Scotts Valley, CA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Scotts Valley home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Scotts Valley house

$19,642a year · $1,637 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $1,105,700; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

Shopping for home insurance?

Insurers charge very different prices for the same house and coverage. California's free premium survey lists each insurer's price.

Compare insurers' prices

A Scotts Valley house at the typical market value ($1,105,700) costs about $19,600 a year: $13,340 property tax and charges, $1,100 water, $370 trash, $3,340 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 29, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Switch to the 10-gal garbage cart cartUp to $125 a year
Your cart costs $31 a month; the smallest costs $21. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Call GreenWaste Recovery customer service at 831-768-9505.
Homeowners' exemption: $7,000 off taxable value
The California Constitution provides a $7,000 reduction in the taxable value for a qualifying owner-occupied home.
How: The home must have been the owner's principal residence on January 1.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartEach garbage cart includes one recyclables cart and one organics cart.

Value before exemptionsEnter the net taxable value from your tax bill: under Prop 13 it is often well below the Census market median.

I live here and have the Homeowners' exemptionSomeone on the title is 65 or older

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,492, California statewide average, NAIC data for 2022 as published by the Insurance Information Institute.

Earthquake insurance, a yearSeparate from home insurance. Most owners don't have it.

Your use

Water, thousands of gallons a month

On your water bill. A typical house uses 5,000–8,000 gallons.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your 3CE generation with PG&E delivery bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Jan 1, 2027in 58 daysThe Scotts Valley Water District's new water rates take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Feb 1in 89 daysThe second installment is due February 1 and becomes delinquent April 10.
Nov 1The first installment of property taxes is due November 1 and becomes delinquent December 10.

Who serves this house

Water: Scotts Valley Water District; Monthly rate schedule, potable water, 5/8" meter; volumetric rates are per 100 gallons.
Property tax: 1.12% of value; 2026-27 tax year, Santa Cruz County (tax rate area 04-001)
Garbage: GreenWaste Recovery; The city contracts with GreenWaste Recovery for refuse and recycling collection.
Sewer: City of Scotts Valley; Residential customers pay for wastewater through their annual property tax bill.
Electricity: Central Coast Community Energy (3CE); 3CE lists Scotts Valley among its communities.
Gas: PG&E; Schedule G-1 applies everywhere within PG&E's natural gas Service Territory.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

New rates: The board voted 4-0 on Oct. 8, 2026 to adopt new water rates that take effect Jan. 1, 2027 and increase incrementally each year for five years.
Typical use: The district bases the single-family household monthly cost on an average of 3,600 gallons used in a month.

