County Assessor Clarifies Post-Fire Rebuilding and Taxation Guidelines at Pasadena City Council Meeting

At the Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, Los Angeles County Property Tax Assessor Jeff Prang addressed questions surrounding property damage from the Eaton Fire and provided clarification on rebuilding permits and tax implications for affected homeowners.

“There’s been a little bit of confusion,” Prang said. “There’s a lot of different city, state and local programs, some confusion about which programs apply to what circumstances, and I wanted to try to address those.”

According to Prang, there are two primary programs for fire-impacted homeowners, an expedited permit review process and a misfortune and calamity program.

The misfortune and calamity program is designed to help property owners retain their pre-damage tax base when rebuilding. According to Prang homeowners whose properties are rebuilt to a value of 120% or less of their pre-fire value will not face a reassessment.

“Due to the age of many of the affected homes, rising property values and rising cost of construction, it’s anticipated that many homeowners will not qualify to keep their tax base under this standard,” Prang said.

With that in mind, Prang said he is recommending a second standard for homeowners which allows them to keep their prior tax status by building a structure that is a substantial equivalent of the home or structure that was damaged by the fire.

“This is the standard that we expect to apply in most cases,” Prang said.

Under the expedited review process, ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, the permit process is expedited if homeowners plan to build a replacement home that is 110% the size of the home that was on the land prior to the fire.

Prang was invited to the meeting by Councilmembers Tyron Hampton and Gene Masuda, most of the damage to homes in Pasadena occurred in District 1 and District 4, which are represented by Hampton and Masuda respectively.

Prang confirmed that his office will return to the council for further discussions on the issue, with a possible presentation scheduled for later this month.

In response to a question from Councilmember Hampton about the addition of new structures, such as extra bathrooms, Prang confirmed that while adding square footage generally triggers reassessment, a bathroom addition without expanding the overall square footage would still be reassessed due to the increase in property value.

Prang also encouraged homeowners, particularly those impacted by the fire, to sign up for the “homeowner alert” program on the assessor’s website. The free service helps protect property owners from fraud, particularly title fraud, by notifying them within 48 hours if any suspicious activity occurs on their property.

The City Council expressed interest in creating a shared resource between the city’s planning department and the assessor’s office to help residents navigate the rebuilding process.

A fact sheet with relevant information, including the key points raised at the meeting, is expected to be distributed.

“We’ve connected with all the people in our jurisdiction who have lost homes and on behalf of the city, if we could reach out and try to make an FAQ that answers some of these questions, we’d be happy to do that,” said City Manager Miguel Márquez.