Amador County Property Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Amador County property tax is set at 1% of a property’s assessed value under Proposition 13, plus voter-approved bonds and any special assessments that apply to the parcel. The Assessor sets the value, the Treasurer-Tax Collector sends the bill, and the amount is payable in two installments each fiscal year. Miss either installment and a 10% penalty attaches automatically.

How Your Assessed Value Is Set

Under Article XIII A of the California Constitution, a property’s assessed value starts at its purchase price, or its appraised value when newly constructed or transferred. That figure is the “base year value.”¹ Each year the Assessor can apply an inflation factor, but the increase can never exceed 2% no matter how fast the market is moving. Full reassessment at market value happens only when ownership changes or new construction is completed.

The 1% base rate is not the whole bill. Voter-approved bonds for schools, infrastructure, and other local projects add to the levy. Special assessments for services such as fire protection or water districts may also appear, usually based on the specific benefit to your property rather than its assessed value.

When the Bill Is Due

The Amador County fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30. You receive a single annual bill in the fall, payable in two installments:

First installment: due November 1, delinquent after 5 p.m. on December 10.
Second installment: due February 1, delinquent after 5 p.m. on April 10.²

Missing either deadline triggers an automatic 10% penalty on the unpaid amount.³ If the second installment goes delinquent, the Tax Collector also adds a cost of up to $55 for preparing delinquent records and mailing the notice.⁴ Timely payment is determined by the date the office receives your funds or the official U.S. Postal Service postmark, so a mailed payment postmarked by midnight on the deadline counts as on time even if it arrives later.

How to Pay

Locate your 12-digit assessment number or fee parcel number on the bill before paying. Searching by fee parcel number shows every bill tied to that parcel, including any supplemental or unsecured bills.⁵ Amador County accepts four channels:

Online by e-check for a flat $3.15 fee on payments up to $9,999.99, or by debit or credit card for a 2.65% convenience fee.
By phone at 1-833-672-0079 with a debit or credit card. The same 2.65% fee applies.
By mail to the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office in Jackson. The postmark must fall on or before the delinquency date.
In person at the county office in Jackson during regular business hours.⁵

An e-check returned for insufficient funds, a closed account, or a stop payment triggers a $75 returned-check fee and can result in delinquent penalties on top of it.⁵ Online payments can take up to 90 minutes to post.

If you have a mortgage, your lender likely collects property taxes through an escrow account and pays the county directly. Confirm with your servicer before sending a payment yourself.

Supplemental Bills After a Purchase or New Construction

New owners often get caught off guard by a second tax bill in their first year. California law requires the Assessor to reassess property at its new value immediately when ownership changes or construction is completed, rather than waiting for the next annual roll.

The supplemental bill covers the difference between the old assessed value and the new one, prorated for the months remaining in the fiscal year. Buy in October and the supplemental assessment takes effect November 1, so you would owe 8/12 of the annual difference for that year. Closings between January and May generate two supplemental bills: one for the remaining months of the current fiscal year, and a second covering the full following fiscal year. If the new value is lower than the prior value, you receive a refund instead.⁶

Exemptions and Deferrals

Homeowners’ Exemption

If you own and occupy your home as your principal residence, the homeowners’ exemption reduces your assessed value by $7,000, which at the 1% base rate saves roughly $70 per year. File a one-time claim with the Amador County Assessor; the exemption stays in place until you move or transfer ownership.⁷

Disabled Veterans’ Exemption

Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA, or receiving compensation at the 100% rate due to unemployability, can claim a larger exemption on their principal residence. For 2026, the basic exemption is $180,671 off the assessed value with no income limit. Veterans whose prior-year household income was $81,131 or less qualify for the low-income exemption of $271,009.⁸ Veterans with the loss of use of two or more limbs or blindness in both eyes may also qualify regardless of their specific disability rating.

Property Tax Postponement for Seniors

California’s Property Tax Postponement program lets homeowners who are at least 62, blind, or disabled defer property tax payments until they move, sell, or die. The state records a lien on the property and charges interest on the postponed amount. Total household income must be $55,181 or less to qualify.⁹ Applications go directly to the State Controller’s Office, not the county.

