Quality of Life

New Law Makes It Harder To Scam Property Tax Reassessments

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published January 4, 2010 at 2:32 PM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

More than 20,000 San Diegans filed for a property tax reassessment last year. That’s more than five times as many as in a normal year.

Chief Deputy County Assessor Diana Lackey says residents often receive letters from companies offering to do property reassessments for a fee, but her office does it for free,

Lackey says a new state law goes in effect this month making it illegal to put official-looking seals or emblems on letters offering to lower property tax assessments for a fee.

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"Often, senior citizens can be confused by the misleading mailers that were sent out previously," Lackey said. "This new law prohibiting these misleading emblems and symbols, I think this is a great stride forward to help protect the consumer."

Lackey says more than 200,000 San Diegans received a temporary property tax reduction last year.

The County Assessor’s office reduced more than 70,000 of them without even being petitioned by the homeowner.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.