Find and Pay Your San Diego County Property Tax Bill

This page helps with a property tax need in San Diego County, California, including how to search tax bills, review payment options, check deadlines, and find the right official contact.

The main public tool is San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector WebPayments, which supports secured, unsecured, defaulted, supplemental, and escape tax bill searches.

San Diego County WebPayments

Use search San Diego County property tax bills in WebPayments to look up matching or related tax records. The tool supports several bill and property search paths.

• Assessor Parcel Number
• Supplemental Bill Number
• Escape Bill Number
• Mailing address
• Unsecured Bill Number

For current secured, defaulted, supplemental, or escape bills, search by parcel number or the current mailing address. For unsecured tax bills, use the 4-digit year and 6-digit bill number.

• Open WebPayments and choose the search option that matches the information you have.
• Review the matching or related records shown in the search results.
• Select the bill you want to pay and continue through the shopping cart.
• Enter payor and payment information.
• Complete verification, click “Submit,” and keep the receipt that says “Successful.”

Important: A property may have additional tax bills that do not appear under the search criteria you used.

Payment options and fees

Electronic payment by e-check is the preferred online method because it is free, fast, and secure. To pay by e-check, enter the routing and account numbers from the bottom of a physical check.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover credit cards, and all American Express cards. A 2.19% convenience fee applies to those card payments. Other debit cards, dual-use cards, gift cards, and prepaid cards are not accepted.

If online access fails from a foreign country because of payment server restrictions, the Treasurer-Tax Collector directs taxpayers to mail the payment with a timely postmark or use the credit card phone payment system.

Property tax deadlines and penalties

Secured property taxes are paid in two installments. If a delinquent date falls on a weekend or holiday, payment is due by the close of the next business day.

California law makes the taxpayer responsible for obtaining all tax bills and paying on time. Penalties are not waived because a bill was not received.

Prior-year property tax records

The prior-year property tax records page provides paid secured property tax summaries for information purposes only. It does not include unsecured or defaulted property tax information.

Results reflect paid secured property taxes as they stood on June 30 for the parcel or bill number entered. If no installment was paid in full as of June 30, the search may return “record not found.” Current-year, delinquent, or defaulted taxes should be searched through the online payment system.

Supplemental, unsecured, and defaulted taxes

Supplemental tax bills are separate from annual tax bills and are sent after a reassessment caused by a sale, ownership change, or new construction. They are not sent to a lender for payment, so the property owner is responsible for paying them on time.

Unsecured property taxes apply to property not secured by real estate, such as boats, aircraft, business fixtures, and business personal property. If an unsecured bill is paid with non-guaranteed funds, a 30-day waiting period may apply before release of a certificate of tax lien or DMV vessel registration hold.

Defaulted prior-year secured taxes may qualify for a five-year payment plan when they have been in default for less than five years. The plan does not cover current-year taxes, and current taxes must be paid separately.

Payment plans and penalty cancellation

A five-year payment plan for prior-year defaulted taxes requires a signed contract, at least 20% of the total amount due, all current-year taxes due, and an $89 fee. The annual amount due includes at least 20% of the redemption amount, accrued interest, current-year taxes, and an $85 maintenance fee by April 10 each following year.

Some escape tax bills may qualify for a four-year payment plan if the bill is for a previous fiscal tax year, the total amount due is greater than $500, the agreement is submitted by the stated deadline, and the required payment and setup fee are paid.

Penalty cancellation is limited by state law. Requests must be made in writing or by submitting a completed and signed Request for Cancellation of Penalties form. Responses are generally sent in writing within 4 to 6 weeks, though peak collection periods may take longer.

Special assessments and tax rate information

San Diego County provides separate tools for reviewing special assessments and tax rate information connected to secured tax parcels.

• Use the special assessments by parcel search to view assessed valuation, tax rates, and fixed charge special assessments, including Mello-Roos or CFD items.
• Use the tax rate area search to look up tax rates by Tax Rate Area, city, or school district.
• Use Property Tax Services for tax bill information, fixed charge special assessments, tax rate tools, Community Facilities Districts, and tax roll data files.

Mailing and postmark rules

Property tax payments must be received by the Treasurer-Tax Collector or postmarked by the United States Postal Service by the delinquent date to avoid penalties. If a payment arrives after the delinquent date with a late or missing postmark, it is treated as late.

Online banking payments may be sent by bulk mail with a permit imprint and may not include a postmark. The Treasurer-Tax Collector warns that these payments can take 5 or more business days to arrive.

A Certificate of Mailing is not enough proof that a property tax payment was mailed on time.

San Diego County property tax contacts

Use these official contacts for property tax questions, phone payments, mailing payments, and property tax service questions.

• San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector, San Diego County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Hwy, Room 162, San Diego, CA 92101-2474
  Tax collection questions: (877) 829-4732
  Pay by phone: (855) 829-3773
  International: (619) 236-2424
  Hearing impaired: (877) 735-2929
  Email: [email protected]
• Payment address, San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector, P.O. Box 129009, San Diego, CA 92112
• Property Tax Services, Auditor & Controller, 5500 Overland Avenue, Suite 470, San Diego, CA 92123
  Phone: (858) 694-2901
  Email: [email protected]
  Office hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Assessor, Recorder, County Clerk
  Phone: (619) 531-5556