Proposition 19 Transfers

Proposition 19, effective April 2021, reshaped two situations that used to be routine: moving your tax base to a new home, and passing property to your children.

Seniors and Disabled Homeowners Moving

Homeowners who are at least 55 or severely disabled can move the current base year value to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. The replacement must be purchased or newly constructed within two years of selling the original.¹⁰

The replacement home does not have to cost less. If it costs more, the difference between the two market values is added to the transferred base year value. The definition of “equal or lesser value” varies by timing: up to 100% of the original’s market value if you buy before selling, 105% within the first year after selling, and 110% in the second year.¹⁰

Parent-Child Transfers

Parents used to be able to pass any property to their children without reassessment. That blanket exclusion is gone. It now applies only if the child uses the inherited property as a principal residence and files for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within one year of the transfer.¹¹

Even a qualifying family home has a value cap. The exclusion covers the property’s taxable value at transfer plus an inflation-adjusted amount. For transfers between February 16, 2025, and February 15, 2027, that amount is $1,044,586. If market value exceeds the taxable value plus the cap, the difference is added to the new owner’s assessed value. The claim must be filed within three years of the transfer.¹¹

Appealing Your Assessed Value

If your assessed value exceeds current market value, you can challenge it. An informal call to the Assessor’s Office sometimes resolves the issue without a hearing, but an informal review does not preserve your appeal rights, so file the formal application in parallel if there is any chance you will need it.

Formal appeals go to the Amador County Assessment Appeals Board. The filing window for the regular assessment roll runs July 2 through November 30.¹² For supplemental or escape assessments, you generally have 60 days from the mailing date on the notice.

Submit the assessment appeal application with evidence supporting a lower value. Recent comparable sales in your neighborhood tend to be the most persuasive, but appraisals, photos of property damage, and market-decline data all work. You and the Assessor’s Office each present at the hearing, and if the board agrees, it orders a reduction that lowers your tax liability for that year.¹²

If Taxes Go Unpaid

The 10% penalty and delinquent-record cost attach immediately after April 10. If the full year’s taxes are still unpaid on June 30, the property is declared “tax-defaulted” and additional penalties begin accruing.

For residential property, the county gains the power to sell at public auction once five years have passed from the tax-default date. Nonresidential commercial property faces a three-year timeline.¹³ Before any sale, the county must publish notice in a local newspaper three times in successive weeks and record a notice of power to sell. You can redeem the property at any point up to 5 p.m. on the last business day before the scheduled auction by paying all delinquent taxes, penalties, and costs in full.

If a property is damaged by a declared disaster during the default period, the five-year clock pauses until five years after the date of damage.¹³

Disaster Relief

When fire, flood, earthquake, or another catastrophe damages property in Amador County, you may qualify for a temporary assessment reduction. The damage must cause a market-value loss of at least $10,000. File a claim for reassessment with the Assessor’s Office within 12 months of the date of damage, or within the time specified by county ordinance, whichever is later.¹⁴

Once the Assessor processes your claim, you receive a notice with the proposed new value. Any refund is prorated from the month the disaster occurred through the end of the fiscal year or completion of rebuilding, whichever comes first. You do not file a separate refund claim, but you must keep paying your regular tax bill while the application is under review. The relief covers real property, business equipment and fixtures, orchards, and certain boats and aircraft. Household furnishings are not covered.¹⁴

1
Justia. California Constitution Article XIII A Section 2 – Tax Limitation
2
California State Board of Equalization. Property Tax Calendar
3
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 2617 – Collection Generally
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 2621
5
Amador County. Pay/View Property Tax Bill
6
California State Board of Equalization. Supplemental Assessment
7
California State Board of Equalization. Property Tax Savings – Homeowners Exemption
8
California State Board of Equalization. Disabled Veterans Exemption Increases for 2026
9
State Controller’s Office. Property Tax Postponement
10
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19
11
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 Fact Sheet
12
Amador County. Information Concerning Property Tax Assessment – Section: Assessment Appeals
13
California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code RTC 3691
14
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Disaster Relief