Los Angeles County property assessments hit a record $1.6 trillion this year thanks to a super-active real estate market and healthy levels of construction across the county.
The tax roll for 2019 grew by $94.4 billion over last year, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth, according to the Los Angeles Times. The growth in property values is expected to generate $1 billion more in tax revenue for the county and L.A.’s cities.
More than half of the growth in taxable value came from reassessments of properties upon sale. California’s 40-year-old Proposition 13 caps the reassessments of unsold properties at 2 percent. The measure protects longtime property owners from spikes in property taxes. Sold properties are reassessed at sales price, typically much higher than the cap.
Construction added $11.1 billion in value. Inglewood’s massive new L.A. Stadium and Entertainment District — the 300-acre complex anchored by the future home of the L.A. Rams and L.A. Chargers football teams — saw its assessment jump $2 billion, the largest of any property in the county.
It’s one of L.A.’s largest projects under construction. The reassessment boosted Inglewood’s tax base by more than 25 percent, fueling the strongest percentage growth in values than any other city in the county.
The industrial city of Vernon saw a 13.2 percent boost in values thanks to the industrial sector’s strong performance. West Hollywood’s 11.6 percent growth was the third strongest of any city in the county.
The city of L.A. saw a 6.8 increase in values, just above the county average, but accounted for 44 percent of the county’s overall growth. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch