Saaan Francisco, San Francisco. Saw Eddie Izzard's new live tour Stripped this weekend. It's fantastic! At least as good as mine and many people's favorite Dressed to Kill. I would say better but this is the first time I've seen him live. Live is always better. My wife was in pain from laughing so much. Can't wait for the DVD but it will be a couple of years before he records that. He needs to take the tour around the rest of the USA, the UK ("otherwise they'll kill me"), Australia, France and Russia.

Just like a lot of his comedy you get a history lesson along with it. This time covering the birth of the planet up to the present day. Highly recommended! Get some tickets if you can!

www.eddieizzard.com

So I checked on my parcel information at the county web site to see if my exemption had been applied since I didn't get any response in the mail. I could see that a $5600 exemption had been applied but my property value had been increased. So the net result is a higher taxable value than last year. I wasn't expecting that.

I contacted the county office and the very nice lady explained that under Prop 13 they are allowed to raise property values by 2% each year which explained my increase. I guess no one has really cared for a few years since the property values were going up way more than that. She also explained that I could request (by asking on the phone) Prop 8 which means they will do a market valuation of the property. Whichever is less (Prop 13 or Prop 8) value is what will be used. However I'm too late as this years roll is already closed. So I'm down for 2008 and I should find out July'ish next year. Here's hoping there is a plummet in market value when they do the valuation and a sharp rise afterwards.

Proposition 8 Decline in Value Reassessment Program

Original post California Home Owners Property Tax Exemption

I received a letter the other day from a company telling me I'm missing out on the California Home Owners Property Tax Exemption. For a fairly small fee they we're offering to process the exemption for me. I looked into it and found that it was not bogus.

"EXEMPTIONS HOMEOWNERS: A property owner may claim a Homeowner's exemption in California on a residence that is both owned and occupied at 12:01 a.m. on January 1; or files within 30 days of a change in ownership or new construction for which a supplemental assessment is levied. The exemption reduces your assessed value by $7,000 and reduces the tax bill by at least $70. It is the homeowner's responsibility to apply for the exemption. To receive the full exemption, you must file with the Assessor's office between January 1 and February 15, or within 30 days of a Notice of Supplemental Assessment. (A late filing is accepted from February 16 to December 10 for 80 percent of the exemption). Your exemption automatically continues each year as long as you continue to own and occupy the property as your primary residence. It is also the homeowner's responsibility to terminate the exemption when no longer eligible. Please contact the El Dorado County Assessor's office for the Homeowner's Exemption form at 530-621-5719."

El Dorado County Assessor's Office

Fair enough I thought, they brought it to my attention and if I haven't found this in the 2 years I've been a CA homeowner I probably never would have. One problem though... they need the SSN's of the homeowners. Screw that, I'm not sending my SSN to some random company. So I called Assessor's Office myself and asked them to send me the form. A very simple form arrived in the mail withing days and I posted it back within weeks. I'll update when I hear back.

So if your a California Home Owner contact your county assessor's office and get your exemption sorted. If not maybe your state has something similar.