By Brandon HENSLEY

During its Jan. 18 meeting, the Crescenta Valley Town Council had LA County Assessor’s Office special assistant David Gevorkyan speak to councilmembers and the audience about ways homeowners can take advantage of tax exemptions.

Residents can file a “Claim for Homeowners Property Tax Exemption,” which can take off $7,000 from the assessed property’s value, allowing homeowners to save money in taxes. Almost anyone can qualify for this exemption as long as the house in question is the primary residence of the owner.

Gevorkian said that 435,642 homeowners in LA County are not taking advantage of tax exemptions. That translates to about $30 million in savings that people are missing out on.

For Glendale residents, Gevorkian said Glendale residents are not taking advantage of over $400,000 per year. He mentioned that the city council of La Cañada adopted January as Homeowners Exemption Awareness Month. Gevorkian, a Clark Magnet High School graduate, said he was speaking to the CV Town Council as part of the Assessor’s Office community outreach efforts.

There are 6,360 parcels of property in La Crescenta, and 5,517 of them are single-family residences. On average, most of the cities in LA include from 25% to 32% of people who are not taking advantage of the exemption.

“We can assume, that’s a good enough sample, that 30% of CV isn’t taking advantage of that as well,” Gevorkian said.

Someone in the audience asked why is this exemption not just factored in automatically; the answer was that it is not always clear that the home in question is the resident’s primary residence.

For more information, go online to assessor.lacounty.gov, email helpdesk@assessor.lacounty.gov or call (213) 893-1239.

Also at the meeting, GUSD Superintendent Winfred Roberson spoke, and was asked about the ongoing issue of proposed lighting and seating at the CVHS field. Roberson said the district has $37 million to use. It is looking at improving the CV pool, but also at ways to renovate parts of Glendale High and Hoover High schools. When asked whether the district would accept funds from an outside organization for the CV field, Roberson said, “We could, and we would.”

Information was given by the Oldies but Goodies Social Society, a group for older residents in the foothills, that meets on Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon at CV Park, 3901 Dunsmore Ave. The group does gardening, baking, physical fitness and more. For more info, call (818) 249-5940.

The Tiny Tot Program is also held at CV Park, and is for boys and girls from age 3 to 5 where they are assisted in developing motor skills and social and emotional skills. There is arts and crafts, dancing and music. It is $35 per week, and takes place Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The next CV Town Council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley