County Update
With Santa Clara County
Supervisor Mike Wasserman
Supervisor Mike Wasserman was elected to the Santa Clara
County Board of Supervisors in November, 2010, and re-elected
in 2014. He represents District 1, which includes Gilroy, San
Martin, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and portions
of San Jose (supervisorwasserman.org).
Property Taxes Pay for
Schools, Libraries, City and County Services
O
ne of the largest expenses homeowners and businesses
pay each year are their property taxes, payable to
the County of Santa Clara. So, it is logical that many
people wonder “What do I get for this large sum? Where does
it go? I don’t even use County services, so what is the County
government doing with my money?” These are some of the
questions I hear as County Supervisor and as someone who
also writes those big checks twice yearly too, I’m happy to
help shed some light on this.
Myth #4:
Secured property taxes are due December 10 and April 10.
Unfortunately, some people confl ate “due date” with
“delinquent date” and fail to pay their property taxes on
time, resulting in costly fi nes. The fi rst installment of secured
property taxes is due November 1 and is delinquent on
December 10 at 5 pm. The second installment of secured
property taxes is due February 1 and is delinquent on
April 10 at 5pm.
Myth #1:
Property taxes collected by the County are all used by the County.
Only 18% of the money collected by the County in property
tax revenue stays with the County. The majority is sent on
to the State for K-12 Education (44%), and 38% goes to
fund Cities, Special Districts, Community Colleges and the
Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund.
Myth #2:
Renters don’t pay property taxes.
While landlords (not tenants) are responsible for paying
property taxes, residential and commercial properties can be
rented with leases that include property tax in the rent, thus
passing on the tax to tenants.
Myth #3:
I don’t use County services.
Everyone uses County services. While I hope that most readers
don’t need services from the District Attorney, Sheriff, Adult
and Child Protection Services, each of you benefi ts from
County services every day. County Roads and Expressways,
restaurant health inspections, gas pump inspections, County
Parks, Gilroy and Morgan Hill Libraries, Animal Shelter
Services, Vector Control, Valley Medical Center and Health
Clinics are a few of the many County services paid for by the
County’s 18% of your property tax dollars.
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
My colleagues and I on the County Board of Supervisors
have been making improvements to the process of paying
property taxes over the past several years. Partial Property
Tax Payments, are now allowed, giving property owners the
option of making partial payments for their property taxes
without being penalized. In the past, property tax install-
ments had to be paid in full in order to avoid costly fines.
We also recently launched a New App for Paying Property
Taxes -- SCC DTAC -- which provides more than 500,000
property owners with convenient access to pay annual
secured property tax payments. More information about the
benefits of the app is available at sccdtac.org/mobileapp.
Property owners who would like more information about
paying their taxes in general can contact the Department of
Tax and Collections Tax Information Unit at (408) 808-7900
or [email protected].
april/may 2019
gmhtoday.com