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Manteca property values drop 3.8%
Ripon down 5.9%, Lathrop assessment slips 2.6%
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The overall value of property within Manteca’s city limits slipped for the third straight year.

A 3.8 percent drop of $178 million means the assessed value for taxation purposes on Jan. 1, 2012 will be $4,514,879,564. That compares to the record high of $5,244,698,296 in 2008.

The new valuations were released Monday by the San Joaquin County Assessor’s Office.

•Of the 170,000 properties reviewed countywide, more than 100,000 on Jan. 1, 2011 had a fair market value lower than what it would have been assessed at under Proposition 13.

•The majority will see a reduction from last year.

•A small number will have increases due to appraisal updates.

•Tax bills being mailed in October will reflect value changes.

•If the Proposition 13 valuation is lower than the fair market value as of Jan. 1, 2011 then it will be the assessed value and a notice will not be mailed. The properties will not receive the typical Proposition 13 inflation increase of 2% this year but rather a lower 0.753% increase based upon the California Consumer Price Index.

The drop in Manteca property values was blunted somewhat by $84 million in new residential construction. Manteca continues to build more new housing units than all other San Joaquin County jurisdictions combined.

The continued drop in value reflects soft pricing for homes above $180,000 and for many two-bedroom houses. Generally homes in the $120,000 to $180,000 range held steady to their assessed value in 2010. The homes tend to be the most desirable with three to four bedrooms and two to four bathrooms in a single story floor plan.

Homes priced higher than that - especially in the $220,000 and above range - continue to show fairly sizeable price deterioration. Also, demand isn’t as strong for the older two-bedroom homes as many buyers can afford the more popular three-bedroom homes. Investors are also shying away from them due to the rental market being in three- to four-bedroom homes. That has prompted banks with two-bedroom foreclosures to drop prices even further.

Manteca City Manager Steve Pinkerton said the 3.8 percent drop in property valuation was within the range anticipated for municipal budgeting purposes.

This marks the second straight year that Manteca has had the second smallest decline in property values among all San Joaquin County jurisdictions. Three years ago Manteca took a $500.3 million valuation hit for a 14.7 percent decline in the assessment.

Ripon dropped 5.9 percent in valuation over last year while Lathrop was down 2.6 percent for the smallest slide in the county.

 If you have evidence that indicates the fair market value of your property as of Jan. 1, 2011 is lower than the new assessed value you may file a “2011/12 Informal Request for Decline in Market Value Review Application” through Sept. 15, 2011 with the Assessor’s Office at: www.sjgov.org/assessor. If you disagree with the results of that review you can still file a formal appeal through Nov. 30, 2011 with the independent Assessment Appeals Board: see www.sjgov.org for the application or request it at (209) 468-2350.