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Assessed property values may drop

For the first time in recent memory, the county Assessor's Office is projecting a decline in assessed property values in San Mateo County over the budget year that began July 1.

Assessed property values as a whole are expected to drop by about 1.4 percent. It would be the first such decline in more than 10 years. Overall assessed values in the county have risen in each of the previous 13 years, according to data from the Assessor's Office website.

That trend is expected to continue, just barely, in Menlo Park and Portola Valley, but not so in Atherton or Woodside, where values are expected to drop very slightly, according to the latest projections.

The round number for all four communities is 1 percent — in projected decreases for Atherton and Woodside, and increases for Menlo Park and Portola Valley.

Over the previous 13 years, data at the Assessor's Office website shows Atherton, Woodside, Menlo Park and Portola Valley averaged annual increases of 11, 8, 9 and 9 percent, respectively.

The county's average increase was 7 percent over that time.