By Jodi Summers

It takes three separate Los Angeles County offices — assessor, auditor-controller, and treasurer and tax collector — to produce and account for your property tax bill and payment.

City and county agencies

Provides copies of all building recorded documents.

The registrar-recorder/county clerk

Provides copies of all deeds and other permits issued.

Assessor

Assesses all real estate and personal property (businesses, manufactured homes, boats and airplanes) located throughout the entire county. The Los Angeles County Assessor establishes the assessed value of your property by appraising the value of that property under applicable state laws. The assessed value is then placed on a list with all other properties in Los Angeles County and that list is called the “assessment roll.” The assessor also approves and applies all exemptions, which are added to the assessment roll. The assessment roll is then presented to the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller for further processing.

Auditor-Controller

Receives the assessments from the assessor and applies the appropriate tax rate to determine the actual amount of property taxes owed.

The Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller adds direct assessments to the assessment roll then applies the tax rates, which consists of general (1 percent) levy and debt service (voter and bonded) tax rates to the value to create an extended assessment roll. The extended roll is then sent to the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector for individual tax bill distribution and payment collection.

Treasurer and Tax Collector

Mails out the property tax bills, collects the money and deposits it in the County Treasury.

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector receives the extended roll, prints and mails the property tax bills to the name and address on the extended roll. The treasurer and tax collector collects secured and unsecured taxes. Secured taxes are taxes on real property, such as vacant land, structures on land, i.e. business/office building, home, apartments, etc. Unsecured taxes are taxes on assessments such as office furniture, equipment, airplanes and boats, as well as property taxes that are not liens against the real property.

Auditor-Controllers

Allocates the money to more than 900 local taxing agencies, including the county, cities, schools and special districts.

Upcoming important dates for investment property owners:

Jan. 1

- Taxes become a lien on all taxable property at 12:01 a.m.

- First day to file affidavits and claims for exemptions for personal and real property.

- First day to file business personal property statements. (Persons owning $100,000 or more in taxable personal property must file a statement with the assessor between this date and May 7, the legal deadline for filing statements.)

- Unsecured property tax is due and payable to the treasurer and tax collector. However, bills are generally mailed March 1 through June 30 and become delinquent after Aug. 31.

- First day to file application for “decline-in-value” reassessment (Proposition 8).

Jan. 15

- Last day to file airport operators report with assessor.

Feb. 1

- Second installment of real estate taxes is due. It’s deliquent after 5 p.m. on April 10.

Feb. 15

- Deadline for timely filing of affidavits and claims for exemptions for personal and real property including: cemeteries, colleges, church and religious, exhibitors, museums, owners of historical aircraft, owners of historical wooden vessels, public libraries, public schools and welfare.

March 1

- Annual mailing of personal property tax bills begins (by treasurer and tax collector)

April 1

Due date for filing:

- Apartment house personal property statement

- Business personal property statement

- Mining and quarrying production report

- Oil and dissolved gas production report

- Oil, gas, and geothermal personal property statement

- Power plant property statement

(Jodi Summers is director of the investment division at Boardwalk Realty Santa Monica. Contact her at jodis@boardwalkrealty.com, or call 310-309-4219. Visit her community history Web site at www.santamonicalandmarks.com.)