(a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the assessor shall, upon or prior to completion of the local roll, do either of the following:

(1) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured roll whose property’s full value has increased over its full value for the prior year of the assessed value of that property as it shall appear on the completed local roll.

(2) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured roll, or each assessee on the local secured roll and each assessee on the unsecured roll, of the assessed value of his or her real property or of both his or her real and his or her personal property as it shall appear on the completed local roll.

(b) The information given by the assessor to the assessee pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall include a notification of hearings by the county board of equalization, which shall include the period during which assessment protests will be accepted and the place where they may be filed. The information shall also include an explanation of the stipulation procedure set forth in Section 1607 and the manner in which the assessee may request use of this procedure.

(c) In the case of an increase in a property’s full value that is determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) over the property’s full value determined for the prior year in accordance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 51, the information shall also include the base year value of the property, compounded annually from the base year to the current year by the appropriate inflation factors.

(d) The information shall be furnished by the assessor to the assessee by regular United States mail directed to him or her at his or her latest address known to the assessor. The assessor may choose to accept a written request from the assessee to provide the information by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States mail.

(e) Neither the failure of the assessee to receive the information nor the failure of the assessor to so inform the assessee shall in any way affect the validity of any assessment or the validity of any taxes levied pursuant thereto.

(f) This section shall not apply to annual increases in the valuation of property which reflect the inflation rate, not to exceed 2 percent, pursuant to the authority of subdivision (b) of Section 2 of XIII A of the California Constitution, for purposes of property tax limitation determinations.

(g) This section does not apply to increases in assessed value caused solely by changes in the assessment ratio provided for in Section 401.

(h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1999.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 185, Sec. 4. (SB 1493) Effective January 1, 2011.)