Welcome to the Alpine County Assessor/Recorders main page.

Visit the links on the left for more specific information.

Search for recorded documents online

The County does not publish recorded documents or parcel ownership online but some information is available through the links below. All recorded documents are available for public viewing or copying in our office at 99 Water St. Markleeville.

Notice to new property owners or current property owners who have improvements under construction or have completed new construction
State law requires the Assessor to reappraise property upon a qualified change of ownership or new construction. In order to properly assess the property, employees from the County Assessors Office will be visiting and viewing the property. The reassessment will generate a supplemental assessment which will reflect the difference between the new assessed value and the old or prior assessed value. If the property is reassessed at a higher value than the old assessed value, a supplemental bill will be issued. If the property is reassessed at a lower value than the old assessed value, a refund will be issued.

Changes in ownership or new construction occurring from June 1 to Dec 31 will generate one bill covering a single fiscal year. The taxes are based on the number of months left in the fiscal year from the date of ownership change or the new construction completion date. If the change of ownership or new construction occurs between January 1 and May 31, two supplemental tax bills would be issued to cover changes for two fiscal years. The first bill would be from the date of the transaction for the remainder of the fiscal year; the second bill would be for the next fiscal year. Supplemental tax bills are mailed directly to the property owner and are the owner’s responsibility. In general, they are not paid out of your impound account. Please check with your lender.

Prop 8 Temporary Reduction in Value
The Assessors Office is very aware of the lower property values throughout the county and is reviewing all properties to determine which ones are eligible for a temporary change in value (Prop 8). We have been reviewing and applying Prop 8 reductions since the downturn in the real estate market. This process is performed yearly and is based on fair market values of comparable sales during the calendar year and through March 30th of the following year. 

Pursuant to Prop 8, the Assessor's Office has temporarily changed the assessed value of 882 parcels for the 2014/15 tax year, which is over 1/3 of the secured parcels in the county.

The value on the current tax bill is based on the prop 13 factored base year value or the property's fair market values during the prior calendar year and through March 30th of the following year. The taxable value will reflect whichever is lower. Keep in mind that while a property is benefiting from a Prop 8 reduction, property values can go up or down more than Prop 13's standard 2% (view the State Board of Equalization Prop 8 News Release). A property will not benefit from a lower assessment unless it's market value falls below the current factored base year value. Value changes are reflected on the current tax bills. The first tax bill installment is delinquent after December 10 and second installment is delinquent after April 10.

In Alpine County's changing real estate market, neighborhood values may be going up or down. If you believe that the market value of your property as of January 1st is less than the value shown on the tax bill that came out in September, you have several options. You may simply contact us to discuss your questions and/or file an informal Request For Decline review and/or file a formal application for Changed Assessment with the County Board of Equalization. Our goal is to establish an accurate and fair assessment and we welcome you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your property.

The Role of the County Assessor
The county assessor, an elected official, is governed by the California Constitution, the laws passed by the Legislature, and the rules adopted by the BOE. An individual county government does not control the county assessor’s tasks.

Annual Assessments and Functions of the Assessor
The county assessor must annually assess all taxable property in the county, except for state-assessed property, to the person, business, or legal entity owning, claiming, possessing, or controlling the property on January 1. The duties of the county assessor are to discover all assessable property, to inventory and list all taxable property, to value the property, and to enroll the property on the local assessment roll. The assessor’s primary responsibility is to annually determine the proper taxable value for each property so the owner is assured of paying the correct amount of property tax for the support of local government.

These functions are largely governed by the:

• California Constitution
• Revenue and Taxation Code
• State Board of Equalization
• California Government Code

In order to complete the annual assessment roll, the Assessor must perform the following tasks each year:

• Complete all mapping duties and assignment of parcel numbers.
• Maintain the integrity of the mandatory audit program by keeping up with the statutory requirement to audit all businesses that have a value of more than $400,000 on a rotational four-year basis.
• Process all exemption claims, including homeowners, veterans, welfare, church, and religious.
• Process all mining claims, boats, aircraft, and business property statements.
• Process all real property transfers and building permits that require reassessment.
• Process a variety of claim forms for state and county mandated programs such as the Williamson Act, disaster relief, parent / child exclusions, and base year value transfers.
• Review all property in the county for Proposition 8 (temporary reduction in base year value) eligibility and revalue all eligible property.

The Roll of the County Recorders Office
The County Recorders Office is responsible for recording, filing and the preservation of public documents associated with land transactions, including sale, lien, purchase, and easements. Once these documents are recorded, the County Recorder creates an index and makes it available for examination by interested parties and issues copies upon request. Most of the duties of the Recorder are prescribed by State law. 

The County Recorder is also appointed by the State of California as the Local Registrar of Births, Marriage & Deaths. These duties include registering all Birth, Marriage & Death certificates occurring in Alpine County and transmitting those original records to the California Department of Health Services - Office of Vital Statistics.

For more information visit the Recorder's page.

At the Assessor/Recorder's Office, you can:

• Free Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) or address search with supplemental estimating tool, available from a third party (no owner name info). The search program allows you to search by either Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) or by street address. Some parcels, such as vacant land, have not been assigned street addresses, and an APN will be necessary to perform a search.
  
• Not free searchable parcel data with ownership info and Parcel Maps (APN) available from a third party.

Online Resources and Information
California Property Tax: An Overview
California Government Code
California State Board of Equalization
California Revenue and Taxation Code
California State Constitution - Article XIII & Article XIIIA pertains to property taxation
California State Board of Equalization Property Taxes Law Guide
California Health and Safety Code
Assessment Practices Surveys