Napa Co. Assessor May Owe $20K In Back Taxes, Grand Jury Finds

NAPA COUNTY, CA — A Napa County grand jury recommended the county file suit against longtime Napa County Assessor John Tuteur to recover some $20,000 in back taxes Tuteur and his wife may owe for capital gains from a cell tower located on their Napa property. The grand jury decided that taxes on the property at 1393 Green Valley Road owned by Tuteur and his wife, Mary Holman Tuteur, were to be assessed by capitalizing the income.

According to the grand jury’s ruling filed Thursday, March 8, the Tuteurs have owned the property since 1979 and between 1992 and 2016, leased it to the Transmission Agency of Northern California for use as a cell-tower site.

Under tax code for the type of lease contract and California Board of Equalization procedures, cell-tower rental income from the site was to be capitalized for real property tax assessment purposes, the grand jury found.

The grand jury ruling states:

“For tax years 2008-2015 and possibly earlier, the Napa County assessor failed to capitalize the cell-tower rental income correctly, such that the property was under assessed.

“In 2016, Tuteur in his capacity as assessor discovered the error and attempted to correct the assessment for 2016. But the assessor failed to correct the error for 2008-2015 and to levy an ‘escape’ assessment as required by Revenue and Taxation code 531. The taxes were under-assessed for those years in the aggregate amount of approximately $20,000.

“...In the judgment of the grand jury, there may be due to the county from the Tuteurs taxes in the approximate amount of $20,000 for those years, plus any applicable interest and penalties.”

The grand jury ruled that the Napa County District Attorney — or the California Attorney General in the event the DA finds a conflict of interest — should file a lawsuit against the Tuteurs to recover the monies jurors believe the Tuteurs owe the county.

Tuteur released a statement Thursday addressing the grand jury’s findings.

“I wanted the staff and the public to be aware of the action taken today by the Napa County Grand Jury regarding alleged underassessment of property owned by our family,” Tuteur said.

Tuteur also said he wanted to clarify that the “challenged assessment was done by staff working independently” and that it was reviewed by the county’s chief appraiser.

“I welcome the review of this assessment by the State Board of Equalization or qualified staff from the Assessor Division of any California county,” Tuteur said.

Napa County spokeswoman Kristi Jourdan said the Napa County District Attorney has contacted the California Attorney General’s Office regarding the matter to "ensure transparency and avoid an appearance of conflict."

"This means the California Attorney General’s Office has taken the place of the DA in this matter," Jourdan said.

Tuteur has served in Napa County politics since 1973 when he was elected county supervisor. Since 1987, he has served multiple terms as assessor-recorder-county clerk.

The grand jury’s recommendation that the county file suit to recover the monies was made under California law — specifically, Penal Code 932, which states: “After investigating the books and accounts of the various officials of the county, as provided in the foregoing sections of this article, the grand jury may order the district attorney of the county to institute suit to recover any money that, in the judgment of the grand jury, may from any cause be due the county. The order of the grand jury, certified by the foreman of the grand jury and filed with the clerk of the superior court of the county, shall be full authority for the district attorney to institute and maintain any such suit.”

Photo credit: hafakot/ Shutterstock.com