The assessed valuation of properties in Ceres rose by 9.65 percent in the 2013-14 value of property determined by the Stanislaus County assessor's office.

The county stated that assessed valuation rose from $2,000,682,638 in the 2012-13 assessment year to $2,193,787,136.

Stanislaus County Assessor Dave Cogdill announced that the county assessment totaled $35.13 billion. This is an increase of more than $1.6 billion. The 4.94% increase for reflects the first increase in county assessed value since the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The current roll reflects activity occurring during 2012. The existing state of the local real estate market resulted in the Assessor's Office reviewing the majority of property assessments in Stanislaus County. Last year Stanislaus County had the highest percentage of properties receiving a lowered assessed value compared to all the other counties in California at 59.1%. This year that percentage dropped to 51%.

The assessed valuation is expected to extract $350 million in tax monies from property owners. The county alone could reap an extra $4.5 million in the higher valuation.

The assessed valuation in the other communities in order of greatest percentage to the least were:

Hughson, 10.78 percent increase, from $315.2 million to $349.2 million;

Waterford, 6.55 percent, from $288.1 million to $306.9 million;

Riverbank, 6.2 percent, from $1.18 billion to $1.26 billion;

Newman, 6.0 percent, from $425.3 million to $450.8 million;

Modesto, 5.89 percent, from $11.5 billion to $12.2 billion;

Patterson, 5.7 percent, from $1.2 billion to $1.26 billion;

Turlock, 4.45 percent, from $4.4 billion to $4.58 billion;

Oakdale, 2.47 percent, from $1.53 billion to $1.57 billion.

Property in the rural unincorporated area of Stanislaus County rose 3.12 percent, from $10.66 billion to $10.99 billion.

Two years ago, the County Board of Supervisors approved the Assessor's request to notify taxpayers of changes in their respective Assessed Values electronically. This change has saved the county (taxpayers) in excess of $25,000 annually. The valuation information can now be accessed via the Assessors website at http://qa.co.stanislaus.ca.us/AssessorWeb/public/ValueNotice-Search.jsp.