Other CA cities

Cupertino home costs Sunnyvale home costs Mountain View home costs Alameda home costs Anaheim home costs Apple Valley home costs Carlsbad home costs Cathedral City home costs Fairfield home costs Fountain Valley home costs Fresno home costs Garden Grove home costs Huntington Beach home costs Irvine home costs Mission Viejo home costs Moreno Valley home costs Newport Beach home costs Norwalk home costs Palmdale home costs Rancho Cucamonga home costs San Diego home costs Santa Monica home costs Simi Valley home costs Vacaville home costs Vista home costs West Hollywood home costs Westminster home costs Yorba Linda home costs Manhattan Beach home costs Corona home costs Fontana home costs Oceanside home costs Montebello home costs La Quinta home costs Tracy home costs El Cerrito home costs Hemet home costs Downey home costs San Marcos home costs Jurupa Valley home costs West Covina home costs San Clemente home costs Pittsburg home costs Hesperia home costs Petaluma home costs Oakland home costs Fremont home costs El Monte home costs Camarillo home costs Santa Clara home costs Arcadia home costs Hawthorne home costs Beaumont home costs Rohnert Park home costs Rialto home costs Coachella home costs Ventura home costs Menifee home costs South Gate home costs Danville home costs Orange home costs Huntington Park home costs Redding home costs Daly City home costs Colton home costs Murrieta home costs Chino Hills home costs Walnut home costs Monrovia home costs Burbank home costs Rosemead home costs Atwater home costs Larkspur home costs San Gabriel home costs Pleasant Hill home costs Indio home costs Ontario home costs Inglewood home costs San Francisco home costs Eastvale home costs Costa Mesa home costs Hercules home costs Palm Desert home costs Perris home costs Manteca home costs Paso Robles home costs Novato home costs San Luis Obispo home costs Clayton home costs Berkeley home costs Oxnard home costs Moraga home costs Livermore home costs Lawndale home costs Diamond Bar home costs San Leandro home costs La Mesa home costs Thousand Oaks home costs Pleasanton home costs Suisun City home costs Chino home costs Bellflower home costs Tustin home costs Santa Barbara home costs Pacific Grove home costs San Juan Capistrano home costs Adelanto home costs Hollister home costs Malibu home costs Alhambra home costs Santa Clarita home costs Morgan Hill home costs Seaside home costs Placentia home costs Fullerton home costs La Habra home costs Union City home costs Bell Gardens home costs Carson home costs South Pasadena home costs Windsor home costs Placerville home costs Highland home costs Clovis home costs Redlands home costs Ridgecrest home costs Los Alamitos home costs Lathrop home costs El Centro home costs Azusa home costs Santee home costs Palo Alto home costs La Verne home costs Woodland home costs Twentynine Palms home costs San Anselmo home costs Buena Park home costs Dublin home costs Antioch home costs Saratoga home costs Merced home costs Moorpark home costs Roseville home costs Ripon home costs Lake Forest home costs Escondido home costs San José home costs Concord home costs San Mateo home costs Laguna Beach home costs Encinitas home costs Stockton home costs Chico home costs Burlingame home costs Bakersfield home costs San Pablo home costs Los Gatos home costs Rancho Santa Margarita home costs Glendora home costs Campbell home costs Newark home costs Atascadero home costs Cudahy home costs Yucaipa home costs Seal Beach home costs Grover Beach home costs Corte Madera home costs Grass Valley home costs Grand Terrace home costs West Sacramento home costs Eureka home costs Half Moon Bay home costs Hayward home costs San Marino home costs La Palma home costs Benicia home costs Folsom home costs South El Monte home costs Shasta Lake home costs Orinda home costs Modesto home costs Claremont home costs Tulare home costs Salinas home costs Laguna Woods home costs Menlo Park home costs Marina home costs Anderson home costs Arroyo Grande home costs Canyon Lake home costs Compton home costs Brentwood home costs Palm Springs home costs East Palo Alto home costs Poway home costs Pinole home costs Rancho Palos Verdes home costs Visalia home costs Shafter home costs El Cajon home costs San Ramon home costs Port Hueneme home costs Hermosa Beach home costs Clearlake home costs Chula Vista home costs San Jacinto home costs National City home costs San Rafael home costs Yucca Valley home costs Selma home costs Santa Ana home costs Riverside home costs San Bernardino home costs Santa Rosa home costs Elk Grove home costs Rocklin home costs Pomona home costs Los Angeles home costs Victorville home costs Richmond home costs Santa Maria home costs Rancho Cordova home costs Redwood City home costs Milpitas home costs Lake Elsinore home costs Davis home costs South San Francisco home costs Porterville home costs Santa Cruz home costs Hanford home costs Monterey Park home costs Lincoln home costs Vallejo home costs Citrus Heights home costs Napa home costs Lodi home costs Gilroy home costs Lynwood home costs Turlock home costs Watsonville home costs Cypress home costs Los Banos home costs Aliso Viejo home costs Brea home costs Lompoc home costs Stanton home costs Calexico home costs Wildomar home costs Montclair home costs Foster City home costs Goleta home costs Los Altos home costs Lemon Grove home costs Wasco home costs Soledad home costs Riverbank home costs Reedley home costs Patterson home costs Desert Hot Springs home costs Banning home costs Galt home costs Millbrae home costs Greenfield home costs Dixon home costs Coronado home costs Blythe home costs Red Bluff home costs Avenal home costs California City home costs Kingsburg home costs Carpinteria home costs Solana Beach home costs Healdsburg home costs Sonoma home costs Farmersville home costs Rio Vista home costs Exeter home costs South Lake Tahoe home costs Ukiah home costs Livingston home costs Newman home costs Commerce home costs Corcoran home costs Oroville home costs Albany home costs Chowchilla home costs Emeryville home costs

