Gus Kramer – Contra Costa County Assessor
Today I was at Chicago Title on Hartz Avenue in Danville, CA to listen to Gus Kramer, Contra Costa County property tax assessor. If you own California real estate, property taxes are always a concern.
Before I got to Chicago Title, I stopped at the Sideboard on Hartz Ave. for a couple of poached eggs and some dark coffee to get the day rolling. I was there when they opened at 7am, so I had a couple of hours to get some work done.
When the eggs arrived, I asked Ford (owner & head errand boy) if he had some Tabasco. He came back with an old beat up red toolbox and popped the lid to reveal about a dozen bottles of hot sauce! Good food and good humor.
I asked Erin (the real head bigwig at Sideboard) if she could crank out one of their famous pineapple upside-down cakes for the staff at Chicago Title. I took it over hot out of the oven AND if you can believe this – I never had a bite!
Gus Kramer spent a couple of hours with us talking about Proposition 60 (Transfer of Property Tax Base for Senior Citizens), Proposition 8 (Decline in Property Value), and Propositions 58 & 193 (Reassessment Exclusions for Ownership Transfers).
Gus mentioned that one neighborhood in Antioch has seen its property values decline to 1998 levels. That spurred his office into reassessing property values for about 150K of the 279K single family homes in Contra Costa County. The county assessors office is expecting property tax base adjustments for 65K to 70K homeowners.
Gus Kramer spent a great deal of time explaining how the assessors office works and their focus. He reassured everyone that his office works diligently to insure homeowners are treated fairly. Gus is a genuinely likable guy and seems to have the property owners best interest at heart.
If you believe that your home has fallen in value during the last couple of years due to the problems in the housing market, you can fill out this form and mail it in for reassessment of your property tax base. You’ll probably wind up saving a few bucks on next year’s property taxes. Visit the Assessors website for more information
May 20th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I can’t believe you did not eat a piece of that cake-it is so yummy!!! I was there last night-missed you!
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
How do I find out who owns a particular property in CC County??
I’m trying to find out who owns 57 Madrid Lane, Antioch, CA 94509. Can you help me with this?
Thanks,
Kathy
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Yes, contact Tracey (925) 984-1890
July 7th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
[...] The property tax base in Contra Costa County is being reassessed on over 150,000 properties and the county tax assessor believes that property taxes will be lowered on about 80,000 properties. [...]
September 10th, 2008 at 5:39 am
[...] As the Assessor of Contra Costa County since 1995 and a student of the real estate market of the East Bay since 1971, I’ve never felt more compelled and stronger about advising anyone and everyone who ever thought about getting into real estate to do it now. – Gus Kramer [...]
March 21st, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Madera Counties Board of Supervisors is in the process of passing a fee for the right to file for a assessment appeal.(Prop. 8 of 1978) The fee was introduced to the Board of Supervisors for $50.00 but the Board sent it back to come back to the board at $200.00. The assessor has a Duty to be proactive in the required reductions during these times yet in a county of 65000 parcels there were only 750 fassessment appeals filed and yet they still want to reduce this number by imposing a fee to file for reassessmnet. The Attorney Generals office states that this service is Free. This is a service that should be done in order for a county to have the right to tax anyone. King George III taxed like this, stop the counties from doing this. At present there are 10 counties charging this fee and 10 more in the process of establishing these fees. Your lucky that Countra Costa Counties Assessor understands his Duty.