REGION: Fire victims get property tax relief

Savings total $3.1 million for those who lost homes

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 11:53 AM PDT ∞

Six months after the October wildfires, nearly 1,500 home owners have received property tax relief in the county.

All were victims whose homes were partially or completely burned during one of the largest fire disasters in the region's history. The county tax collector reduced their property tax bill after assessing the diminished value of their home due to the fires.

"We are not going to tax it, if it is not there," said Jeff Olson, the county's division chief for assessment services.

Patrick O'Sullivan, whose home in Rancho Bernardo was completely destroyed, said any savings was welcome news. He said the tax relief means he saved $1,500 in property taxes this year.

"It's great," said O'Sullivan, who is still living in a rented apartment. "No complaints at all."

O'Sullivan is one of 1,771 people who have applied for the relief, Olson said. The county has approved 1,440 applications and denied 184. The rest are still pending, Olson said.

The total savings for victims of last year's wildfires is about $3.1 million in property taxes, or an average savings of $2,152 per family, Olson said.

People who submitted their applications before Dec. 10. got another benefit. They did not have to pay their property taxes until the new assessed value is estimated, Olson said.

Linda Jauregui, who lost her family's home in Escondido during the fires, said she applied for the relief, but she is one of those people whose home has not been assessed.

"We did take advantage of it," she said. "The advantage is I haven't had to pay taxes since the fire, but we haven't received an assessment saying what our new property taxes would be."

The Jauregui's six-bedroom home near Lake Wohlford was reduced to ashes and rubble, along with four other homes belonging to members of her extended family.

Under state law, property owners are eligible for tax relief if their homes were damaged or destroyed in a natural disaster. To qualify, the extent of the damage must be $10,000 in value or more and an application must be submitted within 12 months of the disaster.

Olson said many of the applications that were denied were rejected because the damage was valued at less than $10,000. Landscaping and destroyed trees do not count as part of the damage for property tax relief purposes, he said.

In San Diego County, the October wildfires torched 368,000 acres and burned 1,750 homes. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated as a result. Many moved in to emergency shelters and the county set up emergency assistance centers.

Olson said most of the applications were collected at the assistance centers during the first weeks following the fires, but the county is still receiving them. He stressed that the savings are temporary. The property taxes will return to normal after the home is rebuilt.

Overall, the $3.1 million in lost property taxes is not a big hit for the county, Olson said. It adds up to about a tenth of one percent of the county's total property tax revenue, which was about $3.9 billion a year, he said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.