BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 34 X1
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 34 X1 (Budget Committee)
As Amended June 9, 2011
2/3 vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect Immediately
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 3, 2011) |SENATE: |33-0 |(June 11, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(June 15, 2011) | | | |
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SUMMARY : Contains necessary statutory and technical changes
related to the Budget Act of 2011.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Establish the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property
Tax Postponement Fund within the State Treasury and annually
appropriates moneys in the fund for the purposes of paying
costs and disbursements related to the postponement of
property taxes of eligible senior citizens and disabled
citizens.
2)Require the transfer of funds in excess of $10 million that
accumulate in the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens
Property Tax Postponement Fund to the General Fund and deletes
any General Fund appropriation for the program.
3)Require loan repayments relating to the Senior Citizens and
Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law that are not
deposited into the program's impound account to be deposited
directly into the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens
Property Tax Postponement Fund.
4)Establish that loan repayments relating to the Senior Citizens
AB 34 X1
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and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law that are
deposited in the program's impound account are transferred to
the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax
Postponement Fund after a six-month period.
5)Remove language that eliminates the consideration of
applications for the property tax postponement program by the
Controller and allows applications for the property tax
postponement program to be considered beginning July 1, 2012.
6)Add an appropriation allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill expresses the intent of the
Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the 2011
Budget Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : To the extent that loan repayments would not be
transferred to or received by the General Fund in the budget
year 2011-12, resources that would be available to the General
Fund would decrease by an estimated $7-$10 million.
COMMENTS : The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property
Tax Postponement Program (program) was created in 1977. Under
the program, the state paid the property taxes owed to the
county by property owners enrolled in the program. The state
placed a lien on the property for which state funding was used
to pay the property taxes. The lien was released and the state
repaid when the property was sold or transferred.
To be eligible for the program, participants are required to be
at least 62 years old, or disabled or blind. In addition,
income restrictions applied to property owner participants. For
the last effective date of the program prior to its suspension,
property owners with gross household incomes in excess of
$35,500 were ineligible for the program. The program was
suspended in 2009.
The design of the previous program required some loan repayments
to go to the General Fund and some repayments to go to the
program's impound account. These later amounts were transferred
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to the General Fund after six months. Appropriations were made
from the General Fund to pay the postponed property taxes, as
opposed to the revolving fund concept embodied in this bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
The Seniors Citizens' Property Tax Postponement Law was
enacted beginning for the 1977-1978 fiscal year to give
property tax relief to seniors. It was subsequently
expanded to included blind and disabled persons. The law
was suspended in 2009 due to the realities of the state's
budget. AB X1 34 would repeal the suspension so that
postponement claims can once again be accepted by the
Controller. In addition, the bill would establish a new
fund in the State Treasury and provide a continuous
appropriation for the Controller to pay postponement
claims.
Given the very significant cuts to state and local core
public services that are occurring, the state cannot
afford the $19.3 million that the Department of Finance
estimates this bill would cost during the 2011-2012 fiscal
year or the continuing estimated annual revenue cost of
$30 million.
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Ibele / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099
FN: 0001593