<
Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone announced July 1 that the county’s net property assessment roll increased by 7.9 percent in the last year to $419 billion, an increase of $30.9 billion.
<
Overall property growth in Morgan Hill tallied in at about 7.8 percent for 2015, according to the assessor’s office.
<
The growth continues locally in 2016, with more than $27.1 million in new residential construction and $12.6 million in new commercial projects so far this year in Morgan Hill helping to fuel the county’s overall continuing growth, city staff said.
<
The assessment roll growth during the past four years has exceeded the growth for the preceding decade, erasing almost all of the losses in property values suffered during the Great Recession starting in late 2008, according to the assessor’s office.
<
“That’s great news for all property owners, as the largest single asset that most people own is their home. Santa Clara County is once again leading the region, and the state,” Stone said.
<
The assessment roll is a snapshot of the assessed value of all real and business personal property in Santa Clara County as of Jan. 1, 2016.
<
“The Silicon Valley economy is the envy of the nation, posting 60 consecutive months of job gains,” Stone continued. “Unlike the previous jobless recovery, unemployment dropped to 3.8 percent in Santa Clara County, the sixth consecutive month below 4 percent—lower than the state at 5.4 percent and the nation at 5 percent. The valley’s growth has been driven primarily by the high technology industry.”
<
Mountain View and Santa Clara lead the county in roll growth, while San Jose and Campbell—along with other local jurisdictions—recorded growth lower than the countywide average, according to the assessor’s office. Gilroy’s property roll grew 8.37 percent in 2015.
<
“The strong growth in assessed value has been tempered by a lower California Consumer Price Index (CCPI),” said Stone.
<
State proposition 13 limits the annual increase in the assessed value of all properties to a maximum of 2 percent or the California Consumer Price Index (CCPI), whichever is lower. This year the CCPI was 1.525 percent, the 10th time the CCPI has been less than 2 percent in the 37 years since the voters approved Prop 13 in 1978, the press release elaborated.
<
Santa Clara County’s strong economy has created a growing demand for multi-family housing and commercial properties, the press release continued. Nearly half of the increase in assessed value, $16.6 billion, is attributable to “reassessable changes in ownership,” followed by $6.9 billion in new construction.
<
By comparison in 2010, at the height of the great recession, changes in ownership accounted for a meager $2.8 billion, and new construction less than $1 billion.
<
Commercial, industrial growth
<
More and more major technology companies favor ownership over long term leases, the data show.
<
“Clearly they are doubling down on Silicon Valley with enormous investments in land and the development of commercial and industrial buildings and campuses,” Stone said.
<
An “astounding” 85 percent of the $6.9 billion in new construction was driven by commercial and industrial development.
<
Stone points to commercial, industrial and mixed-use projects up north—such as the new Apple campus ($700 million) and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara ($1.4 billion)—among the biggest contributors to the assessment roll.
<
But in Morgan Hill, millions of dollars worth of new construction will add property tax revenues for schools, special districts, public safety and other basic municipal services.
<
So far in 2016, 97 new homes have been built at a total value of about $27.2 million, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Coordinator John Lang.
<
In the commercial arena, Dick’s Sporting Goods is about to complete a $2.8 million building at the Target shopping center on Cochrane Road. That store is expected to be open later this summer.
<
On Condit Road, La Quinta Inn just celebrated its soft opening, according to the hotel’s developer Andrew Firestone. This construction is worth about $8 million.
<
Rounding out the new commercial construction in 2016 in Morgan Hill, a new self-storage facility on Butterfield Boulevard has added about $1.8 million worth of new construction to the assessment roll.
<
These projects are not yet counted in the assessor’s latest report, which focuses on 2015 property value growth.
How to challenge your property value
<
Property owners who disagree with the assessed value printed on their notice are encouraged to take advantage of the assessor’s online tool, available 24/7, enabling 353,000 property owners to review the sale of comparable properties the assessor used to determine their assessment. An interactive service modeled after online banking, the “Opt-In Tool” allows taxpayers to securely receive assessment notices, in addition to interacting with the assessor’s office electronically rather than by mail, telephone or in person.
<
To access the data, a property owner must have a username and password created last year, or the PIN listed in the annual assessment notice.
<
Property owners who can demonstrate that their assessed value is higher than the market value of their property can request an informal review of their assessment from the assessor’s office. The assessor’s property appraisal staff will complete as many informal reviews as possible prior to Aug. 1, the deadline for making changes that will be reflected on the property tax bill.
<
The annual notice also describes the process for filing a formal assessment appeal by the Sept. 15 deadline. Last November, the fee to file an assessment appeal with the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board was eliminated.
<
More information is available at sccassessor.org.
<
“If you disagree with the assessed value, property owners should not wait for the tax bill before filing an appeal as the tax bill is mailed by the Tax Collector after the assessment appeal filing deadline,” Stone said.
<
7.83 percent: Growth in Morgan Hill’s property assessment roll, 2016
<
8.37 percent: Growth in Gilroy’s roll
<
7.97 percent: Countywide roll growth
