Unencumbered by the thought process!

The total assessed value of Sacramento County’s property tax rolls is $131.6 billion — $9 billion less than in the last tax year, according to Assessor Ken Stieger.

The 6.4 percent drop, one year after a 15 percent increase in value, reflects the declining real estate values in the region. This is the first time the tax roll value has fallen since Proposition 13, which puts a limit on the increase in property taxes, was passed in 1978.

The Assessor’s Office reduced the assessed values on 170,000 homes under 1978’s Proposition 8, which authorized assessment reductions when the fair market value is less than the base value under Prop 13. Most of those decreases, which were between 10 percent and 50 percent, were on homes bought after 2002. The reductions will show on property owner’s October 2009 tax bill.

Properties with assessments that were reduced under Prop 8 will be reviewed every year to ensure their value remains below the Prop 13 base value. When the real estate market recovers, the property will again be assessed under Prop 13.

About 230,000 parcels in the county won’t receive assessment reductions.

Property owners can find their updated assessed value information on the assessor’s Web site, assessor.saccounty.net, after Monday.