Winter Fires of 2025: real property tax: exemptions and reassessment.

Senators Allen, McNerney, and Pérez have put forward legislation extending property tax relief measures for California properties damaged by specific wildfires that occurred between November 2024 and February 2025. The bill modifies several sections of the Revenue and Taxation Code to provide affected property owners additional time to rebuild while maintaining their previous tax basis.

The legislation extends from five to eight years the period during which property owners can transfer their base year value to replacement properties reconstructed after damage from the 2024 Mountain and Franklin fires or the 2025 Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset, and Woodley fires. Property owners now have 24 months, rather than 12, to apply for reassessment of damaged properties. The bill also maintains property tax exemptions for properties that received them in 2025 but can no longer meet usage requirements due to fire damage, until the properties are replaced, reconstructed, or return to their prior use.

For disabled veterans whose homes were destroyed in these fires, the bill preserves their property tax exemptions by deeming the damaged property their principal residence if it qualified before the disaster, ownership hasn't changed, and they intend to rebuild and reoccupy the property. While creating new administrative duties for local tax officials, the legislation specifies that the state will not reimburse local agencies for lost property tax revenues. The measure takes effect immediately upon passage to expedite relief for affected property owners in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.