Home Publications Guides, Manuals, and Reference Materials County Tax Collectors' Reference Manual (2012) Chapter 5000 Redemptions 5150-5154 Processing Procedures and Requirements: Parcels Not Separately Valued (Segregation)

5150-5154 Processing Procedures and Requirements: Parcels Not Separately Valued (Segregation)

5150. GENERAL APPLICATIONS
Any person may apply for a separate valuation for the purpose of redeeming a portion of a tax-defaulted property. The application shall state that a duly executed and recorded deed, purchase contract, deed of trust, mortgage, or final decree of court describes the parcels sought to be separately valued (Rev. & Tax. Code §4151).

EXCEPTION: A parcel of land being subdivided may be redeemed separately from the whole assessment even though it is owned by the same party (Gov. Code §66493).

5151. APPLICATION FOR A SEPARATE VALUATION
The application for a separate valuation may be made at any time of the year and must be in the form of an affidavit, a certification, or a declaration under penalty of perjury (Code Civ. Proc. §2015.5). It must set forth the fact that the duly recorded document describes the parcel sought to be separately valued (Rev. & Tax. Code §4151).

The applicant may request that the tax created by the assessment of personal property, leasehold improvements, or possessory interests be:

1) Allowed to remain attached to the portion that the applicant is seeking to have separately valued if he/she is the seller (Rev. & Tax. Code §4151); or

2) Attached to the segregated portion, so that the applicant may pay the taxes along with the parcel of real property being segregated for redemption if he/she is the purchaser (Rev. & Tax. Code §4151).

If the application indicates that the lien(s) described above remain attached to the unredeemed portion, the assessor must first determine whether the value of the remaining parcel is sufficient to secure payment of the tax created by the liens (Rev. & Tax. Code §§4153, 4154, 4155).

See sample application form SCO 5-01.

Revenue and Taxation Code section 4151 allows separate satisfaction of liens imposed as special assessments or other charges not determined by application of a tax rate to an assessment. Such liens may be either wholly or partly paid. The taxing agency or revenue district empowered to establish the lien must certify the amount of its lien that is to continue in effect.

5152. APPLICATION TO ASSESSOR
The tax collector transmits the application for a separate valuation to the assessor, who then places separate valuations on the parcel sought to be segregated and the parcel remaining for each of the years for which it was delinquent. The sum of the valuations of the parcels for each year must equal their total valuation before separation (Rev. & Tax. Code §4153).

5153. APPLICATION FEE
A tax collector may charge an application fee for the actual cost incurred for processing an application for separate valuation for redemption of any parcel. The board of supervisors must enact an enabling ordinance before the fee can be charged (Rev. & Tax. Code §4151). The fee is governed by provisions of Chapter 12.5, commencing with Government Code section 54985. This section permits the county board of supervisors to either increase or decrease the amount of fees and charges imposed by law for providing any product or service or for enforcing a regulation for which a fee or charge is levied. Penalties or interest cannot be adjusted by the board of supervisors.

5154. COMPUTATION OF AMOUNT TO REDEEM DEFAULTED TAXES
If the application requested that the tax created by the assessment of personal property, leasehold improvements, or possessory interests on the whole assessment for each of the years it was delinquent is allowed to remain as a lien on the parcel sought to be separately valued, or if the assessor has set forth those values against the parcel sought to be segregated, the amount of defaulted taxes on the separate parcel is the sum of the following:

1) The sum of the amounts computed by multiplying the total of their assessed values by the applicable tax rate for each of the years that the values were delinquent; plus,

2) A proportionate share of any special assessment, improvement bond, or annual installment due thereon, set forth in a certificate by any taxing agency or revenue district authorized by law to levy and secure its lien to secured property on the county assessment roll, showing the specific amount of the agency's lien that is to be paid and that will continue to be placed on the segregated parcel for future years (Rev. & Tax. Code §4154).

If the applicant's request does not provide for paying all of the taxes created by the liens specified in paragraph (1) above, the amount of "defaulted taxes" on the parcel is the sum of the following:

1) The amounts computed by multiplying the assessed value of the segregated parcel by the tax rates applicable for each of the years it was delinquent (Rev. & Tax. Code §4155(a));

2) Those amounts of taxes on personal property, leasehold improvements, or possessory interests, computed by multiplying their assessed values by the tax rates applicable for each of the years they were delinquent, in the same proportion as the value of the parcel bears to the value of the whole assessment, excepting the values of the personal property, leasehold improvements, and possessory interests for each of the years it was delinquent (Rev. & Tax. Rev. & Tax. Code §4155(b)); and,

3) The amounts set forth in the certification of the taxing agency or revenue district as being the portion of the lien for each of the delinquent years, and which continue to be levied against the parcel (Rev. & Tax. Code §4155(c))