Property Assessment Appeals Can Soon Be Done in Palm Desert

Starting Monday, June 2, Riverside County homeowners appealing their property valuation will no longer have to travel to Riverside to have their appeal heard.

Supervisor John J. Benoit pushed hard to establish a monthly appeals hearing in Palm Desert for taxpayers in eastern Riverside County.

“After listening to homeowners who couldn’t attend hearings in Riverside due to lack of flexible schedules or transportation, I worked with the Clerk of the Board and Assessor’s offices to establish this service,” said Supervisor John J. Benoit. “I am so glad taxpayers in the Coachella Valley and Blythe area will be given a much more convenient place to have their appeals heard.”

Notices went out for the first hearing, scheduled for Monday, June 2 in Palm Desert. They will be regularly held on the first Monday of each month on the second floor of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Treasurer-Tax Collector offices at 38-686 El Cerrito Rd., Palm Desert. The office is located north of the Washington Street I-10 exit.

“We were happy to work with Supervisor Benoit to establish an appeals board hearing location in Palm Desert which will better serve the our desert constituents which we were both elected to serve,” said Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward.

Every year, the Assessor provides valuation notices to property owners. When property owners desire to challenge the Assessor’s enrolled value of their property, they can submit to the Assessor a “Decline-in-Value Reassessment Application” at no charge, or they may file an “Application for Changed Assessment” form with the Clerk of the Board, Division of Assessment Appeals along with a $30 filing fee to request an appeal hearing.

The Assessment Appeals Division of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, an independent department from the Assessor’s office, oversees the assessment appeals process, schedules and facilitates the hearings.

Applicants can present their case for a lower valuation before a three-member Assessment Appeals Board, a panel of fellow taxpayers, or a hearing officer who are appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Hearings are public meetings that are recorded and attended by a representative of the Assessment Appeals Division of the Clerk of the Board, appraisal staff from the Assessor’s office as well as deputy county counsel.

State law provides for a hearing to be scheduled within 2 years from the date the application is filed. Applicants are required to attend the hearing or their application will be denied.

Commercial/industrial/business property assessment appeals will still be held in Riverside.