County property assessments up 4.54%

EL CENTRO — Salaries and benefits for county employees use the bulk of the general fund, and a large percentage of that fund comes from appraisals of real property.

The Imperial County Assessor’s Office is reporting valued property in Imperial County increased by 4.54 percent to a little more than $13.3 billion from last year.

Under Proposition 13, adopted in 1978, property taxes are calculated at 1 percent of assessed value. Therefore, the $13.3 billion in property assessments will result in $133 million in property tax revenue.

This does not include school bonds, special district levies or other special assessments and fees, which vary according to tax rate area and property use codes.

The auditor-controller is responsible for calculating the tax rates, calculating the actual property tax for each property assessment and distributing the revenue after the treasurer/tax collector collects the property taxes.

In the past, education have received about 80 percent of 1 percent the Proposition 13 property tax revenue and 20 percent has been allocated to the cities and county.

The result this year is between $17 million and $21 million going toward county’s general fund.

In a July 19 letter to the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, County Assessor Robert Menvielle said the appraised properties had increased by $578 million, which added $925,000 to the general fund.

The county share has historically been 12 percent to 13 percent, which would be $15.96 to $17.29 million in revenue, but this past year it was at 16 percent, or $21.28 million, that will flow into the county general fund in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Menvielle said real property appraisals increase by 2 percent every year, so it is an ongoing tax that the county will receive.

“Most of the board does not understand property taxes,” he said, adding he has offered to teach them, but they have never accepted his offer.

Assistant County Assessor Jack Dunnam, who once served on the El Centro City Council, said cities thrive on property taxes. Most of the lodgings that generate property taxes are in one of the cities in the Valley.

Likewise, the property taxes in the county are the largest source of income for the general fund.

“Property taxes are the biggest stream of revenue,” he said.

When Menvielle meets with the county administration he will try to explain why the $10,000 augmentation request for promotions for seven employees should be approved, especially since the appraisals for real property generated nearly $1 million in the general fund the county was not expecting.

“I hope they are not going to say take it or leave it,” he said.