Do I have to pay my property taxes while my appeal is pending?

Yes. Filing an appeal doesn't suspend your bill. Pay the installments on time — penalties and interest for late payment aren't erased by winning, and you'll be refunded the overpayment if your value is reduced.

What is the two-year rule in a California property tax appeal?

Under Revenue & Taxation Code §1604, if the appeals board doesn't hear evidence and reach a final determination within two years of your timely filing, your opinion of value on the application becomes the value taxes are levied on until it decides. It doesn't apply if you withheld required information, if related litigation is pending, or if you agreed in writing to extend.

How long does a property tax refund take?

Expect months rather than weeks. The hearing itself can be well after filing, and the roll correction, tax recomputation, and refund issuance follow it. Keep your mailing address current with the county.

Does winning an appeal lower my taxes permanently?

A Prop 8 decline-in-value reduction is temporary — it covers the year appealed, and the assessor reviews the value annually afterward, restoring it as the market recovers but never above your factored base year value. A base year value correction is permanent, since it lowers the foundation all future years are factored up from.

You Won Your Property Tax Appeal. How Do You Actually Get the Money?

Q: How do I get a refund after winning a property tax appeal?

If you designated your appeal application as a claim for refund, the county processes it automatically once the roll is corrected. If you didn't, you must file a separate claim-for-refund form, which has its own statutory deadlines.

Winning is the middle of the process, not the end. Here's what happens between the board's decision and money returning to you — including the one step that's automatic only if you set it up months earlier.

First: the roll gets corrected

The board's decision goes to the Assessor, who corrects the assessed value on the roll, and then to the Auditor-Controller and Tax Collector, who recompute the tax. What reaches you depends on timing:

If you haven't paid yet, you may simply get a corrected bill for the lower amount.
If you've already paid — which is common, because hearings often land well after installments are due — you're owed a refund of the overpayment.

Importantly, you're expected to pay your taxes while the appeal is pending. Filing doesn't suspend the bill, and skipping installments to wait for an outcome earns penalties and interest that a win won't erase.

The refund: automatic, or not

This is where the application you filled out months ago matters.

If you designated your appeal application as a claim for refund, the county processes the refund for you automatically once the roll is corrected. If you didn't, you have to file a separate claim-for-refund form — and refund claims carry their own statutory time limits, which means a homeowner who won can still lose the money by waiting too long.

It's one checkbox on BOE-305-AH. Check it. (Walkthrough of the application.)

Refunds typically arrive by check to the owner of record at the address on file. Practical consequences: update your mailing address with the county if you've moved, and if the property has since sold, sort out with the other party who is entitled to the refund for which period — the county pays the assessee of record, not whoever feels owed.

Timing: expect months, and know the two-year rule

There's no fast path. Filing in the July window can mean a hearing many months later, then roll correction and refund processing after that.

But you're not without leverage. Under Revenue & Taxation Code §1604, if the board fails to hear evidence and make a final determination within two years of your timely filing, your opinion of value as stated on the application becomes the value taxes are levied on for the years covered — until the board finally decides.

Two caveats that make this a backstop rather than a strategy:

It doesn't apply if you failed to provide full and complete information as required by law, or if related litigation is pending.
The parties can agree in writing to extend the two years, and counties will ask.

It's also a second reason your opinion of value should be a defensible number rather than a hopeful one — in the rare case the clock runs out, that figure becomes your assessment.

What the win is worth beyond this year

A Prop 8 decline-in-value reduction is explicitly temporary. It applies to the year appealed, and the assessor reviews the value each following year — restoring it as the market recovers, though never above your factored base year value, which keeps climbing at up to 2% a year underneath. (How Prop 8 sits on top of Prop 13.)

So don't file once and stop paying attention. If the market stays soft, you may qualify again next year — and you'll be doing it with a documented valuation record and a set of comps you already know how to assemble.

A base year value correction is different and more valuable: it lowers the foundation every future year is factored up from. (When that applies.)

Check the corrected bill

When the corrected bill or refund arrives, verify the numbers: the new assessed value should match the board's decision, and the tax should reflect it for every year the appeal covered. Errors at the roll-correction stage are unusual but not unheard of, and they're much easier to fix while the file is still open. Roughly, every $100,000 of reduction is about $1,200 a year — worth confirming it actually landed.

If the market is still below your assessment next year, CompFinder will rebuild the comp set for SF, Oakland, San Jose, Seattle, or Issaquah in a few minutes.