Cafferkey

The City and County of San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder (Assessor-Recorder) assesses taxable property within the county and records legal documents. (Gov. Code, § 27231; Rev. & Tax. Code, § 401.) The Assessor-Recorder maintains two different sets of maps in its office: (1) assessor’s maps or block book maps, which are used to locate and identify property for tax assessment purposes (assessor’s maps) and (2) subdivision maps or parcel maps, which are used to lease, sell, or finance property (parcel maps).

This appeal arises out of a dispute regarding the property tax assessment of property owned by Frank and Maureen Cafferkey (collectively, Cafferkeys) in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. The Cafferkeys received a property tax bill for APN 28-4329-18 (Lot 18), which appears on assessor’s maps but not on any parcel maps. The Cafferkeys paid the property taxes, but later filed a claim for a property tax refund, claiming the property taxes for Lot 18 were “erroneously and illegally collected” under section 5096, subdivision (b) because that property “does not exist” on the relevant parcel maps. The San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board (Board) denied…