Ventura County Assessor Dan Goodwin tackles property taxes at GMSP!

March 31, 2000
Santa Paula News
Ventura County Assessor Dan Goodwin had good news at Good Morning Santa Paula! and a great prediction for the economy of the Santa Clara River Valley. “The Heritage Valley is a gold mine just waiting to be discovered,” by cash carrying cultural tourists, said Goodwin, who is serving his first term in the elected office.Good Morning Santa Paula! is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and was held at Logsdon’s at the Airport.A Ventura County resident for over three decades, Goodwin said he decided to run for county assessor when “in some ways I found myself bumping heads,” with government processes.Once he took office he was pleased to find the staff “very knowledgeable of the law and estimated values,” of property. The downside was that public service had not been emphasized and required his “perspective. . .I think in terms of business, and in business client calls get an answer or a call right back with an answer. I found that sometimes it took 72 hours for people to get a call back, and there’s no way any business would do that.”
Goodwin initiated changes that have made the office more responsive, although he still finds many government forms “unfriendly” and frustrating, especially since they are state mandated and cannot be changed on a local level.Property taxes represent big money and are a major revenue source to fund government services: the state keeps approximately 55 percent collected and 18 percent is rebated to counties such as Ventura County, Goodwin said. He did not know off-hand what percentage of property tax is returned to cities.Property taxes were lowered by request to reflect the real estate market crash of the early 1990s, but again are rising, he noted. Those who own property under Prop. 13 still pay a lower rate but are subjected to a 2 percent capped increase each year. Property tax bills can be impacted by various factors, including the age of the property owner.



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