Amador County Property Tax: Rates, Deadlines, and Exemptions

Property taxes in Amador County are set under California’s Proposition 13: 1% of your property’s assessed value, plus voter-approved bonds and any special assessments that apply to your parcel. Bills arrive in the fall and are paid in two installments, the first delinquent after December 10 and the second after April 10. Miss either one and a 10% penalty attaches automatically.

How Your Assessed Value Is Set

Your assessed value starts at what you paid for the property (or its appraised value if it was newly built). That number is your “base year value.”¹ From there, the Assessor can increase it by an inflation factor each year, but never by more than 2%, no matter what the market is doing.

The county only reassesses to full market value when ownership changes or new construction is completed. That is why two neighbors with nearly identical homes can pay very different tax bills: whoever bought more recently is assessed closer to today’s prices.

Your total bill will almost always run higher than a flat 1%. Voter-approved bonds for schools and infrastructure add to the levy, and services like fire protection or water districts can show up as special assessments tied to the specific benefit your property receives.

Payment Deadlines and Late Penalties

Amador County’s fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30. You get a single bill in the fall, payable in two installments:

First installment: due November 1, delinquent after 5 p.m. on December 10.
Second installment: due February 1, delinquent after 5 p.m. on April 10.²

A missed deadline triggers a 10% penalty on the unpaid amount.³ If the April installment goes delinquent, the Tax Collector also adds a cost of up to $55 for preparing delinquent records and mailing the notice.⁴ Timeliness is measured by the date the office receives payment or by the official U.S. Postal Service postmark, so a check postmarked by midnight on the deadline is on time even if it lands a few days later.

How to Pay

Pull your 12-digit assessment number or fee parcel number off your bill first. Searching by fee parcel number shows every bill tied to that parcel, including supplemental and unsecured bills.⁵

The county accepts payment through several channels:

Online by e-check for a flat $3.15 fee on payments up to $9,999.99, or by debit or credit card for a 2.65% convenience fee.
By phone at 1-833-672-0079, debit or credit card, same 2.65% fee.
By mail to the Treasurer-Tax Collector in Jackson, with the postmark on or before the delinquency date.
In person at the county office in Jackson during regular business hours.⁵

An e-check returned for insufficient funds, a closed account, or a stop payment runs you a $75 returned-check fee and may bring delinquent penalties on top of it.⁵ Online payments can take up to 90 minutes to show as paid.

If you have a mortgage, your lender probably collects property taxes through an escrow account and pays the county directly. Confirm that with your servicer before writing your own check, or you can end up paying twice.

Supplemental Bills After Buying or Building

If you recently closed on a property or finished new construction, expect a supplemental tax bill on top of the regular annual bill. State law requires an immediate reassessment at the new value rather than waiting for the next roll.

The supplemental bill covers the difference between the old assessed value and the new one, prorated for the months left in the fiscal year. Buy in October and the supplemental assessment takes effect November 1, covering eight months (November through June), so you owe 8/12 of the annual difference.⁶

Purchases that close between January and May generate two supplemental bills: one for the remaining months of the current fiscal year and a second covering the full year that follows. If the new assessed value comes in lower than the prior value, you get a refund instead.⁶ Budget for a supplemental bill in your first year.

Exemptions and Relief

Homeowners’ Exemption

Own and occupy your home as your principal residence and you qualify for a $7,000 reduction in assessed value. At the 1% base rate that’s about $70 a year. File a one-time claim with the Amador County Assessor and the exemption stays in place until you move or transfer ownership.⁷

Disabled Veterans’ Exemption

Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA, or receiving compensation at the 100% rate for unemployability, can claim a larger exemption on their principal residence. For 2026, the basic exemption is $180,671 off the assessed value with no income limit. Veterans whose prior-year household income was $81,131 or less qualify for the low-income exemption of $271,009.⁸ Loss of use of two or more limbs or blindness in both eyes may also qualify a veteran regardless of the specific rating.

Property Tax Postponement for Seniors

California’s Property Tax Postponement program lets homeowners who are at least 62, blind, or disabled defer property tax payments until they move, sell, or die. The state records a lien and charges interest on the postponed amount. Total household income must be $55,181 or less to qualify.⁹ Applications go to the State Controller’s Office, not the county.

