As a real estate agent, one of the most asked questions that I get from prospective home buyers is what is the property tax rate on this property?

The San Diego County property tax rate vary by city and even by area within the city that the property is located at. The full property tax rate consists of the 1% Base Tax Rate, which applies to every property in San Diego County, plus the applicable rate of the following in the specific area the property is located at: Voter approved bonds and any fixed charge special assessments. Mello-Roos is a type of fixed charge special assessment.

Here’s a chart with the most common San Diego County property tax rate by city. It does not include any fixed special assessments.

Estimating Your San Diego County Property Tax

Here’s an example of how to calculate your yearly property tax:
You purchase a home for $500,000 in the city of San Diego in the Carmel Valley area. Your assessed value to estimate your yearly tax liability (not including the homeowner occupied exception) is $500,000. the 1% Base Tax on the Net Purchased Value is $5,000, the 0.18277% in Voter Approved Bonds in the area is $913.85. The property that you purchased is located within a community that also has a Mello-Roos tax of $2,300. Your total yearly tax liability is $8,213.85 ($5,000 + $913.85 + $2,300) and is payable in two yearly installments due on December 10th and April 10th.

Let us know if you have any questions or need help in estimating the property tax for the home that you are interested in.