601-623

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE
SECTION 601-623




601.  The assessor shall prepare an assessment roll, as directed by
the board, in which shall be listed all property within the county
which it is the assessor's duty to assess.



602.  This local roll shall show:
   (a) The name and address, if known, of the assessee. The assessor
is not required to maintain electronic mail addresses.
   (b) Land, by legal description.
   (c) A description of possessory interests sufficient to identify
them.
   (d) Personal property. A failure to enumerate personal property in
detail does not invalidate the assessment.
   (e) The assessed value of real estate, except improvements.
   (f) The assessed value of improvements on the real estate.
   (g) The assessed value of improvements assessed to any person
other than the owner of the land.
   (h) The assessed value of possessory interests.
   (i) The assessed value of personal property, other than
intangibles.
   (j) The revenue district in which each piece of property assessed
is situated.
   (k) The total taxable value of all property assessed, exclusive of
intangibles.
   (l) Any other things required by the board.



606.  (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), when any
tract of land is situated in two or more revenue districts, the part
in each district shall be separately assessed.
   (b) Where the owner of two or more contiguous parcels comprising
the tract is identical, and the full value of any parcel is less than
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), that parcel may be combined
with the contiguous parcel with the greatest assessed valuation.
   (c) Where the owner of two or more contiguous parcels comprising
the tract is identical, and the tract of land is being used for a
single-family residence and constitutes 45,000 square feet or less,
the smallest parcel may be combined with the largest contiguous
parcel.



607.  Land and improvements thereon shall be separately assessed.



607.5.  In the event that a separate assessment of rights and
privileges appertaining to mines or minerals and land is made, the
descriptive words "mining rights" or "mineral rights" on the
assessment roll shall include the right to enter in or upon the land
for the exploration, development and production of minerals,
including oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons.



608.  Improvements shall be assessed by the assessor by showing
their value opposite the description of the parcel of land on which
they are located, if they are assessed to the same assessee.



609.  Taxable improvements on land exempt from taxation shall be
shown like other real estate on the roll. Value shall not be assessed
against the exempt land and the land does not become responsible for
the assessment made against the taxable improvements.



610.  (a) Land once described on the roll need not be described a
second time, but any person, claiming and desiring to be assessed for
it, may have his or her name inserted with that of the assessee.
   (b) A person is "claiming" property for purposes of subdivision
(a) only if he or she provides the assessor with one of the following
supporting documents:
   (1) A certified copy of a deed, judgment, or other instrument that
creates or legally verifies that person's ownership interest in the
property.
   (2) A certified copy of a document creating that person's security
interest in the property.
   (3) His or her declaration, under penalty of perjury, that he or
she currently has possession of the property and intends to be
assessed for the property in order to perfect a claim in adverse
possession.



611.  If the name of an absent owner is known to the assessor, or in
the case of real property, if it appears of record in the office of
the county recorder, the property shall be assessed to such owner;
otherwise, the property shall be assessed to unknown owners.



612.  When a person is assessed as agent, trustee, bailee, guardian,
conservator, executor, or administrator, his representative
designation shall be added to his name, and the assessment entered
separately from his individual assessment.


613.  A mistake in the name of the owner or supposed owner of real
estate does not render invalid an assessment or any deed to a
purchaser at a tax sale.
   A mistake in the name of an owner or supposed owner of property on
the unsecured roll which does not prevent the person from reasonably
ascertaining that he or she is the assessee does not render invalid
an assessment or any tax sale.


614.  After each assessment of tax-defaulted property the assessor
shall enter on the roll the fact that it is tax defaulted and the
date of the declaration of default.



615.  The assessor shall prepare an index to the local roll, in the
form prescribed by the board, showing the name of the assessee, each
place therein where his assessment appears, and any other information
required by the board. This index shall be delivered to the tax
collector on or before the delivery of the extended roll.




616.  On or before July 1, annually, the assessor shall complete the
local roll. He shall make and subscribe an affidavit on the roll
substantially as follows:
   "I, ____, Assessor of ____ County, swear that between the lien
date and July 1, 19____, I have made diligent inquiry and examination
to ascertain all the property within the county subject to
assessment by me, and that it has been assessed on the roll,
according to the best of my judgment, information, and belief, at its
value as required by law; and that I have faithfully complied with
all the duties imposed on the assessor under the revenue laws; and
that I have not imposed any unjust or double assessment through
malice, ill will, or otherwise; nor allowed anyone to escape a just
and equal assessment through favor, reward, or otherwise."
   The failure to make or subscribe this affidavit, or any affidavit,
does not affect the validity of the assessment.
   The assessor may require from any of his deputies an affidavit on
the roll similar to his own.


617.  As soon as the assessor completes the local roll, he shall
deliver it to the auditor.



618.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of state law, when the
assessment roll is a machine-prepared roll the contents of the roll
and the arrangement of property on the roll may be prescribed by the
board.