How these numbers are made

Tax: 2026-27 rates for tax rate area 04-001 (Scotts Valley city, Scotts Valley USD and Cabrillo College bonds) at 1.120825%; 54 of the city's rate areas show this same total. No Scotts Valley city levy beyond the 1% appears in the rate book.
Water: Scotts Valley Water District rates effective 1/1/2026 for the 5/8" meter; per-100-gallon rates times 10 give per-1,000-gallon rates. New rates adopted Oct. 2026 start 1/1/2027. Typical use is the district's 3,600 gallons a month.
Sewer: the city's flat monthly single-family wastewater fee of $71.53 (the FY 2025-26 charge, the last adopted rate found; the 2026 LAFCO review projected about 4% more from 7/1/2026, roughly $74.40, but no adopted FY 2026-27 rate is published) times 12 is collected on the property tax bill.
Garbage: 32-gallon cart is the default; each garbage cart includes recyclables and organics carts. Electricity: 3CE E-1 comparison total plus PG&E base services charge; gas: baseline rate plus the public purpose surcharge on all use.
Value is the Census median market value; Prop 13 assessed values are often lower. Insurance is the 2022 statewide NAIC average.
Gas fixed is 0: G-1 lists only per-therm Procurement and Transportation charges plus a $0.13151/day minimum transportation floor, which typical use exceeds.
Gas: G-1 lists no fixed monthly charge, only a $0.13151/day minimum transportation charge; fixed left unset.
energy.gas.fixed=4.0: G-1 minimum transportation charge $0.13151/day x ~30.4 days.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Scotts Valley compares

A typical Scotts Valley house against the 285 California cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Scotts Valley	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.12%	1.13%	lower than 157 of the other 284 California cities we cover
Water	$1,100	$927	higher than 206 of the other 284 California cities we cover
Trash	$373	$452	lower than 205 of the other 267 California cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$3,336	$3,421	lower than 190 of the other 284 California cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,492	$1,492	lower than 1 of the other 272 California cities we cover
Total	$19,642	$14,432	higher than 235 of the other 284 California cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $373 a year for the standard cart, lower than 205 of the other 267 California cities we cover. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.

Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $373 a year for the standard cart, lower than 205 of the other 267 California cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Scotts Valley house costs

What is the property tax rate in Scotts Valley?

About 1.12% of the value before exemptions a year (2026-27 tax year, Santa Cruz County (tax rate area 04-001)), plus flat charges on the same bill (Sewer $858, Measure V Scotts Valley Unified School District parcel tax $168).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Scotts Valley?

About $6,552 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homeowners' exemption, including $1,026 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in Scotts Valley?

About $92 a month for water at typical use (4,000 gallons a month) on Scotts Valley Water District.

How much does trash pickup cost in Scotts Valley?

$21 to $93 a month, depending on the trash cart size (10-gal garbage cart, 20-gal garbage cart, 32-gal garbage cart, 64-gal garbage cart, 96-gal garbage cart).

When is property tax due in Scotts Valley?

Feb 1: The second installment is due February 1 and becomes delinquent April 10. Nov 1: The first installment of property taxes is due November 1 and becomes delinquent December 10.

How much does a house in Scotts Valley cost to run each year?

All California cities All cities