BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1766| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1766 Author: Gaines (R) and Logue (R) Amended: 8/17/10 in Senate Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 3-0, 6/23/10 AYES: Wolk, Alquist, Padilla NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Ashburn SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 11-0, 8/12/10 AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno, Price, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/24/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Disaster assistance: 49 Fire: County of Placer SOURCE : Placer County Board of Supervisors DIGEST : This bill adds the wildfires that began in Placer County on August 30, 2009 (49 Fire) to the list of disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local property tax losses, beneficial homeowners' property tax exemption treatment, and special "carry forward" treatment of excess disaster losses. ANALYSIS : This bill: CONTINUED AB 1766 Page 2 1. Provides a mechanism for reimbursing Placer County for property tax losses resulting from the reassessment of properties damaged by the 49 Fire. 2. Provides that any dwelling that qualified for a homeowners' property tax exemption before August 30, 2009, that was damaged or destroyed by the 49 Fire, and that has not changed ownership since the 49 Fire, shall not be denied a homeowners' exemption solely because that dwelling was temporarily damaged or destroyed, or was being reconstructed by the owner, or was temporarily uninhabited as a result of restricted access. 3. Provides that any taxpayer's excess disaster loss resulting from the 49 Fire shall be carried forward to each of the five taxable years following the taxable year for which the loss is claimed. However, if there is any excess disaster loss remaining after this five-year period, then the applicable percentage of that excess disaster loss shall be carried forward to each of the next 10 taxable years. 4. Conditions reimbursements to local governments for losses from assessment reductions resulting from fire disasters that occur after January 1, 2011 upon a county demonstrating the following: (a) provision of adequate structural fire protection services in state responsibility areas, (b) compliance with existing fire prevention requirements in very high fire hazard severity zones, and (c) the county has a fire risk reduction public education program if it has land designated as a very high fire hazard severity zone within its jurisdiction. This provision would only apply to future fire disasters, but Placer County may already meet these requirements. Comments The 49 Fire . On August 30, 2009, a wildfire started in Placer County. That same day, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency, noting that the fire had burned hundreds of acres, destroyed several homes and commercial structures, and forced hundreds of AB 1766 Page 3 people to be evacuated. Related Legislation AB 1662 (Portantino), 2009-10 Session, provides similar disaster relief in connection with certain wildfires that occurred in Los Angeles and Monterey Counties. The bill is pending in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. AB 1690 (Chesbro), 2009-10 Session, provides similar disaster relief in connection with the recent earthquake that struck Humboldt County. The bill is pending in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. AB 2136 (V. Manuel Perez), 2009-10 Session, provides similar disaster relief in connection with the earthquake that struck Imperial County on April 4, 2010. The bill is pending in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund Property tax reimbursement $140 General* Homeowner's exemption $3 annually until homes are rebuilt General Disaster loss carryover $8 (FY 2009-10) General * Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties (NOTE: This Fund is continuously appropriated, therefore, requiring an allocation for this purpose constitutes an appropriation.) SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/10) Placer County Board of Supervisors (source) California Professional Firefighters AB 1766 Page 4 California Special Districts Association California State Association of Counties Regional Council of Rural Counties ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada, John A. Perez NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Evans, Hall, Hernandez, Knight, Nava, Saldana, Villines, Vacancy DLW:mw 8/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****