Report: Romneys pushed for reduced value on Calif. home, resulting in tax cut

Mitt Romney's home in La Jolla, Calif.

/ Zillow

(CBS News) As Democrats press Mitt Romney to release a more extensive picture of his tax history, a new report from the Los Angeles Times suggests that Romney and his wife Ann made multiple attempts to have the value of one of their multimillion dollar homes reassessed, which allowed them to save on property taxes on the house.

According to the Times, the Romneys paid $12 million in cash for a beach-front house in La Jolla, California, in 2008. Just seven months later, the couple appealed to San Diego County for the house to be reassessed at a value of $6.8 million. A little more than a year later, they amended that appeal to $8.9 million, after hiring an attorney. In the 2010 tax year, the Romneys requested a reduction in value to $7.5 million.

The value of the house was ultimately valued downward by the San Diego County Assessment Appeals Board, though by much less than the Romneys' initial appeal: In 2001, the board reduced the 2009 assessment to $11.4 million, according to the Times, and in 2010 its value was reduced to $10 million.

In 2011, the county automatically reassessed the house to $8.7 million.

As a result of the multiple reductions, the Romneys saved about $109,000 in taxes over four years.

At the time of the Romneys' appeals, the U.S. economy, along with the housing market, was in turmoil - and property values were dropping all over the country. It's not unusual in such cases that homeowners would request a reassessment, or that the county itself would lead the charge in doing so. According to the Times, 250,000 San Diego County homes have been reassessed since the housing market crash.

The information about the Romneys' activities in attempting to have their house reassessed sheds a glimmer of light on the couple's financial history, as Democrats continue to hammer the presidential candidate over his decision to release only two years of tax returns ahead of the November election.

The Romney campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

[cocomann15]

crook saved enough to put his car elevator in on the public's dime... what slime he is....

[Maerzie]

Poor things! They really needed a tax cut! It must be terrible to suffer like that with all the problems of having so much money that you have to pay bills and taxes. It's almost like "normal" people who actually have to WORK for a living and expect to have to pay taxes as one of their adult responsibilities!!

[AttyFAM]

by ad_iudicium August 6, 2012 6:13 PM EDT
Good for Governor Romney, I'm sure he will be as good of a steward of tax payer dollars as he is with his own after he's elected
-----------------------------------------------------------

Zoom. You missed the point. If the county devalues Romney's property from $12M to $7.5M, then there is a revenue deficit in the budget and that has to be made up by those who own much cheaper properties. Their taxes go up because Romney's went down.

[crankyoleman]

Oh bull crap. It has everything to do with the housing market. I've done the same thing myself because the value of my home depreciated after I bought it.

[Ben37221]

Not everyone can hire an attorney to fight city hall to reduce their taxes when they should be paying more.

[inbethlehem]

Hey Willard: Clear this mess up. Release your returns!

[yeoman1521]

@inbethlehem Yall hear that Kristian Stewart cheated on Robbin Pattersin...She went HAAAAAAMMMMM

[Robby33383]

Nobody cares what Romney does with his money. We care what Barrack Hussein does with our money.

[hypnotoad72]

Everybody, this article is about Romney.

If you can tell us what he will do differently than Obama regarding you and the rest of the middle class, let's hear that.

If you can provide no information, then stop whining about Obama.

P.S.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/vp/40575006#40575006

Whether Obama is a sellout or playing chess by co-opting the GOP's policies isn't relevant right now. You needing a reminder about his policies is, since your damning of him happens to damn your own precious party in the process.

Good day.

[retmw1]

ad

When and where has he said he would replace it? Since Obamacare is the same as romneycare what is he going to change? Last I heard him say he was going to repeal it, not a word about replacing it.

[John782011]

Ad So where was the growth after the Bush tax cuts? We should have never hit the death spiral based on your logic. Could it be that the Laffer curve has shwn that the knee is where the tax rates were and not where Mitt wants to take them? Plaes explain what Romney will do to lower spending. Institute an Israeli style healthcare system he praised last week as being so much more efficient than the USA? Oh yeah its single payer and only takes up 8% of their GDP. Or reduce foreign aide at less than 1% of the budget? Please explain where your leader will get his savings and if the laffer curve fails where he will get his revenue.

[nohater]

so romney knows how to protect his assets, make his wealth work for him, can afford a tax attorney. all the things we all try to do even with our limited wealth compared to romney, bill gates, carlos sims, deceased steve jobs, celebs, and et al. the more tax revenue is collected the more politicians, office holders, spend it brainlessly.

[Robby33383]

Nobody cares what Romney does with his money. We care what Barrack Hussein does with our money. Not sure what qualifies Obama to run again. If he was in the corporate world he would have been fired long ago.

[Lindag20]

Only partisan hacks don't care about Romney and his IRS tax returns. So you must be nobody.

[retmw1]

In the corporate world he would have been fired, boy is that a lie. How many Wall St. bankers or CEO's have been fired for running they're business's into the ground?

[LossOfGravity2]

V.I.P. Romney
Sits on a King's Ransom.
And C.E.O. Romney
Can Hide such a Vast Sum.

Loopholes He finds
Using Lawyers & Accountants.
Common folk don't share in kind
But don't make it into a Mountain.

Just trust His Great Highness -
Upscale, Exclusive, and Rich
Marvel at his Business Dealings
So Telltale, Elusive, Bewitched!

You ask, how he did it,
But you don't need to know.
Cause he'll use His Mitt Magic
To make the Deficit Grow!

[hypnotoad72]

Most of us don't and most of us have jobs whose pay hasn't risen for inflation, with more of us going back for higher education as we're told to do (68% of paying jobs require higher education, enough said), and we're not getting any of these breaks.

And don't try to say Romney represents or reflects us. He doesn't.

[wayneonly]

Ad-iudicium, at least Obama says he does not need the tax break that Romney has proposed for himself and his 1%ers. Obama realizes that the REAL job makers ARE the middle class who will be the CUSTOMERS of both big and small business if they can ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. If the 1%ers get the tax breaks they will spend it chasing the next big stock deal or hide it in offshore accounts. Where does that benefit the economy or the middle class?