 My brother and I essentially started this advocacy for the taxpayers of Orange County back in the 1990’s in Newport Beach, California.
Back sometime in 1992/93; while actively appraising high-end homes for lending clients; the discrepancy between declining owner values of eight figures and their inflated assessments became all too apparent. It was a mild afternoon in late spring when I walked into the Orange County Assessor’s office. Without a soul in sight I pointed out the ‘apparent to me’ aberration only to be told – “there was nothing you can do and no forms to be filled out”. Boy !! - have times changed !!! and the adversarial relationship was clearly established. And thus ever since then we have been seasonally fighting for the proper equalization of property taxes for owners and expanding our reach to every California County possible.
Little did I know that only a year or so later would I be at the helm of pioneering one of the largest property tax advocate to activist movements in recent history. Even more shocking was to be the center of attention as a ‘target of concern’ fueled by the compelling ramifications of the one of the largest municipal bankruptcies in American history to date. Oddly enough nearly every county in California is on the brick of similar disaster.
But here I would like to point out probably the most critical distinctions to our service. My evolution in this entire endeavor has been from APPRAISER to ASSESSOR to ADVOCATE to ACTIVIST. In terms of our day to day activities we essentially act from the later two modes on behalf of taxpayers. Because of the importance of this seemingly small discretion of utmost importance; I thought it imperative to clarify this matter.
- Main Entry: 1ad·vo·cate
- Pronunciation: \ad-v-kt, -kāt\
- Function: noun
1 : one that pleads the cause of another; specifically : one that pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court
2 : one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal
3 : one that supports or promotes the interests of another
- Main Entry: ac·tiv·ism
- Pronunciation: \ak-ti-vi-zm\
- Function: noun
- Date: 1915
: a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.
We think the CPA and assessor/appraiser backgrounds and expertise make our team the best fit. We have had a stable presence in Southern California for over 20 years and at the end of the first decade of this millennium we have an expanded version for this season’s effort in Northern California.
I personally have been located in Lincoln, California and Northern Nevada for the last eight years, keeping close ties to my Southern California roots. We hope to take root in our new location as we intend not only to dedicate ourselves to a long term real property tax monitoring program, but are considering adding significantly to a broader based benefit package to include other tax advantages, federal credits, energy efficiencies, and various cost reduction methods
I can not express enough how important it is that essentially every property transferred since 2003 to date be filed under a prop 8 application and annually monitored by our firm every year after while these declining market continue. It is your way to a hassle free, no upfront fee, and no risk manner to the lowest possible tax liability or refund for the years to come.
William Richter - President
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