Calaveras County property tax starts at 1% of your property’s assessed value under Proposition 13, with voter-approved bonds and any special assessments added on top. Bills go out by November 1 for the fiscal year that runs July 1 through June 30, and you pay in two installments: the first becomes delinquent after December 10, the second after April 10. Miss either and a 10% penalty attaches immediately to the unpaid amount.
How Your Bill Is Calculated
The Calaveras County Assessor sets your property’s value, and the Tax Collector in San Andreas handles billing and collection.1Calaveras County. Assessor’s Office The starting figure is your property’s market value when you bought it or when new construction was completed. That becomes your base year value and anchors your tax bill for as long as you own the place.
Proposition 13 lets the Assessor raise your base year value by no more than 2% a year for inflation. The actual factor tracks the California Consumer Price Index but cannot exceed that 2% ceiling.2California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 51 – Base Year Values A full reassessment to current market value only happens when the property changes hands or when you add new construction. Two identical houses on the same street can carry very different assessed values if one sold last year and the other has been in the same family since the 1980s.
The 1% base levy is only part of the bill. Voter-approved bonds for schools, fire protection, and infrastructure stack on top, and the mix varies by tax rate area, so properties a few miles apart can carry noticeably different totals. Some parcels also sit inside a Mello-Roos Community Facilities District, which levies a separate special tax that appears as its own line item. The Mello-Roos amount is not based on assessed value; it follows a formula set when the district was formed. Sellers must disclose any Mello-Roos obligation before closing.
On a home assessed at $350,000, the 1% base levy alone comes to $3,500. Your actual total will run higher once bonds and any special assessments are added in.
Reading and Finding Your Bill
The annual bill is mailed to the address on record by November 1.3California State Board of Equalization. Property Tax Calendar The most important number on it is the Assessor’s Parcel Number, a unique identifier you need for any payment or inquiry. The APN sits in the upper-left corner alongside the assessment number, physical address, lien-date owner name, and tax rate area.4Calaveras County. Calaveras County Property Tax Search The bill breaks your total into two installments and itemizes which agencies receive which portions, including any special assessments.
If the bill never arrives, look it up through the county’s online tax search or call the Tax Collector’s office directly.5Calaveras County. Tax Collector / Treasurer’s Office Not receiving a bill does not excuse a late payment. If nothing shows up by mid-November, follow up right away.
Payment Deadlines and How to Pay
California splits the annual tax into two installments with separate deadlines:
- First installment: due November 1, delinquent after December 10 at 5 p.m. (or close of business, whichever is later). A 10% penalty attaches immediately to any unpaid amount.6California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 2704 – Collection in Equal Installments
- Second installment: due February 1, delinquent after April 10 at 5 p.m. (or close of business). Same 10% penalty.7California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 2705
When a delinquency date lands on a weekend or county holiday, it shifts to the next business day. There is no grace period, and under normal circumstances the county cannot waive the 10% penalty. One day late with no valid USPS postmark triggers the full penalty on the unpaid installment.
You can mail a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order to the Tax Collector at 891 Mountain Ranch Road, Building D, San Andreas, CA 95249. The county follows the postmark rule required by state law: a payment postmarked by USPS on or before the deadline counts as timely even if it arrives later. Private postage meters and foreign postmarks do not qualify. The online portal lets you search your parcel and pay electronically, and in-person payments are accepted at the San Andreas office during business hours. Save your online confirmation or ask for a stamped receipt at the counter, and confirm the APN and installment number match the correct bill.
Supplemental Bills After Buying or Building
Buy a property or finish new construction and you will almost certainly get a supplemental tax bill on top of the regular annual one. The Assessor reassesses the property as of the date of the change, calculates the difference between the old and new assessed values, and prorates that difference across the months left in the fiscal year. Close in October and you owe supplemental taxes for roughly nine months.
If the change happens between January 1 and May 31, you may receive two supplemental bills: one for the current fiscal year and one for the next. These have their own due dates and penalties, separate from the annual bill. New owners are often caught off guard because the bills arrive months after closing, well after they thought taxes were settled.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Missing both installments starts a sequence that can eventually cost you the property.
Tax Default and Compounding Penalties
At 12:01 a.m. on July 1, any property with unpaid taxes from the prior fiscal year is declared tax-defaulted by operation of law.8California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 3436 Penalties shift from the flat 10% late charge to 1.5% per month on the unpaid taxes, which works out to 18% a year and applies to each later year’s unpaid taxes as well.9California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 4103 A redemption fee is added to the account.
