BILL NUMBER: AB 551 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Blakeslee)
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add Section 84751.3 to the Education Code,
relating to community colleges, 97.24 to the Revenue
and Taxation Code, relating to e ducation funding,
and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 551, as amended, Furutani. Community colleges: property tax
revenues.
Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each
fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions
in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally
requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the
total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the
prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that
jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined.
Existing property tax law also reduces the amounts of ad valorem
property tax revenue that would otherwise be annually allocated to
the county, cities, and special districts pursuant to these general
allocation requirements by requiring, for purposes of determining
property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992-93 and
1993-94 fiscal years, that the amounts of property tax revenue deemed
allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and
special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. It
requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and
special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to
the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) in that county for
allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the
county office of education.
Existing law defines an excess tax school entity as an educational
agency for which the amount of the state funding entitlement
determined under certain provisions of existing law is zero.
This bill, commencing with the 2009-10 fiscal year, would reduce
the amount of property tax revenue allocated to each community
college district, except districts meeting the criteria of an excess
tax school entity, as defined, by 25% and require those revenues to
be deposited instead in the county ERAF for allocation to school
districts and county offices of education.
The bill would also require districts meeting the criteria of an
excess tax school entity to decide whether to retain its current
distribution of property tax revenues or participate in the
distribution of property tax revenues provided by this bill.
Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, in calculating each community college district's
revenue level for each fiscal year, to subtract, among other things,
local property tax revenue specified by law for general operating
support, exclusive of bond interest and redemption, from the total
revenues owed.
This bill would require the annual Budget Act to specify the total
local property tax revenue, as defined, for community college
districts upon which the General Fund appropriation for community
college districts is based.
The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges to certify to the Controller the actual property tax revenue
for the prior year.
The bill would require the Controller to transfer funds between
the General Fund and Section B of the State School Fund, as
applicable, based on whether the amount of property tax revenue
received plus any previous amount transferred to Section B of the
State School Fund is greater than or less than the amount specified
in the annual Budget Act. The bill would thereby make an
appropriation. To the extent that the funds appropriated by this bill
are allocated to community college districts for purposes of the
bill, the funds may be applied toward the minimum funding
requirements imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California
Constitution.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 97.24 is added to the
Revenue and Taxation Code , to read:
97.24. (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
chapter, commencing with the 2009-10 fiscal year, the amount of
property tax revenue allocated to each community college district,
except for those districts that in 2008-09 met the definition of an
"excess tax school entity" as defined in subdivision (n) of Section
95, shall not exceed the amount allocated in the 2008-09 fiscal year,
multiplied by 0.75.
(2) The amount of property tax revenues not allocated to a
community college district as a result of this subdivision shall be
deposited in the county Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund and
allocated to school districts and county offices of education.
(3) By December 12, 2009, a community college district that was an
excess tax school entity in the 2008-09 fiscal year shall provide a
written affirmative decision to the Department of Finance to do
either of the following:
(A) Continue to retain its current distribution of property tax
revenues for the 2009-10 fiscal year, and each subsequent fiscal year
thereafter.
(B) Agree to a distribution of property taxes for the district as
described in subdivision (a) of this section for the 2009-10 fiscal
year and each subsequent fiscal year.
(b) (1) This section shall not be construed to increase any
allocations of excess, additional, or remaining funds that would
otherwise have been allocated to cities, counties, cities and
counties, or special districts pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph
(B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Section 97.2 of, clause
(i) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of
Section 97.3 of, or Article 4 (commencing with Section 98) had this
section not been enacted.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, no funds deposited in the
county Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall be distributed to a community college district.
SECTION 1. Section 84751.3 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
84751.3. (a) The annual Budget Act shall specify the total local
property tax revenue (net of excess) for community college districts
upon which the General Fund appropriation for community college
districts is based. For purposes of this section, "total local
property tax revenue" means local property tax revenue as described
in subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 84751, and does not include
the revenue described in subdivision (b) of Section 84751.
(b) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall
certify to the Controller, on or before December 31 of each year, the
actual property tax revenue for the prior year based on information
reported on each district's Annual Financial and Budget Report.
(c) If the total amount of property tax revenue identified in
subdivision (a) is greater than the amount of property tax revenue
identified in subdivision (b) plus any previous amount transferred to
Section B of the State School Fund pursuant to this section for the
same period, the Controller, at the time of the next general
apportionment certification by the chancellor, shall transfer an
amount equal to the difference from the General Fund to Section B of
the State School Fund for the purposes of Section 84750.5. If the
amount of property tax revenue identified in subdivision (b) plus any
previous amount transferred to Section B of the State School Fund
pursuant to this section is greater than the amount of property tax
revenue identified in subdivision (a) for the same period, the
Controller, at the time of the next general apportionment
certification by the chancellor, shall transfer an amount equal to
the difference from Section B of the State School Fund to the General
Fund.