Lake County BOE approves homeowner reassessment, approves stipulations and continues several appeals

The Lake County Board of Equalization on a day when a full meeting roster was not present approved a stipulation setting Wendy/Nancy Jamieson’s Proposition 13 base-year value at $80,000 and granted refunds for prior overpayments, approved multiple property stipulations, and continued several other appeals to future dates.

The action matters because the base-year value under Proposition 13 sets the taxable floor for future years and can materially change annual property tax bills for homeowners and businesses. At the hearing assessors and the appellant agreed a combination of cost-to-cure invoices and photographs supported adjusting Jamieson’s prior assessment; the board accepted the parties’ stipulation and the assessor’s corrections.

Jamieson’s counsel, Andre Ross of Ewing & Associates, told the board Jamieson bought the home at a tax-default sale and then paid a contractor to remove trash and perform repairs after the property was found “substantially destroyed” and uninhabitable. Ross said the owner provided an invoice for $157,800 to show the cost of rehabilitation and argued those sums were cost-to-cure expenses and “should be non-assessable as costs incurred in order to bring the property back to the substantial equivalence of what the property was before it was destroyed.”

Assessor’s senior appraiser Michelle Bocchaniani said staff reviewed the invoice and photos, revised the Prop. 13 base-year value from the original $250,000 to $80,000 (land $30,000; improvements $50,000), and then adjusted improvement values for subsequent lien dates as the owner made payments to the contractor. Bocchaniani summarized the assessor’s work: “Using the information provided, the assessor’s office followed the Board of Equalization’s revenue and taxation code, section 401.5, rule 6, and changed the base-year value,” and said refunds were issued to correct prior overpayments.

Supervisors pressed for clarity because multiple figures had been mentioned on the record: the appellant’s earlier form listed $184,783 as an opinion of value, the invoice to the contractor totaled $157,800, and other slides or notes referenced $159,000. Supervisor Cervantes said the differing numbers created confusion about which amount governed the base-year determination and how later payments altered assessed improvement values. Bocchaniani replied that the assessor used the cost-to-cure invoice and the homeowner’s move-in (homeowner’s exemption) date to establish the corrected base-year value and then added documented contractor payments on subsequent lien dates.

Separately, the board approved stipulations under Proposition 8 and other reductions. The board approved stipulations for Barbado and Living Water Springs, and accepted stipulations resolving multiple parcels owned by Andre Guzek after assessor and owner agreement on market values reduced assessed totals; motions to approve those stipulations were carried by voice vote.

The board also granted continuances in several docketed cases. For agenda item 8.1 (multiple commercial appeals including Wachovia Bank and Walmart Real Estate Business Trust) and for Donnica LLC the board continued the hearings to dates set by the clerk (Nov. 3 was discussed) or to the next available full-board hearing; the Donnica continuance was taken under 18 California Code of Regulations §3.11(b) and the motion carried 3-1. Owners Joseph and Shauna Myers asked to continue their non-owner-occupied appeal to avoid a non-full-board hearing; the board continued that case to April 7 at 10 a.m.

Votes at a glance:
- Motion to continue appeals listed in item 8.1 (case numbers noted on the agenda): carried 4-0.
- Motion to continue Donnica LLC under 18 CCR §3.11(b) to a full-board date (Nov. 3 discussed): carried 3-1.
- Motion to approve stipulations in item 8.2 (Barbado and Living Water Springs): carried (voice vote recorded as carried).
- Motion to continue Myers Storage appeal (15-2024) to April 7 at 10 a.m.: carried 4-0.
- Motion to approve stipulations for Andre Guzek (three parcels): carried 4-0.
- Motion to approve Jamieson stipulation setting Prop. 13 base-year value at $80,000: carried 4-0.

What’s next: The board recorded that refunds consistent with corrected assessments have been issued; where parties asked, the board left open the option of written findings prepared after closed-session deliberations or a stipulation-driven resolution. Several cases were continued to scheduled full-board dates to allow full-board hearings or for parties to file agreed stipulations.

(Transcript did not specify the hearing date; the record includes references to April 7 and November 3 as proposed future dates.)