Understanding the Ventura County Supplemental Tax Bill

In our last post we talked about the Ventura County property tax. We hope that gave everyone a basic understanding of what the property tax is and how/when it must be paid. As promised, in today’s post we will discuss the Ventura County supplemental tax bill. Although somewhat related to your annual property tax, you are only sent a supplemental tax bill in specific circumstances. Keep on reading to find out more information about this bill and when you might expect to receive one.

What is the Ventura County Supplemental Tax Bill?

Prior to July 1983, the Ventura County Tax Assessor would reassess properties only once a year, on March 1st, for the following fiscal year. Therefore, any change of ownership of completion of new construction that occurred after March 1st would not be reassessed until the next calendar year. California State law changed in July 1983 such that properties are now reassessed on the first day of the month following a change in ownership or completion of new construction. The outcome of this reassessment can result in a supplemental tax bill being sent to the new owner in addition to the regular annual property tax bill.

A change of ownership occurs when the property is sold from one owner to another. However, a sale or transfer of a home from parents to children does not result in a reassessment. New construction is considered either adding on to the existing home or performing a substantial improvement, such as adding a pool or completely renovating a kitchen or bathroom. If you are planning to renovate your home and have questions as to whether your plans will result in a reassessment, it may be a good idea to call the Ventura County Tax Collector.

When your home is reassessed, the Assessor will determine the new value of your home based off of current market conditions and compare that to the old assessed value of your home. The difference between those two values will result in the supplemental assessment value. Once this amount has been determined, the Assessor will send you a letter which will notify you of the amount. If the reassessment results in an increase in the property value, a supplemental tax bill will be sent to you by the Tax Collector based on the change in value. Although it is not a common occurrence, there can be instances where the supplement assessment value results in a lower value. If this is the case, the Tax Collector will mail you a refund based on the decrease in value.

If you are in a situation where you bought and then sold a home in less than a year, the supplemental tax bill should only apply for the months in which you actually owned the home. The new owner of the home should receive a separate supplemental tax bill starting from the time that they took ownership. Depending on when the change of ownership took place, the Ventura County records may not be completely up-to-date when the supplemental tax bills are sent out. You should always check your bill to make sure that it is accurate for the amount of time you owned the property. If you see any discrepancies, it is recommended that you call the Ventura County Tax Assessor’s office. This exact situation actually happened to us and we had to call the Tax Assessor for a refund.

The following information will be included in your supplemental tax bill

• The name of the owner of the property
• Date of the ownership change of completion of new construction
• The fiscal year in which the taxes are being assessed
• Location of the property
• Old value of the property
• New value of the property
• Supplemental assessed value of the property
• Amount of taxes due based off of supplemental assessed value

Paying the Ventura County Supplemental Tax Bill

If the change in property value resulting from a change of ownership or completion of new construction occurred between June 1st and December 31st , you will receive one supplemental tax bill . If the change of value occurred between January 1st and May 31st, you will receive two supplemental bills. If the supplemental tax bill is mailed between July 1st and October 30th, the taxes become delinquent on December 10th for the first installment and April 10th for the second installment. If the bill is mailed between November 1st and June 30th, the delinquency dates become a little bit more complicated. The first installment will become delinquent on the last day of the month following the month the bill was mailed and the 2nd installment will become delinquent on the last day of the fourth month after the first installment delinquency date. If you do not make your tax payment (or your payment is not postmarked) by the delinquent dates listed above, the Tax Collector will add a 10% delinquent penalty to the unpaid balance. If you attempt to make a partial payment, the payment will be put into a Tax Collector Trust. If you do not pay the full amount by the installment date, your partial payment will be refunded to you and you will then have to pay any delinquent payments.  We know the above timelines are confusing, but the due date and delinquency date should also be listed on your bill.

Ventura County Property Tax – Dream Home Property Solutions, LLC