BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 188|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 188
Author: Block (D), et al.
Amended: 6/29/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 9-0, 7/6/11
AYES: Wolk, Huff, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hancock, Hernandez,
Kehoe, La Malfa, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Property tax exemption: principal residence:
veterans and their unmarried surviving spouses
SOURCE : State Board of Equalization
DIGEST : This bill provides that the disabled veterans
property tax exemption applies when an unmarried surviving
spouse is confined to a health care facility.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution (Article XIII,
Section One) provides that all property is taxable unless
explicitly exempted by the Constitution or federal law.
The Constitution limits the maximum amount of any ad
valorem tax on real property at one percent of full cash
value, plus any locally-authorized bonded indebtedness.
Assessors reappraise property whenever it is purchased,
newly constructed, or when ownership changes.
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The Constitution (Article XIII, Section Four) additionally
allows the Legislature to partially or wholly exempt from
property taxes the value of a disabled veteran's home if
the veteran has lost one or more limbs, is totally blind,
or is totally disabled, as a result of a service-connected
injury, known as the "disabled veterans' exemption." The
Constitution allows taxpayers to apply the disabled
veterans' exemption, currently provided by statute at the
inflation adjusted value of either $115,060 or $172,592
depending on the taxpayer's income, but not in addition to
the veterans or homeowners' exemption. The Constitution
additionally allows the exemption for unmarried surviving
spouses of persons who die while on active duty, or
subsequently die as a result of service-connected injuries.
Currently, four sections of the Revenue and Taxation Code
detail the relevant time periods for taxpayers to receive
the disabled veterans' exemptions:
1. Section 75.22 provides 90 days from the date of the
change of ownership for the taxpayer to apply for an
exemption from supplemental assessments.
2. Section 205.5 states that the property is eligible for
the exemption on the date the taxpayer purchases the
property.
3. Section 276.1 allows taxpayers to claim the exemption
within 30 days of receipt of the disability rating from
the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.
4. Section 279 states that the exemption remains in effect
until the title of the property changes, the property is
altered to no longer be a dwelling, the veteran-an is no
longer disabled, or until the owner no longer occupies
the property, subject to certain exceptions.
This bill provides that the disabled veterans' exemption
continues to apply to unmarried surviving spouses who are
confined to a hospital or other care facility if that
property were to be his/her residence but for the
confinement and the property is not rented to a third party
that is not a family member. This bill takes effect in the
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2012-13 fiscal years.
This bill also imports the appropriate timelines and
effective dates from the three other sections into Section
279, and adds a claimant spouse remarrying to the list of
disqualifying events.
Related Legislation
AB 946 (Butler) also contains identical changes to the
appropriate timelines and effective dates for the
exemption, and adds a claimant spouse remarrying to the
list of disqualifying events.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/7/11)
State Board of Equalization (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
AMVETS-Department of California
California Assessor's Association
California Assisted Living
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Military Officers Association of America-California Council
of Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
AB 188 removes an inequity in current law identified by the
Board of Equalization. In 2003, legislation was enacted to
ensure that a disabled veteran who must leave his/her home
to enter an assisted living facility would continue to
receive the exemption, provided the home is not leased out
to a third party and would be the principal place of
residence for the veteran. However, inadvertently the
original legislation failed to extend these provisions to
surviving spouses that haven't remarried. This bill
corrects this error. This bill will allow a surviving
spouse that hasn't remarried who receives the benefit to
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continue to receive the benefit on their home should they
need to enter an assisted living facility. Spouses of
soldiers killed in active duty would be entitled to receive
the tax exemption on their home should they need to enter
an assisted living facility as well. It only makes sense
to extend this benefit to the spouse entering an assisted
living facility.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman,
Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea,
V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Butler, Charles Calderon, Conway,
Feuer, Galgiani, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones,
Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Mendoza, Morrell, Olsen, Wagner,
Williams, Vacancy
AGB:kc 7/7/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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