Five-Year Power to Sell
After five continuous years of tax default, the Tax Collector gains the legal authority to sell the property. For nonresidential commercial property, that window drops to three years.10California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 3691 The county must publish notice in a local newspaper and mail direct notice to the owner before any auction.11California State Controller. Public Auctions and Bidder Information At the sale, the property goes to the highest bidder and the prior owner’s equity is wiped out.
Five-Year Installment Plan
If you cannot pay defaulted taxes in full, you can apply for an installment plan that spreads the balance over five years. The plan has to be in place before the Tax Collector gains the power to sell. Once set up, the property is protected from auction as long as you stay current on the installments. Current-year taxes are not eligible for the plan; it only covers taxes already in default. Call the Calaveras County Tax Collector’s office to start one.
Exemptions That Lower the Bill
Homeowners’ Exemption
Live in a home you own as your primary residence and you qualify for the Homeowners’ Exemption, which takes $7,000 off the assessed value.12Justia. California Constitution Article XIII Section 3 – Taxation At the 1% base rate that is at least $70 a year, slightly more once bonds push your effective rate above 1%.13California State Board of Equalization. Homeowners’ Exemption File claim form BOE-266 with the Calaveras County Assessor. Once granted, it stays in place until you move or transfer the property. It is not automatic, so new owners who skip the filing leave money on the table every year.
Disabled Veterans’ Exemption
Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating, or who are compensated at the 100% rate for individual unemployability, can claim a much larger exemption on a principal residence. For 2026, the amounts are:
- Basic exemption: $180,671 off assessed value, with no household income limit.
- Low-income exemption: $271,009 off assessed value, available when prior-year household income does not exceed $81,131.14California State Board of Equalization. Disabled Veterans’ Exemption Increases for 2026
Blindness in both eyes or loss of use of two or more limbs also qualifies. Unmarried surviving spouses of eligible veterans may qualify too. You file the claim with the Assessor. A property cannot carry both the Homeowners’ Exemption and the Disabled Veterans’ Exemption at the same time; the veterans’ exemption replaces it.
Keeping Your Old Tax Base When You Move
If you are 55 or older, severely disabled, or a victim of wildfire or natural disaster, Proposition 19 lets you carry your current property tax base to a replacement home anywhere in California.15California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 You have to buy or finish building the new home within two years of selling the original.16California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 69.6
If the replacement home is worth the same or less than the original, the base year value transfers straight across. If it costs more, the excess above the original home’s market value is added to the transferred base. A sliding scale sets what counts as “equal or lesser”: within the first year after the sale, the replacement can cost up to 105% of the original’s value; in the second year, 110%.
Seniors and disabled persons can use this benefit up to three times. Wildfire and disaster victims have no cap.
Disputing Your Assessment
Decline-in-Value Review Under Proposition 8
When local prices fall, your property’s current market value can drop below its assessed value. Under Proposition 8, the Assessor must enroll the lower of the two as of the January 1 lien date.17California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Decline in Value – Proposition 8 The office reviews values each year and may adjust automatically, but you can also request a review. A Proposition 8 reduction is temporary: when the market recovers, the Assessor can raise the value back toward the factored base year value, and those recoveries are not capped at 2% per year.
Formal Assessment Appeal
If an informal fix with the Assessor doesn’t work, file a formal Assessment Appeal with the Calaveras County Assessment Appeals Board. Applications for regular assessments must be filed between July 2 and November 30 each year.18Calaveras County. Assessment Appeal Information For supplemental assessments, you have 60 days from either the printed date on the notice or the postmark date, whichever is later.
Bring evidence: comparable sales, independent appraisals, documentation of damage or defects. The board hears both sides and decides whether to adjust the value. Filing an appeal does not pause your obligation to pay. You still owe what was billed, and any reduction is refunded or credited after the ruling.
Deducting Property Taxes on Your Federal Return
If you itemize, the property taxes you pay to Calaveras County are deductible as part of the state and local tax deduction. For 2026, the SALT cap is $40,400 for most filers, covering state income taxes (or sales taxes) and property taxes combined. An income-based phaseout starts around $500,000 and drops the cap to a floor of $10,000 above roughly $600,000.
Most Calaveras County homeowners will fall well under the cap, meaning the full property tax payment is deductible if they itemize at all. Whether itemizing beats the standard deduction depends on your other deductions. Keep your tax bills and payment confirmations in case the IRS asks for proof.