Property values in Morgan Hill rose 5.6%, the sixth-fastest rate among the county’s 16 jurisdictions, outpacing San Jose, Gilroy and Los Gatos, according to County Assessor Neysa Fligor. The city’s assessment roll grew by $830 million over the past year to $15.6 billion. That represents 2% of the county’s three-quarters of a trillion dollars in assessed property value.
New construction represented $276 million of Morgan Hill’s increase. Homes built since 2019 account for more than half the city’s assessed value. The city ranks fifth countywide for new construction, behind San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Palo Alto.
People buying existing homes in desirable communities like Los Altos, Monte Sereno and Morgan Hill are the biggest accelerant to property tax growth. “Changes of ownership for residential properties continue to be the strongest contributor to growth in value,” Fligor said.
Accounting for 49% of the county’s value growth, residential reassessments following property transactions outstripped the commercial properties, new construction and Prop 13 inflation adjustments as a source of new revenue, she said. Property taxes fund state and local government services, schools and special assessment districts.
Santa Clara County is the state’s fourth most valuable chunk of real estate, behind Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. Santa Clara County is worth more than two San Franciscos.
Residential transactions remained steady in number, with a slight increase in median sales prices. Business properties in Morgan Hill grew in worth by about 8% to $660 million.
Fligor briefly discussed the impact of data center growth on tax revenues, mentioning that the investment in computing infrastructure contributed property taxes both directly and indirectly via support industries and higher residential values.
Delivered at a Monday morning event held in San Jose, the report was a first for the office, as Fligor nears the one-year mark. She succeeded former Assessor Larry Stone, who chose not to seek another term after three decades on the job.
Fligor has overseen the transition to a new technology platform to manage the office’s assessment system for more than half a million properties.
