Title
Modernizing the County’s Property Assessment System and Protecting Property Tax Revenue (Districts: All)
End
Overview
The County of San Diego (County) and more than 165 districts rely on annual property tax revenue to balance operating budgets and fund critical services. In 2026, property taxes generated over $8.1 billion in revenue for schools, municipalities, the County, and special districts.
The County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk (ARCC) is the 5th largest assessment jurisdiction in the United States, administering the annual assessment of 1,022,998 secured parcels and 71,067 unsecured business and personal property accounts. ARCC relies on a property assessment system that supports the administration of approximately 1.1 million real and business property assessments.
The current assessment system operates on outdated mainframe technology with legacy applications. It is becoming increasingly untenable and financially unjustifiable to maintain this system due to rising maintenance costs and numerous unsupported legacy applications. Modernizing the assessment system is critical to maintaining operational continuity, strengthening cybersecurity, improving taxpayer service, and ensuring that the County and ARCC can continue to meet its statutory responsibilities.
The proposed Assessment System Replacement Project will replace the existing assessment system with a modern, supported solution and includes data migration, system integration, security enhancements, employee training, organizational change management, implementation services, and ongoing vendor support. The new system will improve operational efficiency, increase system resiliency, reduce long-term maintenance and operational risks, and position ARCC to adapt to future legislative and business requirements.
Today’s action requests that the Board authorize the Department of Purchasing and Contracting to issue a competitive solicitation for the procurement and implementation of a modern property assessment system.
Body
Recommendation by the Assessor, Recorder, County Clerk (ARCC):
1) In accordance with Section 401, Article XXIII of the County Administrative Code, authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, to issue a competitive procurement or procurements for the acquisition, implementation, licensing, and ongoing support of a modern Property Assessment System, including professional services for implementation, data migration, system integration, organizational change management, training, post-implementation support, and related services, and upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, and contingent upon identification of funding and inclusion in a future Operational Plan, award contract(s), and amend the contract(s) as needed to reflect changes to services and funding, subject to the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), as necessary, to reflect changes to services, funding and contract terms.
1) End
Equity Impact Statement
The proposed Assessment System Replacement Project will enhance equitable access to property assessment services by providing a modern, stable, secure, and accessible technology platform for all County property owners. Modernization will improve timeliness, accuracy, and transparency of assessment information, strengthen language and accessibility capabilities, expand digital service options, and reduce barriers associated with manual and paper-based processes.
These improvements will help ensure that taxpayers, regardless of their community, location, or background, receive consistent, transparent, and equitable access to property assessment services while supporting the County's commitment to the fair and equitable administration of California property tax laws. Enhanced data collection and analytics will also improve Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s (ARCC) ability to respond to emerging issues affecting property values and communities, including environmental impacts such as the Tijuana River sewage crisis, flooding, and fires, while supporting the administration of evolving tax relief programs and future legislative requirements.
By improving operational efficiency and customer service, the new system will also provide ARCC employees with modern tools that streamline workflows, reduce reliance on outdated legacy applications, improve training and knowledge transfer, and enable more consistent service delivery to residents, businesses, and public agencies. Collectively, these improvements advance the County's Strategic Plan through enhanced transparency, operational excellence, innovation, and equitable access to public services.
Sustainability Impact Statement
The proposed Assessment System Replacement Project supports the County’s commitment to sustainability by modernizing a critical business system with a secure, resilient, and commercially supported cloud-based technology platform. Transitioning from aging mainframe and on-premises infrastructure to a cloud environment will improve energy efficiency, optimize computing resources, and reduce reliance on legacy hardware and data center infrastructure. The project will also expand digital workflows, electronic records, and online taxpayer services, reduce paper consumption, and minimize the need for in-person transactions where appropriate.
Beyond environmental benefits, the project promotes the long-term sustainability of County operations by improving system resiliency, reducing technology obsolescence, and providing a scalable platform capable of adapting to future business, regulatory, and legislative requirements. By strengthening operational continuity, responsibly managing County resources, and supporting efficient service delivery, the project advances the County’s Strategic Plan and its commitment to sustainable, resilient, and innovative government operations.
Fiscal Impact
Funds for this request are not included in the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Operational Plan in the Assessor/ Recorder/ County Clerk. If approved, today’s action would result in no additional costs or revenue in Fiscal Year 2026-27. There is no change in staff years.
