SACRAMENTO – The total value of state-assessed and county-assessed property declined to $4.371 trillion for 2010-11, a drop of $78.2 billion (1.8 percent) from the previous year, Board of Equalization Chairwoman Betty T. Yee announced Thursday.

This is the second consecutive year-to-year decline in the statewide total, and the second decline since the BOE began keeping records in 1933.

The value of county-assessed property fell by $81.1 billion (1.9 percent) to $4.292 trillion. The value of state-assessed property, mainly privately owned public utilities and railroads, totaled $79.0 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion (3.8 percent).

Year-to-year percentage changes ranged from a high of a 4.6 percent gain in Kern County to a low of an 11.9 percent decline in Calaveras County.

The increase in Kern County is largely related to oil and gas assessments (which comprise about one-third of the county’s assessment roll) and was driven by higher oil prices, the addition of new reserves, and new construction.

Forty-eight counties posted year-to-year declines, with nine of them declining by five percent or more. Only two counties (Kern and San Francisco) grew by more than 2 percent.

The assessed valuation in California’s 15 coastal counties (which account for nearly 60 percent of total assessed valuation) fell 1.1 percent. In contrast, the assessed valuation in the 43 inland counties fell 2.8 percent, about 50 percent greater than the statewide average.

The decline in assessed valuation was especially concentrated in the Central Valley. Assessed values dropped by 4.2 percent in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, and 3.3 percent in both the Greater Sacramento Area, and the remainder of the Sacramento Valley.

Influenced by the 4.6 percent growth experienced by Kern County, assessed value actually grew by 1.4 percent in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Southern California declined 1.9 percent, roughly in line with the statewide figure. The drop was milder in the San Francisco Bay Area (1.3 percent).

Of the 12 counties with rolls exceeding $100 billion, only San Francisco (4.3 percent) posted an increase in assessed valuation.

The assessed valuation in the other 11 counties declined: Riverside County (-4.4 percent), followed by San Bernardino (-4.3 percent), Contra Costa (-3.0 percent), Santa Clara (-2.4 percent), Sacramento (-1.8 percent), Alameda (-1.6 percent), San Mateo (-1.6 percent), San Diego (-1.5 percent), Orange (-0.5 percent) and Ventura (-0.3 percent). Los Angeles County, with the largest assessment roll at $1.063 trillion, declined by 1.8 percent, down $19.8 billion over 2009-10.

For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.