CC MIN 1977 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I 358 ' Alven Yuen, r4arshall & Stevens, advised that it is not possible or desirable to assess with a particular development plan in mind for a specific property when no such plan actually exists. Councilman Norris described his personal Otstrict tax experience, stating that the tax continues to increase although the amount to be paid is fixed and there has been a great increase in the number , of homes in the District which share the burden of paying the fixed amount. Mr. Yuen stated that analyses of commercial land values made several years ago were based on pro,7ections which were too optimistic, but the debt service must be maintained In response to question concernin9 the fact that ressdential prop- erty owners appear to be carrying a greater share of the fixed amount to be paid than the commercial property, Mr Yuen advised that several factors are involved, particularly the dramatic gyra- tions in the home market recently. Mr. Yuen noted that the normal expectation would be that land values would rise at about the same rate for commercial and residential property, but such has not been the case, and the assessor has no control over market activity Mr Yuen pointed out that besides the extreme rise in residential property values, certain circumstances, such as stringent environ- ' mental regulations and protracted time to complete development be- • cause of various governmental requirements, detract from the de- sirab�lity of commercial land as a capital investment In response to question regarding the possibility of using a mechanism to establish a more equitable assessment roll for resi- dential and commercial property and the expectation of residential property owners that commercial property owners would bear the greater portion of the D�str}ct tax burden, Mr Yuen advised that ' the assessor must use the financing structure envisioned when the District was formed several years ago It was noted that the problem is not unique to the District in that elsewhere in Redwood City residential land has �ncreased greatly in value and is there- fore carrying a greater proportionate share of the property tax burden than previously. In response to suggestion that the fact that a greater proportion , of the District tax is borne by homeowners than by commercial property owners might affect the representations made in the bond prospectus, City Attorney Schricker advised that as long as security is not impaired, bond holders have no cause of action or reason to complain Mr Schricker noted that any mechanism that would ` recog m ze a shift in the value of residential property compared to commercial property must not affect the security of bonds issued or �eopardize the legal position of the bond holders. In response to request that he state for the record the manner in wh�ch the determination was made to place a flat increase of only 20% on all commercial property, Mr Yuen stated that it was strictly a matter of ,7udgment involving a factoring process in view of in- sufficient sales"data on comparable property Discussion followed concerning the possibility of studying the ' history of amounts paid in dollars in the past nine years by the owners of both residential and commercial properties, the rate of Bd /Equal. -2- 8/8/77 �'�' y