Bay Area property taxes rise as home values rebound

LAFAYETTE, Calif. (KGO) -- Starting next week, homeowners in California may get a bit of sticker shock when they open their property tax bills. That's because they are expected to climb considerably thanks to rebounding home values.

"Now my value's going back up. I have to pay more in taxes. Do I like that? No, but do I like the fact that my property's gone up a 1/3 in the last couple of years? It balances out. I'm okay with it," said Walnut Creek homeowner Kevin Sanchez.

Proposition 13 set a cap of two percent per year on property tax increases. Proposition 8 allowed homeowners to get a temporary reduced assessment.

As prices go back up, if a home that was reduced increases in market value by more than two percent per year, then its assessed value can go up by more than 2 percent.

Gus Kramer is the Contra Costa County Tax Assessor. He says some homeowners will see greater increases than others.

"The percentages are all over the map and it's not what community you're in. It depends when you bought your home and when we reduced the value. Some are only going to be two percent, many people are going to be 20 percent or possibly more," said Kramer.

It's basically the downside of a rebounding market.

"I sold a home in Concord, one of the nicer areas in Concord, just about 3 years ago for $675,000 and those are now going in the high $800,000s to low $900,000s," said Mark Williams of Better Homes Realty.

Like they could with assessed values during the down years, property owners can appeal their new values if they think they've gone up too much.