Newsom looks into property tax delay
Governor enters discussions as pressure begins to mount
SAN JOSE >> Just days before property taxes are due, Gov. Gavin Newsom has waded into the financial tangle linked to whether the payments should — or can be — postponed amid the economic chaos spawned by the coronavirus.
County tax collectors throughout the Bay Area want to keep the April 10 deadline, but pressure has mounted to push back the payment date because numerous residential and commercial property owners have been financially jolted by the coronavirus.
“We are assessing our options as it relates to property taxes,” Newsom said this week at a news conference. “We are seeing if there are ways to soften this” for property owners.
In diverse ways, tax relief is being bestowed on individuals and small businesses in terms of state and federal income taxes, noted Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
“We think the tax relief that has occurred is appropriate,” Coupal said. “The homeowners, the property owners, they are the ones who have been left at the train station.”
The governor is in discussions with the California State Association of Counties, or CSAC, which represents the 58 counties in the state. The counties insist that the state government replace any revenue that might be lost through a California-ordered delay of the April 10 payment date.
“The county officers were very clear about their hopes and expectations,” Gov. Newsom said. “CSAC has requested that we not impose
any mandate from on high unless we are prepared to backfill the impact of that.”
San Mateo County is one notable exception with its decision to temporarily close the tax collector’s office, a shutdown that creates ongoing days off and a delay of when the taxes would officially be deemed delinquent.
“Taxes are not due until the day following its re-opening,” said Michelle Durand, chief communications officer for the San Mateo County Manager.
Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Marin County, and Contra Costa County intend to adhere to the April 10 date.
Plenty of counties, cities, school districts, and other local and regional government agencies are anxious to stuff their coffers with the property tax revenue.
“These funds are vital to our community and help maintain the county hospitals that provide the much needed medical services to the public, carry out public health initiatives, provide law enforcement and detention services, pay the salaries of school teachers, maintain water and various sanitation systems, and many more,” said Margaret Olaiya, director of Santa Clara County’s Department of Tax and Collections.
Several counties, including some in the Bay Area, have decided to waive fees and penalties that are added to the basic tax payment when a bill becomes delinquent.
“Those penalties are stiff,” Coupal said. “This is what has property owners very nervous.”
The governor acknowledged the reality of that dread.
“Millions of homeowners in the state are feeling that anxiety about April 10,” Gov. Newsom said. “We are going to see what the options are and what we can do to help. I don’t want to over-promise.”
Coupal believes numerous local agencies would survive quite well even without the property tax revenue.
“Many of these local governments are sitting on vast reserves such as pooled funds,” Coupal said. “We have discovered billions of dollars in reserves in the accounts of local agencies. It’s disingenuous for counties and local governments to plead poverty when they want to extract property taxes from people who have been laid off.”