Real Estate Record: Fremont Assessed Values Hit $55.4B

FREMONT, CA — Property tax revenues in Alameda County are due to hit a whopping milestone, and Fremont is part of the story. Newly elected Alameda County Assessor Phong La released the 2019-2020 local Assessment Roll on Wednesday, which showed that the gross value of all taxable property in Alameda County is a record $321.5 billion— a $21.4 billion or 7.13 percent increase above last year's roll.

Of the 14 cities and unincorporated areas within Alameda County, the City of Oakland remains the highest assessment jurisdiction with a total assessed value of $68.8 billion. The City of Fremont continues to have the second highest assessed value of $55.4 billion. Out in the Tri-Valley, the City of Dublin received the highest percentage increase in assessed value from the prior year at 10.3 percent.

The annual roll reflects assessments of more than 518,600 taxable properties.

La credited the record-breaking roll to a recovering economy and increasing real estate values. Other factors included the 2 percent mandatory inflation index being applied to all properties' assessed values that were not affected by assessment declines in prior years, according to La. This factor added $5.6 billion. Sales/transfers of real estate also added $11.3 billion and new construction activity added $2.5 billion.

Additionally, many companies in Alameda County have flourished, becoming a key factor in the growth in the assessment roll, as business property assessments have increased by $1.1 billion, according to La.

Since 2014, the assessment roll has increased 35 percent or $73 billion. Revenue generated by the assessment roll supports schools, public safety, parks, roads, and other essential services, La said.

With Alameda County's historic unemployment rate of 2.7 percent—lower than both the state and national averages—the future of the county appears optimistic, but Assessor La cautioned that "there are indicators that this tremendous growth in the economy may be coming to an end. It's better to begin preparing for a potential recession now rather than having it come as a surprise. We also need to deal with the fact that residents can no longer afford to live in our county."

Notifications of this year's individual assessments are currently being mailed to Alameda County
property owners, and tax bills will be mailed in October.

— Patch editors Toni McAllister and Bea Karnes contributed to this story

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