Do you have to pay your property taxes? Gavin Newsom says he doesn’t want to ‘overpromise’

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he’s in talks with local governments about property taxes due April 10 as the coronavirus pandemic bludgeons the economy, but cautioned that he does not want to “overpromise” relief for taxpayers.

Newsom acknowledged during a news conference Thursday that millions of California homeowners are anxious about paying their taxes next week.

“I deeply recognize that anxiety as someone… who pays those property taxes,” Newsom said. “We’re seeing if there’s ways to soften this… We’re going to see what our options are to help in this moment, but I don’t want to overpromise.”

Counties, cities and other local government groups sent him a letter two weeks ago asking him not to extend the April 10 deadline for homeowners to pay property taxes. Local officials should forgive penalties for those who can’t pay, they argue, but Newsom should keep the overall deadline in place to ensure that they continue to receive essential revenue.

The local governments argue that the more than $140 billion that they receive in property taxes are needed to pay for essential services during the pandemic, including county public health departments, public hospitals and schools.

“Almost all local agencies rely on the property tax for the majority of their general funds,” the groups wrote in the letter. “Delaying such a large infusion of general funds for two to three months would have a serious impact on their ability to provide these services.”

Many homeowners may be unable to afford those taxes because of the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus. Businesses across California have closed to comply with Newsom’s stay-at-home order issued two weeks ago to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 respiratory illness.

Newsom said earlier this week that more than 1.6 million Californians have filed unemployment insurance claims, which the state is scrambling to process.

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Do you have to pay your property taxes? Gavin Newsom says he doesn’t want to ‘overpromise’."