Facts: A property owner records a parcel map of their undeveloped land showing one lot. The county tax assessor divides the owner’s land into two lots on the assessor’s map used for tax assessment purposes. The county bills the owner for both lots on the assessor’s map and the owner pays the tax for both lots.
Claim: The owner seeks a tax refund from the county, claiming the county tax assessor made a mistake and billed them for a nonexistent lot since it does not appear in the owner’s parcel map.
Counterclaim: The county seeks to avoid a tax refund to the owner, claiming the taxes were not incorrectly billed since the parcel map and the assessor’s map serve different purposes and do not have to match.
Holding: A California court of appeals holds the owner is not entitled to a refund of the taxes paid on the second lot since parcel maps and assessor’s maps serve different purposes and the assessor’s map clearly describes the entirety of the owner’s land for tax purposes, despite the discrepancy between the maps. [Cafferkey v. City and County of San Francisco (May 12, 2015) _____ CA4th______]
