West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

As shown, only 32.0 percent or 2.9 million acres of the West Mojave is privately ownedand subject to property tax. Under current taxing regulations, private property is taxed accordingto a basic levy equal to 1.0 percent of its assessed value. City and County governments areallocated a portion of the property tax proceeds, along with other government service agencies(school districts, flood control districts, vector control districts, cemetery districts, librarydistricts, etc.). The relative supply of private property within a given jurisdiction affects theamount of fiscal operating revenue that can be anticipated in the form of property tax versusother fiscal sources (sales tax, transient occupancy tax, franchise fees, motor vehicle fees,government subventions, service revenue, fines and forfeitures, etc.).The private property portion of the study area accounts for the greatest share of total landarea within the Los Angeles Subarea at 89.0 percent, followed by the Kern Subarea at 46.0percent, the San Bernardino Subarea at 27.0 percent, and finally the Inyo Subarea at 4.0 percent.The overall 2002 assessed value generating property tax revenue is estimated at roughly$22.2 billion. The relative distribution of private property acreage and taxable value (see Exhibit11 in the Socio-Economic Analysis in Appendix N is graphically summarized as follows:70%60%50%40%WEMO PRIVATE PROPERTY VALUE & ACREAGE DISTRIBUTIONShare of WEMO Private PropertyShare of WEMO ValueSubarea Private Property In CitiesShare of Subarea Value in Cities30%20%10%0%WEMO San Bernardino Los Angeles Kern InyoWEMO SUB-AREASThe above graph compares the amount of private land in various subareas of the WestMojave and the corresponding share of assessed value. The bar describing the “Share of WEMOPrivate Property” illustrates how private property is currently distributed across the foursubareas. The bar depicting “Share of WEMO Value” illustrates a similar distribution withrespect to total assessed value. The bar depicting “Subarea Private Property in Cities” identifiesthe proportion of private property in each given subarea that is situated within a City limitboundary. The final bar depicts a similar ratio with respect to the assessed value of such privateproperty.Chapter 3 3-208