties have already done this).
Sponsored message
The cut would be a temporary reduction in your property’s assessed value, which is the figure you pay taxes on if you’re a homeowner. To get the cut, you must have lost at least $10,000 of the property’s current market value and file an application with your county assessor’s office within 12 months.
Once your application is approved, the county assessor will reevaluate your property to reflect its damaged condition and issue a refund. Your current property taxes will be reduced from the date of the damage, and it will remain that way until your property gets rebuilt or repaired.
Once your property is back to normal, your taxes shouldn’t go back up for at least that year, as long as things were repaired or rebuilt in a similar manner. But if you use that repair time to add a new bonus room to your home — or make other improvements that increase the value of your home — be prepared to pay more in property taxes when it’s reassessed.
How do I know what property counts?
According to the state, this tax reduction is for: “owners of real property, business equipment and fixtures, orchards or other agricultural groves, and to owners of aircraft, boats, and certain manufactured homes.”
(Real property refers to the land and anything affixed to the land, like a house.)
Some types of damages won’t qualify. If it was due to normal deterioration, like a leaky roof that you didn’t fix, that probably won’t get approved. But if it flooded during a big storm, that’ll likely work.
If you’re in an area that was recently declared a disaster by the governor, you could also ask to get your next property tax installment deferred. Talk with your county assessor to see what help is available.
Sponsored message
How to file your application
You’ll have to fill out a form to start the process. For the L.A. County assessor’s office, fill out the application form here. For Orange County, go here. For other counties, look here to find the contact for your assessor’s office.
Be prepared to describe the damage and share copies of repair bills and estimates. Some county offices may require different details, so read the forms closely. For example, L.A. County strongly recommends including photographs with your application, while Orange County says the before and after conditions must be included on the application.
Then mail it to your county assessor’s office and wait for them to respond. If you don’t hear back from them within a couple of weeks, give the office a call to check in.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