Proposition 19: Moving Your Base Year Value and Inheriting Property

Proposition 19 has been in effect since April 2021 and changed two things that matter here: tax-base transfers for seniors and disabled homeowners, and how inherited property is treated.

Transfers for Seniors and Disabled Homeowners

If you are at least 55 or severely disabled, you can move your current property’s base year value to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. The replacement must be purchased or newly built within two years of the sale.¹⁰

The replacement doesn’t need to cost less than the original. If it costs more, the difference between the two market values is added to your transferred base year value. “Equal or lesser value” depends on timing: 100% of the original’s market value if you buy before selling, 105% if you buy within the first year after selling, and 110% in the second year.¹⁰

Parent-Child Transfers

Before Proposition 19, parents could pass any property to children without reassessment. Not anymore. The exclusion now applies only when the child uses the inherited property as a principal residence and files for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within one year of the transfer.¹¹

Even for qualifying family homes, there’s a value cap. The exclusion covers the taxable value at transfer plus an inflation-adjusted amount. For transfers between February 16, 2025, and February 15, 2027, that amount is $1,044,586. If market value exceeds the taxable value plus that cap, the difference is added to the new owner’s assessed value. The claim must be filed within three years of the transfer date.¹¹

Appealing Your Assessed Value

If you think the assessed value is higher than the current market value, you can challenge it. Start by calling the Assessor’s Office; an informal conversation sometimes resolves the issue without a hearing. An informal review does not preserve your formal appeal rights, though, so file the formal application as well if there’s any chance you’ll need it.

Formal appeals go to the Amador County Assessment Appeals Board. The filing window for the regular assessment roll is July 2 through November 30.¹² For supplemental or escape assessments, you generally have 60 days from the mailing date on the notice.

Submit an assessment appeal application with evidence supporting a lower value. The most persuasive evidence is recent comparable sales nearby, but appraisals, photographs of damage, or data showing a market decline can also carry weight. At the hearing, you and the Assessor’s Office each present your case. If the board agrees the value is too high, it orders a reduction and your tax liability for that year drops with it.¹²

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Unpaid bills don’t go away. After the April 10 delinquency date, the 10% penalty and delinquent-record cost attach immediately. If the full year’s taxes remain unpaid by June 30, the property is declared “tax-defaulted” and additional penalties start accruing.

For residential property, the county can sell the parcel at public auction once five years have passed from the date of tax default. Nonresidential commercial property faces a three-year timeline.¹³ Before any sale, the county must publish notice in a local newspaper three times in successive weeks and record a notice of power to sell. You can redeem the property any time up to 5 p.m. on the last business day before the auction by paying all delinquent taxes, penalties, and costs in full.

If a declared disaster damages the property during the default period, the five-year clock pauses until five years after the date of damage.¹³

Property Tax Relief After a Disaster

When fire, flood, earthquake, or another catastrophe damages your property, you may qualify for a temporary assessment reduction. The damage must cause a market-value loss of at least $10,000. File a claim for reassessment with the Assessor’s Office within 12 months of the date of damage, or within the time specified by county ordinance, whichever is later.¹⁴

After the Assessor processes the claim, you receive a notice with the proposed new assessed value. Any refund is prorated from the month the disaster occurred through the end of the fiscal year or completion of rebuilding, whichever comes first. There’s no separate refund claim to file, but you must keep paying your regular tax bill while the application is under review. The relief covers real property, business equipment and fixtures, orchards, and certain boats and aircraft; it does not cover household furnishings.¹⁴

1
Justia. California Constitution Article XIII A Section 2 – Tax Limitation
2
California State Board of Equalization. Property Tax Calendar
3
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 2617 – Collection Generally
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 2621
5
Amador County. Pay/View Property Tax Bill
6
California State Board of Equalization. Supplemental Assessment
7
California State Board of Equalization. Property Tax Savings – Homeowners Exemption
8
California State Board of Equalization. Disabled Veterans Exemption Increases for 2026
9
State Controller’s Office. Property Tax Postponement
10
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19
11
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 Fact Sheet
12
Amador County. Information Concerning Property Tax Assessment – Section: Assessment Appeals
13
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 3691
14
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Disaster Relief