Preservation Tax Break Idea Gains More Converts

The owners of a charming white cottage enveloped in colorful roses at the north end of San Juan Capistrano's are among the latest to seek reduced property tax bills under the Mills Act.

On Tuesday the city's Cultural Heritage Commission advised the City Council to approve two requests to enroll in the Mills Act, under which landowners who volunteer to preserve their historic homes are rewarded with discounted property taxes.

In Orange County, properties assessed under California's Mills Act typically see a reduction ranging from 15 to 60 percent. If the City Council approves enrollment of the Los Rios parcel and a second one on Andres Pico Road, the hit to city coffers would range between $200 and $790 a year, San Juan Capistrano's Historic Preservation Manager Teri Delcamp estimated.

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Rick Warkentien and Deborah Evans-Warkentien purchased the Los Rios Street cottage four years ago.

"I'm a history buff, a history teacher, a third generation Californian, I can’t be more excited to be a part of this community—but that being said, it’s expensive," said Evans-Warkentien of maintaining a historic home.

Known as the Salvador Labat House, it was built sometime near the turn of the 20th Century. Labat was a French Basque immigrant and butcher who owned Labat's Meat Market on Camino Capistrano, where the current-day Franciscan Plaza is located, according to city documents.

If Mills Act enrollment is approved Nov. 15 by the City Council, the Salvador Labat House and the Andres Pico Road property—known as the Albert Pryor Jr. House—the new property assessments will be in effect next spring, Delcamp said.

The Pryor house is one of several in the Mission Flats neighborhood that was built by Fred Stroschein. By 1930, however, the two-bedroom, one-bath Spanish Colonial Revival was owned and lived in by Albert Pryor Jr., according to city documents.

"The tile work is beautiful, it's very well maintained," said commissioner Jan Siegel.

Although the city would see slightly less revenue as a result of the new enrollments, Delcamp said the impact is "insignificant in light of the public benefit from preservation" of the historic structures.

To learn more about the Mills Act, click here.