Letters To Assessors – Effective Administrative Practices

Government Code Section 15606 mandates that the State Board of Equalization (BOE) shall "prepare and issue instructions to assessors designed to promote uniformity throughout the state and its local taxing jurisdictions in the assessment of property for the purposes of taxation." In the late 1960s, the Property Tax Department began issuing a series of letters to the County Assessors of California in order to comply with section 15606. This series of letters is known as Letters To Assessors (LTAs). The LTA series covers a myriad of topics each year, including BOE-approved reports, policy-setting guidelines, yield rates, hearing notices, Assessment Practices Survey Reports, Assessors’ Handbook Sections, etc.

Included among the LTAs is a series of letters which were developed to provide specific guidance to County Assessors on effective administrative practices for various topics. The topics chosen for this series of letters stems from analyses of recommendations made during the compliance audits (surveys) of the 58 California County Assessors' Offices.

Following are the effective administrative practices letters:

• LTA 2008/058 – Effective Administrative Practices – Procedures for Maintaining the Integrity of Assessments of Employee-Owned Properties
• LTA 2013/039 – Effective Administrative Practices – Assessment Appeals Process
• LTA 2014/024 – Effective Administrative Practices – Disabled Veterans' Exemption
• LTA 2014/043 – Effective Administrative Practices – Mining Properties
• LTA 2014/058 – Effective Administrative Practices – Welfare Exemption

To register to receive all LTAs via email, please subscribe at www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/letters/index.htm.