Insurance/Recovery Tip:

After a disaster some people prefer to replace their house with another house that's already built in a different location (and sometimes even in a different county) rather than rebuild on the same spot. While each municipality has their own rules about transferring your base-year value between counties each will allow transfers within the same county. There are also special exemptions for people of at least 55 years of age and also rules about people with disabilities. Please contact your local assessor for more information, but here are some helpful links to get you started.

 

State of California related rules from the State Board of Equalization:

http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/200c.pdf

 

San Diego County:

http://arcc.co.san-diego.ca.us/docs/90cntiesemp.pdf

 

County of San Bernardino:

http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/assessor/Documents/arp110.pdf

 

Los Angeles County:

http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/lac/control/binaryGet.aspx?uploadid=53

 

Orange County:

http://www.ocgov.com/assessor/pdf/PropertyDamagedOrDestroyedGovDeclaredDisaster_8-07.pdf

 

El Dorado County:

http://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/assessor/pdf/65PT-Rev2-8-05.pdf

 

Here is an explanation of how it's calculated, given by the Orange County Tax Assessor

http://www.ocgov.com/assessor/faq.asp#DD

 

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"When Dave Aguilar got a second chance to build his family's dream house after the 2003 Cedar fire swept through their Blossom Valley neighborhood, he and his wife, Nanci, decided to take a step they had considered and rejected the first time: They built the home with steel framing instead of wood."

[more here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/wildfires/20080320-9999-1ez20steel.html ]

“'Pride goeth before a fall,' says the old Hebrew proverb. A woman we’ll call Eve, who lost her home in the [2003] Old Fire, has a simple piece of advice for survivors of the Grass Valley and Slide Fires: Do not let pride get in your way."

[more here: http://crestlinecourier-news.com/articles/2008/03/20/news/features/features4.txt ]

Recent downpours have turned Orange County foothills charred by October's ferocious Santiago fire a vivid emerald green. From a distance, the explosion of life offers a powerful testament to nature's resilience. Up close, it also provides a worrisome omen for the months ahead.
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/green/la-me-greenhills2mar02,1,2435569.story

 

Flower danger: 'If you touch it, it's going to get you' - March 23, 2008

 

A pretty purple-flowered bush blooming on the hills of the burned areas in Santiago and Modjeska canyons is a danger to people, according to the Department of Forestry.

[more here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/oldar-flower-bush-2001799-people-fire ]

"Mayor Pro Tem Pamela Conley Ulich has requested the mayor send letters to the city, county and state asking for FEMA to revisit its denials for claims after the fire and to make payments to claim holders as soon as possible. Also, she wants city staff to defer fees for building permits for property owners who are not reimbursed by their insurance companies, and then the city would ask FEMA to reimburse it."
[more here: http://malibutimes.com/articles/2008/03/20/news/newsbriefs.txt]

"The commission established to look into June’s Angora fire unanimously agreed on dozens of recommendations Friday and will ask the Bush administration to declare a state of emergency for the Lake Tahoe Basin."

[more here: http://tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080323/NEWS01/316293819 ]