There would be estimated costs of approximately $56.7 million in Fiscal Year 2027-28 for the implementation of the new assessment system, which is anticipated to be supported by long-term financing (bonds). Bond financing is contingent upon the approval of future Operational Plans and Board approval of the financing. Ongoing costs of approximately $4.2 million per year for hosting, licensing, and operations and maintenance are anticipated to begin in Fiscal Year 2029-30. Bond payments and the ongoing annual costs are anticipated to be funded primarily through a combination of SB 2557 Property Tax Administration Revenue, existing General Purpose Revenue made available through efficiencies and decommissioning of obsolete systems, and General Purpose Revenue growth from the collection of additional property taxes due to a more effective assessment system, as well as some one-time amounts funded by General Fund fund balance, which includes Fiscal Year 2025-26 Unlocked Reserves, during the transition from the legacy systems to the new system.
The new assessment system is also anticipated to achieve significant cost avoidance by eliminating the need to continue the operation and maintenance of a physical data center necessary to retain the legacy systems. The final project and ongoing annual costs, once determined and subject to the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer, and revenues will be included for consideration in future Operational Plans.
Business Impact Statement
N/A
Advisory Board Statement
The Debt Advisory Committee, composed of the Chief Financial Officer, the Auditor and Controller, and the Treasurer-Tax Collector, concurs with this recommendation.
Background
The County of San Diego (County) Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk (ARCC) relies on a property assessment system that has supported the administration of California's property tax laws for more than three decades. Over time, the system has expanded to include numerous interconnected applications and custom-developed solutions supporting property assessment, assessment appeals, exemptions, ownership changes, mapping, business personal property, tax roll production, and other critical business functions. While these systems enabled ARCC to successfully administer one of the largest assessment rolls in California, they are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain. It is also anticipated that a new system would achieve significant cost avoidance by eliminating the need for the County to continue the operation and maintenance of costly physical data centers that would have been necessary to retain the existing legacy systems.
The current environment relies on legacy mainframe technology, legacy applications, custom programming, and complex system interfaces that require specialized technical expertise to support daily operations. As these technologies continue to age, the availability of skilled resources capable of maintaining them has significantly declined, increasing operational risk and reducing the ARCC's ability to adapt to evolving business needs and legislative requirements. In addition, the existing system architecture limits opportunities to automate manual processes, improve data accessibility, strengthen cybersecurity, and deliver the modern digital services expected by today's taxpayers and County employees.
Each year, ARCC administers approximately 1.1 million real and business property assessments, producing the local property tax roll that generates more than $8 billion in annual property tax revenue supporting schools, cities, special districts, and essential County services. Given the critical role the assessment system plays in stabilizing this revenue, continued reliance on aging technology presents an increasing operational and financial risk to the County.
Modern assessment systems have evolved significantly. They have become much more affordable and are now successfully supporting assessment operations in numerous California counties. These solutions incorporate industry best practices, provide enhanced security and resiliency, reduce dependence on custom programming, and offer ongoing vendor-supported enhancements that help agencies remain compliant with changing statutory and business requirements. A modern assessment system will improve operational efficiency, strengthen business continuity, enhance customer service, and position ARCC to meet future workload demands while maintaining high levels of service to the public.
The recommended action authorizes the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting to issue a competitive solicitation for the procurement and implementation of a modern property assessment system Conducting an open procurement will allow ARCC to evaluate qualified vendors, identify the solution that best meets the County's operational and statutory requirements, and secure the best value combination of functionality, implementation expertise, long-term support, and overall costs.
Linkage to the County of San Diego Strategic Plan
This action supports the County of San Diego 2026-2031 Strategic Plan, with a focus on the Empower Initiative, by modernizing a critical County business system that strengthens operational excellence, transparency, innovation, and customer service. Replacing ARCC’s aging property assessment system with a modern, integrated platform will provide employees with timely, reliable, and accessible information to support informed decision-making, improve accountability, and enhance continuity of operations. The project will also expand digital services, improve customer experience for property owners, and position the County and ARCC to deliver efficient, secure, and resilient property assessment services while responsibly stewarding public resources and supporting future innovation.
Respectfully submitted,
Jordan Z. Marks
Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk
Attachment(s)
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