Audits of Business Personal Property

Audits are selected each year by the Assessor based on two criteria. One is the State Board of Equalization requirement that the property be in the top 50% of assessed business property. The remaining audits scheduled for the year are made either at the request of the taxpayer or as selected by the Assessor based on internal criteria developed during the assessment process.

Possessory Interests

A taxable possessory interest is most commonly defined as the private beneficial use of publicly-owned property.

Taxable possessory interests are subject to taxation pursuant to article XIII, section 1 of the California Constitution, which provides that all property is taxable unless otherwise provided by the California Constitution or federal law. While publicly owned real property is generally exempt from taxation, under certain conditions, the private, beneficial right to the possession of publicly owned real property is subject to separate assessment as a taxable possessory interest.