Property taxation: application of base year value: disaster relief.

Gipson’s measure ties disaster relief to property tax policy by extending the base-year-value transfer window for replacement property damaged by certain disasters and by establishing a new valuation framework for qualified real property damaged in specified 2025 fires, with immediate effect as an urgency statute.

The core change extends the time allowed to apply the base-year value to replacement property reconstructed on the original site from five years to eight years, but only for properties substantially damaged or destroyed by disasters occurring between early January 2025 and February 1, 2025. The extension applies to the determination of base-year values for the 2025–26 fiscal year and subsequent years. The extended window preserves the existing criteria that replacement property be comparable in size, utility, and function to the original property and that the base-year value transfer is determined by the county assessor; the extension mirrors and coordinates with historical extensions implemented for earlier disasters.

The bill also adds a new framework, section 171.5, to value “qualified real property” damaged by the 2025 fires (the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset, and Woodley fires) for which a governor-proclaimed emergency exists. Under this framework, the fair market value on January 1, 2025 is determined as the full cash value of the property as of the date of damage, including reductions for damage, depreciation, obsolescence, removal, or other factors causing a decline in value. A property qualifies as “qualified real property” if the pre-damage full cash values for land, improvements, and personal property exceed post-damage values by at least $10,000 and if the property is not eligible for relief under the other relief mechanisms.

Implementation and fiscal considerations accompany these changes. The measure is an urgency statute requiring immediate effect, but its operative provisions linked to the base-year extension depend on the enactment and sequencing with another bill; if the coordinating conditions are not met, the amended base-year provisions may not become operative. The bill would create a state-mandated local program subject to reimbursement processes, yet explicitly provides that no state appropriation is made to reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost due to the act. Local assessors would determine base-year transfers and apply the new 171.5 valuation standard, potentially affecting tax bases and local budgets, with the framework targeting properties affected by the specified 2025 fires in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and other areas with governor declarations.