Disaster Relief
Misfortune and Calamity Tax Relief
You may be eligible for tax relief if your property is damaged or destroyed by a calamity, such as fire or flooding. To qualify, you must file an Application for Reassessment: Property Damaged or Destroyed by Misfortune or Calamity (M&C) Form ADS-820 with the Assessor’s Office within 12 months from the date the property was damaged or destroyed. The loss must exceed $10,000 of current market value. Relief for Properties Impacted By A Disaster
For questions or to submit an M&C claim, please email relief@assessor.lacounty.gov or call (213) 974-8658.
Proposition 19 Disaster Relief Transfer of Base Value
In addition, if your property was substantially damaged or destroyed by a Governor-declared disaster, Prop.19 provides for your property's tax base to be transferred to a comparable property within the same county or another county in California. Please visit our Prop. 19 page
For more information or additional help, please use our Contact Form.
For additional resources you may also visit the Board of Equalization’s Disaster Relief website.
County Assessors website, forms, fact sheets, faq's and videos: https://assessor.lacounty.gov/tax-relief/disaster-relief
Disaster Tax Relief
Property Tax Relief After Disaster
Misfortune and Calamity Tax Help
Proposition 19 Tax Relief
California Disaster Property Tax Transfer
L.A. County Property Tax Relief
Filing ADS-820 Form
Governor-Declared Disaster Tax Assistance
Proposition 13
The discovery and valuation of every property in Los Angeles County is the legal responsibility of the Assessor. Assessing property in order to determine its fair market value is the basis for determining the amount of property tax that is to be paid annually by the property’s owner.
Assessing the value of property relies upon local housing market conditions and the expertise of professional property appraisers in the Assessor's Office. This value is used to determine the annual tax bill which is sent by the County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector to the property owner.
In 1978, the California Constitution was amended by the voters to restrict increases of property taxes. Proposition 13 requires assessment of each taxable property based on its fair market value and limits a property owner’s general levy tax to 1 percent of the assessed value. For example, an owner of a home assessed at $420,000 will pay a general levy tax of $4,200.
In addition to the 1 percent general levy tax, the constitution allows for voter-approved indebtedness taxes and direct assessment taxes to pay for services such as schools, water districts, lighting maintenance, weed abatement, emergency services, etc.
Prior to 1978, the law required reassessment on an annual basis. Not only was this process expensive, it meant that from one year to the next a homeowner’s property tax could double depending on fluctuations in the local housing market. In order to provide property owners with protection against strong fluctuations, Proposition 13 mandated that a property’s assessed value could not increase by more than 2 percent from one year to the next except in the event of a change in ownership, new construction, the property receives a temporary decline in assessed value (Proposition 8), or the property is designated a restricted historical property (Mills Act).
For an explanation on your annual property tax bill, please visit: propertytax.lacounty.gov/Home/AnnualSecuredProperty
