Contra Costa County will benefit from an increase in property tax dollars, as the assessed value of taxable property increased almost 5 percent from last year to this year, Assessor Gus Kramer announced August 7.
“The increase to the local tax base for 2020-21 is nearly $10.5 billion,” Kramer wrote in a letter to the county Board of Supervisors. “This represents a 4.87 percent increase in assessed value and brings the total net local assessment roll to over $225.7 billion. The 2020-2021 assessment roll is the highest to date in Contra Costa County’s history.”
Kramer said cities with the largest increases in assessed value from the prior year include El Cerrito (6.62 percent), Oakley (6.59 percent) and Hercules (5.99 percent). Clayton and San Ramon saw the lowest assessed value increases, as 3.53 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.
The assessment roll now consists of 375,163 parcels, an increase of 1,108 over the previous year.
Like many counties, Contra Costa’s assessment roll has grown steadily in recent years. This year’s 4.87 percent increase builds upon year-to-year increases of 5.3 percent in 2019, 6.3 percent in 2018, 5.78 percent in 2017, 6 percent in 2016, 7.5 percent in 2015, and 9 percent in 2014.
Under Proposition 13, property tax revenue has grown significantly throughout the state even as homeowners and business owners are protected from unmanageable annual increases.