Property taxes varies from city to city and county to county even they are all within the same state. It all depends on the communitys budget for municipal and social services such as schools, police, fire rescue and parks etc. So in San Francisco, a property owner will pay more taxes than say a farming community outside the city. From the information you provided, no one can give you any accurate tax rate here. Better yet, if you know an exact address or a property owners name, you can search under that. Then they will give you just about anything you need to know about the property including tax assessed to that particular property. Proposition 13, which California voters passed in 1978, requires the Assessor to reassess real property as of the date of a change in ownership, or completion of new construction. Assessments are not always equal to the purchase price for a house. Also, Monterey County has a limit on assessment increases. So its not possible to know for sure what the house sold for in 2006, at least not using math.

But you can use other means. The question is: under Prop. If it is, then the base value of the home would be the value of the house in 1983 when you, as heir, became the new owner. This could be disputed if a different value of the property was placed on the property during probate proceedings and accepted by the Court. It seems that when you inherited the property in 1983, the base value would become the value at that time. You need to talk to a TAX ACCOUNTANT about this. Yes, you make a good point. You didnt say how old your mom is but the problem of increasing property taxes does effect everyone.

First a little background on property taxes. There are no FEDERAL property taxes nor will there ever be.

This was established by none other than Thomas Jefferson and it is in the Constitution that there can never be Federal property taxes. That was left to the localites, the cities and counties. The money is the biggest revenue source for local governments. It is based on an assessed value of the home. In the event the taxes are not paid. Taxes are a higher priority than the mortgage or deeds of trust on the house. Yes, millions of people lose equity for hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. The best defense is to educate yourself about property taxes. There have been property tax revolts. Notably Proposition 13 in California which essentially gave caps to current owners of taxes. But remember what property taxes pay for mainly local schools. One of the biggest reasons for appreciation is the quality of schools in the location where the home is located.

There are books on challenging the tax assessors assessment. Maybe the tax assessment was incorrect. The time to challenge is not long so when the bill comes out you need facts in order to challenge.

If your mom is on a fixed income she may need income to pay the taxes. Now with the internet she can spend a little time with a home based business to assist in paying the taxes. But loans have to be paid back so this is a consideration. She could take in a border and rent out a room to cover the taxes. 00 a year and there are tax breaks for renting. Property taxes are here to stay. But challenging the increase is something of concern to everyone.

You also need to attend the local governments open meetings on the budget. Ask questions on why the rate is going up look for senior citizen abatement programs that exist.