On a California property tax record, full cash value is the market-value standard, base year value is full cash value fixed at a purchase, change in ownership or completed new construction, taxable value is the lesser of the factored base year value and the current full cash value on the January 1 lien date, and assessed value is the taxable value the tax rate is applied to. Each term is defined in the Revenue and Taxation Code, and the same definitions apply in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. None of them is an appraisal: a county assessment is the taxable value under California's assessment rules, not an independent opinion of market value.
The vocabulary, term by term
TermWhere it is definedWhat it means
Full cash value (fair market value)
R&T Code section 110
The amount of cash or its equivalent the property would bring if exposed for sale in the open market, when neither buyer nor seller could take advantage of the other's exigencies
Base year value
R&T Code section 110.1
Full cash value as of the 1975 lien date, or as of the date of a later purchase, change in ownership or completed new construction
Factored base year value
R&T Code section 51(a)(1)
The base year value compounded each year by the statute's inflation factor
Taxable value
R&T Code section 51(a)
The lesser of the factored base year value and full cash value on the lien date
Assessed value
R&T Code section 135; BOE glossary
The value the tax rate is applied against; 100 percent of full value since the 1981-82 fiscal year
Lien date
R&T Code section 2192
12:01 a.m. on January 1, the moment each year's values are measured
Full cash value: the market-value yardstick
Section 110 treats "full cash value" and "fair market value" as one term. Besides the open-market language above, it requires that buyer and seller know all the uses the property is adapted to and capable of, and the enforceable restrictions on them. On a purchase, subdivision (b) presumes the price paid is full cash value when the terms were negotiated at arm's length, a presumption that can be rebutted. Fair market value vs. market value compares this wording with the federal tax and lending definitions.
Base year value and the factored base year value
Section 110.1 fixes base year value at full cash value on the 1975 lien date or on the date of a later purchase, change in ownership or completed new construction. Each year after that, section 51 compounds it by an inflation factor tied to the California Consumer Price Index, and says that in no event shall the increase for any assessment year "exceed 2 percent of the prior year's value." The result is the factored base year value. Article XIII A, section 2 of the California Constitution, added by Proposition 13, is the source of both rules.
The State Board of Equalization's overview, Publication 29, explains the consequence: under Proposition 13, similar properties can have substantially different assessed values based solely on the dates they were purchased. That is why a long-held house north of Foothill Boulevard can carry a very different assessment from a near-twin on the same street that sold recently. Base year value explained walks through it on the Los Angeles County side.
Taxable value: the lesser of two numbers
Section 51 sets taxable value, for each lien date after the base year, as the lesser of the factored base year value and the full cash value as of the lien date, "taking into account reductions in value due to damage, destruction, depreciation, obsolescence, removal of property, or other factors causing a decline in value." The BOE glossary in Publication 29 uses the same rule. When full cash value on January 1 falls below the factored base year value, the lower number is the taxable value; that decline-in-value rule is covered in decline in value in plain words.
Assessed value: the number on the roll
The BOE glossary defines assessed value as the taxable value of a property against which the tax rate is applied. Section 135 explains an old source of confusion: assessed value meant 25 percent of full value through the 1980-81 fiscal year, and has meant 100 percent of full value since 1981-82. Section 401 requires every assessor to assess all taxable property at its full value. Publication 29 adds that a change in ownership or completed new construction is also placed on the supplemental roll, a prorated assessment for the rest of the fiscal year, rather than waiting for the next lien date.
The lien date ties it together
Section 2192 says tax liens attach annually as of 12:01 a.m. on the first day of January preceding the fiscal year. Full cash value for the decline-in-value test is measured as of that date, so an appraisal used in a review or an appeal has the lien date as its effective date, the date the opinion applies to. Why the effective date is the lien date explains what that means for the report.
Same words on both sides of Mills Avenue
Claremont, La Verne and Pomona are assessed by the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor; Montclair, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and Chino by the San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk. The statutes above apply in both. What differs is administration: records, informal review and the appeals board, the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board or the San Bernardino County Assessment Appeals Board. Each county publishes its own filing periods; confirm the current period there. The Claremont and Montclair area pages describe each side of the line, and assessed value on both sides of the county line compares them.
Where an appraisal fits, and what is not one
An appraisal, an independent opinion of market value as of a stated effective date developed under USPAP, can be evidence of full cash value on a lien date. The assessor and the appeals board, not the appraiser, decide what is enrolled; an appraisal does not predict or promise any result. An automated estimate is not an appraisal; it is a statistical estimate from records and nearby sales. An agent's comparative market analysis, or CMA, a licensed agent's opinion of a likely list or sale price, is not an appraisal. A cash offer is not an appraisal; it is one buyer's price on stated terms. The four different numbers guide compares them, and the cluster is in the value types knowledge center.
If you need market value documented as of a lien date, the property tax appeal appraisal page describes the assignment; to confirm an appraisal is the right document, start with appraisal vs. estimate or call (909) 324-6122. Fees are set by the scope of the assignment, quoted before work begins, and do not depend on the value. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.
Sources
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 110 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 110.1 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 51 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 135 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 401 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 2192 (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California Constitution, Article XIII A, section 2 (leginfo could not be opened on November 6, 2026; its base year and inflation rules are read here through Revenue and Taxation Code section 110.1, Publication 29 and Property Tax Rule 460)
- California State Board of Equalization, Property Tax Rule 460, General Application (accessed November 6, 2026)
- California State Board of Equalization, Publication 29, California Property Tax: An Overview (accessed November 6, 2026)
- Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor (accessed November 6, 2026)
- San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk (accessed November 6, 2026)
- Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board (accessed November 6, 2026)
- San Bernardino County Clerk of the Board, Assessment Appeals (accessed November 6, 2026)
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between taxable value and assessed value in California?
Taxable value is the lesser of the factored base year value and full cash value on the January 1 lien date, under Revenue and Taxation Code section 51. Assessed value, in the State Board of Equalization's glossary, is the taxable value of a property against which the tax rate is applied. Since the 1981-82 fiscal year, section 135 sets assessed value at 100 percent of full value.
What does full cash value mean on a California property tax record?
Revenue and Taxation Code section 110 treats full cash value and fair market value as one term: the amount of cash or its equivalent the property would bring if exposed for sale in the open market, when neither buyer nor seller could take advantage of the exigencies of the other. It is the county's market-value standard, not an appraisal.
What is a factored base year value?
It is the base year value, fixed under section 110.1 at a purchase, change in ownership or completed new construction, compounded each year by the inflation factor in section 51. Section 51 says the increase for any assessment year may not exceed 2 percent of the prior year's value. Taxable value is the lesser of this figure and full cash value.
Are these terms different in San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County?
No. The definitions come from the Revenue and Taxation Code and apply in both counties. What differs is administration: the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor and the San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk keep separate records and review processes, and each county has its own appeals board and publishes its own filing periods.
Is my assessed value the same as an appraisal?
No. Assessed value is the taxable value under California's assessment rules, set by the county assessor. An appraisal is an independent opinion of market value as of a stated date by a state-licensed or certified appraiser. An appraisal can be evidence of full cash value on a lien date, but the assessor and the appeals board decide what is enrolled.