619.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the assessor shall,
upon or prior to completion of the local roll, do either of the
following:
   (1) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured
roll whose property's full value has increased over its full value
for the prior year of the assessed value of that property as it shall
appear on the completed local roll.
   (2) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured
roll, or each assessee on the local secured roll and each assessee on
the unsecured roll, of the assessed value of his or her real
property or of both his or her real and his or her personal property
as it shall appear on the completed local roll.
   (b) The information given by the assessor to the assessee pursuant
to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall include a
notification of hearings by the county board of equalization, which
shall include the period during which assessment protests will be
accepted and the place where they may be filed. The information shall
also include an explanation of the stipulation procedure set forth
in Section 1607 and the manner in which the assessee may request use
of this procedure.
   (c) In the case of an increase in a property's full value that is
determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) over the
property's full value determined for the prior year in accordance
with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 51, the information
shall also include the base year value of the property, compounded
annually from the base year to the current year by the appropriate
inflation factors.
   (d) The information shall be furnished by the assessor to the
assessee by regular United States mail directed to him or her at his
or her latest address known to the assessor. The assessor may choose
to accept a written request from the assessee to provide the
information by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States
mail.
   (e) Neither the failure of the assessee to receive the information
nor the failure of the assessor to so inform the assessee shall in
any way affect the validity of any assessment or the validity of any
taxes levied pursuant thereto.
   (f) This section shall not apply to annual increases in the
valuation of property which reflect the inflation rate, not to exceed
2 percent, pursuant to the authority of subdivision (b) of Section 2
of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, for purposes of
property tax limitation determinations.
   (g) This section does not apply to increases in assessed value
caused solely by changes in the assessment ratio provided for in
Section 401.
   (h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1999.



619.2.  Where the personal property on the secured roll of a person
not required to file a property statement pursuant to Section 441 is
assessed in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), excluding
household furnishings and personal effects, the assessor, on or
before July 15, may notify the assessee of the full value, the
assessed value of such property, and the ratio used in the manner
prescribed by Sections 619 and 619.1.
   If the assessee does not receive notice of the assessment pursuant
to this section, the assessee may pay taxes based upon such
assessment under protest and obtain equalization of the assessment in
the same manner as set forth in Section 620.



620.  If the assessor does not send a notice pursuant to Section 619
or Section 621 to an assessee whose property was not on the prior
year's secured roll, or to an assessee of real property on the local
secured roll whose property's full value has increased, then such
assessee may pay taxes under protest. If payments are made in
installments, the protest need not be repeated with the second
installment. Protests shall be made by filing with the tax collector,
together with the payment of the taxes or their first installment, a
petition for assessment reduction on the form prescribed by the
county board, which form the collector is to forward to the clerk of
the county board with the notation that taxes were paid under protest
pursuant to this section. The county board may, after receipt of the
petition for assessment reduction from the tax collector, hold a
public hearing at the next regular board meeting, notice of time and
place of which shall be sent to the person paying the tax under
protest at the address stated in the protest or if no such address is
stated, then to the address of the assessee according to the last
equalized assessment roll. If the taxes are so paid and the assessee
has not previously applied for a reduction of the assessment, the
county board at its next annual meeting as an equalization board
shall thereupon equalize such assessment in the manner prescribed by
Article 1 (commencing with Section 1601) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of
this division.
   The tax rate fixed for property on the roll on which the property
so equalized appears at the time of its original assessment shall be
applied to the amount of the equalized assessment, determined in
accordance with the preceding paragraph. In the event that the
resulting figure is less than the tax theretofore computed, the
taxpayer shall be liable for tax only for the lesser amount, and the
difference shall be canceled. If the taxpayer has already paid the
tax previously computed, such difference shall be refunded to him
pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 5096) of Part 9 of
this division, as an erroneously collected tax.
   If any taxes are paid under protest pursuant to this section, the
taxing agency to which the taxes are paid may, in accordance with
Section 26906.1 of the Government Code, impound such taxes until the
final disposition of the claim or action respecting the protest. No
such impounding is required.



621.  In any county the assessor, with the approval of the board of
supervisors, may give the information required by Section 619, and
similar information with reference to personal property, as an
alternative to giving the information by United States mail, by
having published lists of assessments in newspapers, or by posting
the information to the assessor's Internet Web site, or any
combination of the above. In counties of more than 4 million
population and counties of more than 1 million population, as
determined by the July 1, 1965, Department of Finance revised
estimate, which are contiguous to a county with more than 4 million
population, the assessor, with the approval of the board of
supervisors, may divide the county into publication areas not to
exceed five in number. Within such areas the assessment listing may
be grouped by assessment map books, by post office zones or by such
other arrangements as may be determined by the assessor as most
likely to give notice to assessees and as practicable for publication
in local newspapers. The complete assessment data of one such area
may be printed in one year, and for other areas in successive years
as directed by him or her until the full county is covered. Each year
at least all changes of assessment listings for all the areas shall
be printed, together with a notice that no changes were made with
regard to properties not on the list of changes, so that all changes
will be on a current basis for the entire county. Newspapers for the
publications shall be selected as they are for publication of the
delinquent tax lists and the rate paid for the advertising shall be
the same.
   Neither the failure of the assessee to receive this information
nor the failure of the assessor to so inform the assessee shall in
any way affect the validity of any assessment or the validity of any
taxes levied pursuant thereto.



623.  The assessor may place a single assessment on the roll for all
leased personal property in the county that is assessed with respect
to the same taxpayer. Any property assessed pursuant to this section
shall, in the absence of evidence establishing otherwise, be deemed
to be located at the taxpayer's primary place of business within the
county.