Proposition 8 is the California rule, codified in Revenue and Taxation Code section 51, that requires a county to enroll the lower of a property's Proposition 13 factored base year value or its market value on the January 1 lien date.
Proposition 13 sets a property's base year value at acquisition and limits increases to 2% a year. Proposition 8 is the companion rule: when market value falls below that factored base year value, the assessor must enroll the market value instead. The reduction is temporary, reviewed every year, and can be restored as the market recovers, though never above the factored base year value.
Because the comparison is made against market value on each January 1, California owners have a live decline-in-value question every year, and a reduction won in one year does not carry into the next automatically. Regular assessment appeals are filed between July 2 and September 15 in counties that mail value notices to every owner by August 1, and between July 2 and November 30 in the rest, which includes Los Angeles and most other large counties.
Enter your address and we'll check the county's own records at no cost. If your value is already fair, we'll tell you that plainly.
Serving California, Georgia, and Florida.
Any estimate is based on county assessment data and public records and is not a guarantee of any outcome. Representation and fee terms are provided in writing before any filing.