Property taxes are due on Monday by 5 p.m. for San Diego County’s one million property owners.
The county is expecting to collect nearly half-a-billion dollars more this year than last year, according to Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister.
San Diego’s low housing supply and skyrocketing home prices mean higher property taxes. The median price of a home or condo is currently $495,000.
“So that means that the median tax actually charged is going to end up at about $4,950 per year,” McAllister said. “And as that number goes up, so too will the taxes generated.”
California's property taxes are regulated by Proposition 13, passed in 1978. The measure caps property taxes at 1 percent of the assessed value of a home at the time it was purchased.
“So the needle is moving up in terms of the numbers of dollars we’re collecting in property taxes and fees,” McAllister said. “And that’s largely attributable to the valuations going up at the individual pieces of property when they’re sold, when they turn over, when there’s a title change.”
The county’s discretionary fund receives 13 percent of taxes, while 43 percent goes toward public schools and community colleges.
McAllister said he is expecting 1,600 defaults this year that will soon be available for auction. The majority of those are timeshares, he said.
Property tax payments can be made online on the Treasurer-Tax Collector web site, or dropped off at the county's five branch locations.
