Title
Receive the Bi-Annual Report from the Assessor County Clerk Recorder.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Budget Committee:
Receive the Bi-Annual Report from the Assessor County Clerk Recorder.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The following is a summary report of Supplemental Assessments for the County of Monterey as of December 31, 2024; a projection for next year’s assessed valuation; and a summary of income generated by the County of Monterey’s Clerk/ Recorder’s Office at the mid-point of Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
As of January 3, 2025, the Monterey County Assessor’s Office had generated 2,339 Supplemental bills with a gross supplemental value of $863,206,544. As of 1/30/2025 the Monterey County Assessor’s Office had generated 3,046 Supplemental Assessments with a gross supplemental value of $1,364,666,050.
Average Supplemental
2008-2009 4,023 381,365,198 $94,796
2009-2010 3,882 243,241,016 $62,658
2010-2011 4,588 274,904,424 $59,918
2011-2012 4,717 308,600,807 $65,423
2012-2013 4,937 336,328,705 $68,124
2013-2014 5,163 594,432,725 $115,133
2014-2015 3,955 777,646,576 $196,623
2014-2015 4,072 $1,013,440,117 $248,880
2015-2016 4,107 911,803,144 $222,012
2016-2017 4,791 $1,117,597,559 $233,270
2017-2018 4,555 $1,250,246,605 $274,478
2018-2019 3,682 $ 844,520,974 $229,365
2019-2020 3,338 $1,058,396,647 $317,075
2020-2021 3,584 $1,644,286,514 $458,785
2021-2022 3,953 $1,849,707,602 $467,925
2022-2023 3,721 $1,680,711,603 $451,683
2023-2024 3,046 $1,364,666,050 $448,019
2024-2025 3406 $1,328,467,932 $390,037
As of January 3, 2025, the Local Secured Assessment Roll total for the County of Monterey was $86,709,423,783 compared to last year’s July 1, 2024, value of $87,130,822,119 an increase of 1.01%. The Assessor’s Office projects an additional 4,985 anticipated supplemental assessments with a value of approximately $1,770,961,130, an increase of 2.0%.
For the roll being prepared 2,645 properties with Prop 8 reductions already in place will be reviewed. In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment to Article XIII A that allows a temporary reduction in assessed value when real property suffers a decline in value. It is estimated that this review will increase the Local Assessment Roll by another $60,000,000 a small increase of .02%.
Revenue and Taxation Code section 51 provides that base year values determined under section 110.1 shall be compounded annually by an inflation factor, not to exceed 2 percent. Section 51(a)(1)(C) provides that, for any assessment year commencing on or after January 1, 1998, the inflation factor shall be the percentage change, rounded to the nearest one-thousandth of 1 percent, from October of the prior fiscal year to October of the current fiscal year in the
California Consumer Price Index (CCPI) for all items, as determined by the California Department of Industrial Relations.
For the coming year the inflation factor that will be used is 2.00%.
Based upon the information above the Assessor now predicts an overall increase of 5.03% in the assessment roll from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025.
Monterey County Recorder County Clerk
For Fiscal year 2024-2025 the Monterey County Recorder County Clerk projected $2,626,000, in revenue. At midyear, actual income generated is $993,486. (See Attachment A)
Documentary Transfer Tax revenue is collected by the Monterey County Recorder but is not reflected in their budget. Through the first 6 months of fiscal year 2024-2025 the County of Monterey Recorder has collected $2,576,007 in documentary tax. The County of Monterey’s share totals $1,913,793. At midpoint last year the County had received $1,739,749.
The Recorder’s Office experienced a 54% decrease in document recordings in 2023, and in 2024 the document recordings further decreased reaching a 55% decrease in recordings resulting in revenue decrease. In 2023 the decreased recordings were due to an on-going mortgage interest rate changes ranging from 5.34% to 8%, like what we experienced in 2022. In 2024, the mortgage interest rate changes continued to fluctuate, with some minor decreases reaching a low of 5.8%; however, the rate changes continued to increase and have maintained in the 7% level. The interest rates continue to fluctuate making it difficult to predict or anticipate total Deed recordings today. Prior to 2022, Total Deed recordings “norm” have always been between 75,000- 95,000, except for 2001-2005, when the economy real estate market crashed. In 2024 a total of 50,191 Deeds were recorded, approximately 16.2% lower than the total Deeds recorded in 2021.
Year Deed Total
2021 86,463
2022 53,952
2023 50,676
2024 50,191
The Recorder’s Office continues to experience document recording decreases due to mortgage interest rate instability and the economy in general. Additional recurring factors that cause increases in the department expenses continue to be wage study findings, negotiated salaries and benefits. While the mortgage interest rates appear to be on more stable trend, it may not be enough to generate the necessary revenue expected to help reduce the anticipated budget revenue for the current Fiscal year. To help mitigate the loss in revenue, we did not fill three vacancies to absorb the 12% SEIU negotiated increase for unit J and F, and the positions will continue remain vacant this Fiscal year. We also plan to fill other three existing vacancies at a lower step for the last three last three months of the Fiscal year. Finally, last year the Board of Supervisor’s approved to increases the fees for the Assessor’s office and the Clerk’s office, and one of those fees was to add civil ceremonies services to the county. This new service has been a positive revenue source to the department and anticipate the revenue of this new service will help the department meet the GFC this Fiscal Year.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
FINANCING:
No impact to the County General Fund by receiving this report.
Prepared and Approved by:
Xochitl Marina Camacho, Assessor-Clerk/Recorder (831) 755-5874
Attachments:
Exhibit A - 2024-2025 Monterey County Clerk-Recorder Fee Report