County of San Diego v. Assessment Appeals Board No. 2

The County of San Diego (the County) and E. C. Williams, assessor for the County, filed two separate petitions for writs of administrative mandate. The petitions asked for issuance of a writ ordering Assessment Appeals Board No. 2 (the Board) of the County to set aside its decisions regarding reduction of the 1979 taxable values of certain properties within the La Vista Grande subdivision. After a hearing, the trial court issued a writ of mandate directing the Board to set aside its decisions regarding the 1979 taxable values of the properties in question. The writ also ordered the Board to reconsider the homeowners’ applications for equalization of their 1979 property tax assessments in light of the court’s decision. Monte N. Stewart, Charles D. and Delayne E. Herring, real parties in interest, file a consolidated appeal from the judgment granting the petition for the writ.

In 1979, Stewart and the Herrings, with other homeowners in the La Vista Grande subdivision, filed applications with the Board requesting equalization of their 1979 real property assessments. They contended the county assessor erred in computing their property assessments. The Board held…