Property tax ups and downs hard to figure

The Modesto Bee reports:

There's the tax bill in the mail again. Hey! How come my tax bill still went up when property values are diving around here?

Stanislaus County Assessor Doug Harms is getting a lot of calls like that these days. The calls usually stem from a misunderstanding of how the tax system works, Harms said, although if the caller bought the home in the past year or two, a reassessment may be in order.

But for the vast majority of Stanislaus County's 121,135 home owners, the dropping home values have no effect on their tax bills.

Here's why:

Most people bought their homes more than a couple of years ago, and they were assessed at market value at that time. Since 1978, the homes have been lim-ited to a 2 percent rise in assessed valuation by Proposition 13, the California tax revolt measure.

Over the past 10 years or so, property values have risen far faster than 2 percent, so even with recent declines in home values, the market value of the home is still higher than its assessed value on the county books.

If live in California ,you'll want to read this one.