Santa Clara County’s property tax base grew at a lower rate than most of the past decade, though slightly faster than the prior year, Assessor Neysa Fligor said in her annual message.
The county’s assessed values surpassed three-quarters of a trillion dollars, making Santa Clara County the state’s fourth most valuable chunk of real estate, behind Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties -- and worth more than twice as much as San Francisco.
“Changes of ownership for residential properties continue to be the strongest contributor to growth in value,” Flegor said.
Accounting for 49% of the county’s value growth, residential reassessments following property sales outstripped the commercial properties, new construction and Prop 13 inflation adjustments as a driver of revenue growth, she said. The property taxes fund state and local government services, schools and special assessment districts.
Residential transactions remained steady in number, with a slight increase in median sales prices.
Wealthy residential cities led the residential tax windfall. Los Altos added 6.4% to its values and Los Altos Hills and Monte Sereno, each clocked in at 5.7%. Largely residential Morgan Hill grew at 5.6%.
Los Altos showed the strongest performance of the residential markets at 6.4%. It was second only to Sunnyvale, which was pushed to the top position by commercial property assessments, with a blended growth rate of 7.2%. The countywide average was 4.74%.
San Jose grew at 4.5%, though at $280 billion contributed more than a third of the county’s tax base.
Fligor briefly discussed the impact of data center growth on tax revenues, mentioning that the investment contributed property taxes directly as well as indirectly through support industries and higher residential values.
The Monday morning event at San Pedro Square’s Blanco event space was a first for the office, as Fligor nears the one year mark. She succeeded former Assessor Larry Stone, who delivered remarks on the transition and why he chose not to seek an eighth term after three decades on the job.
Other public officials, including Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chair Otto Lee and San Jose District 3 Councilman Anthony Tordillos also spoke.
