Property Tax

Contact our office to request a replacement form.

Contact our office. We will send you a Request to Issue Duplicate ALCOLINK System Warrant. The form must be completed and returned to our office. It is important to note that Government Code Section 29853 and Alameda County Administrative Code Section 4.04.080 require a waiting period of 20 days from the date the original warrant was issued before a replacement warrant may be issued.

The refund claim form will be sent to the party from whom we received the payment. If a third party pays your property taxes on your behalf, the refund claim form will be sent to them.

Parcel number and property address information can be found on the Treasurer-Tax Collector Property Tax Lookup website at https://www.acgov.org/propertytax/.

In the event that a property is purchased for less than the prior owner’s value in the property, a negative supplemental refund will be issued. You will receive and are responsible for paying the annual tax bill that will be based on the prior owner’s value as of January 1. The refund is issued to account for the lowered assessed value as of the date of your purchase.

If you received a refund claim form and wish to apply the funds to your outstanding current year property taxes, please sign and mail the claim form along with a check for the difference to the Tax Collector’s Office, Current Secured Section, 1221 Oak Street, Room 131, Oakland, CA 94612 before the delinquency date. If the refund amount is greater than the amount of taxes owed, a refund for the overage will be mailed back to the claimant. If you wish to apply the refund claim form to your outstanding prior year taxes, please call (510) 272-6800 for instructions.

If you disagree with the assessed value shown on your regular annual tax bill, you may request an informal assessment review by contacting the Assessor’s Office at https://alamedacountyca.gov/assessor/. The Assessor’s Office notifies all property owners of their annual assessed value in July to afford them the opportunity to file an Application for Changed Assessment (Assessment Appeal Application) with the Alameda County Assessment Appeals Board/Clerk of the Board within the annual open filing period, July 2 ending September 15. If the 15th falls on a holiday or weekend, the deadline is on the next business day. The tax bills are mailed in October.

If you disagree with an assessed value as shown on a supplemental or escape tax bill, you may request an informal assessment review by contacting the Assessor’s Office at http://acgov.org/assessor/ or file an assessment appeal if you do so within 60 days of receipt of the corresponding Notice of Supplemental Assessment or Notice of Enrollment of Escape Assessment. The Application for Changed Assessment can be filed with the Assessment Appeals Board, located at the County Administration Building, Room 536, 1221 Oak Street, Oakland, California 94612-4241 or online at https://alamedacountyca.gov/clerk/assessment.htm.

Please contact the Clerk of the Board at 510-272-3854 or visit their website at https://www.acgov.org/clerk/assessment.htm for more information on Assessment Appeals and Applications for Changed Assessment.

Requests for reassessment are handled by the Assessor’s Office. Contact them at (510) 272-3787.

Contact the Business Personal Property Unit of the Assessor’s Office at (510) 272-3836.

Unsecured property taxes are those whose payment is not secured by the property being taxed. Property typically taxed on the unsecured roll may include boats, airplanes, office furniture, machinery, etc.

Real property includes the possession of, claim to, ownership of, or right to the possession of land, all mines, minerals and quarries in the land and improvements.

An escape tax bill is issued for a delayed increase in the appraised value of a property that is not the result of a change in ownership or the completion of new construction. The bill represents the property taxes due on the net increase for the affected tax year(s).

A supplemental tax bill is issued for the net increase in assessed property value due to a change in ownership or completion of new construction. The bill represents the property taxes due on that net increase for the pro-rata portion of the affected tax year(s).

A supplemental tax bill is issued for each tax year that is affected by a change in ownership or the completion of new construction. If either event occurs between January 1 and June 30, both the current tax year (date of event through June 30) and the subsequent tax year are affected.

Special assessments are direct charges against property which are included in the total amount of your tax bill but which are not based on the Assessor’s valuation. A sewer service charge is an example of this type of assessment.

Special assessment amounts are determined by the City or District that requested the charge be placed on the bill. Any change to the amount placed on the bill must also be initiated by the same City or District. The contact information for each special assessment is located next to the charge on your tax bill or you may look it up at Fixed Charges and/or Special Assessments Contact Information.

The TRA information for a particular year can be found on the appropriate tax bill which is available at the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Property Tax Lookup website at https://alamedacountyca.gov/propertytax/ or you may look it up at Tax Rates.

The tax rate consists of the 1% general tax rate plus the debt service rate(s) for any voter-approved debt.

New property tax bills generally become available early October.

Information can be found online at the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Property Tax Lookup website at https://alamedacountyca.gov/propertytax/.

Proposition 13 changed the State Constitution’s “general tax” portion of the ad valorem (based on value) tax rate to not exceed 1% of the net assessed value. However, Proposition 13 also allowed for any voter-approved debt service requirement which will cause the rate to exceed 1% to be included on the tax bill. In addition, fixed charges and/or special assessments (non ad-valorem items) may be placed on the tax bill at the express written direction of various local districts.

The bill is calculated based on the type of property and whether or not it is the regular tax bill or a supplemental tax bill. See below for the various methods.

Secured Taxes = (Net Assessed Value x Tax Rate (1% plus debt service rate)) + Special Assessments and/or Fixed Charges
Unsecured Taxes = (Net Assessed Value x Prior Year Secured Tax Rate (1% plus debt service rate)) + Special Assessments and/or Fixed Charges
Supplemental Taxes = Net Assessed Value Difference x Tax Rate (1% plus debt service rate) x Proration Period (see Note) 

Assessed Valuation – If your property has had no changes in ownership or completion of new construction, you may want to presume a maximum of a 2% increase.
Tax Rate – The 1% is stable and doesn’t change, but the debt service rate(s) typically do change each year. The two primary components to compute a tax rate are the amount of money necessary to repay to the bondholders and the Assessed Valuation of the District as a whole. You would also need to be aware of any newly approved debt.
Fixed Charges and/or Special Assessments – Only the district that levies the fixed charge and/or special assessment can answer that question. The phone number for each district is located on your tax bill or you may look it up at Fixed Charges and/or Special Assessments Contact Information. You would also need to be aware of any newly approved fixed charges and/or special assessments.

As a summary, your knowledge of your specific property may best determine if you could reasonably estimate your property taxes for the following year.