BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 902|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 902
          Author:   Alejo (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE  : 6-3, 06/29/11
          AYES: Wolk, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Liu
          NOES: Huff, Fuller, La Malfa

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  48-24, 5/12/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Taxation:  property tax delinquency and sales

           SOURCE  :     California Association of County Treasurers and 
          Tax Collectors


           DIGEST  :    This bill deletes the fixed fee amounts that tax 
          collectors may charge out of tax sale proceeds for making 
          reasonable efforts to contact last known assesses, 
          obtaining names and last known mailing addresses, and 
          sending and providing notices as part of tax sales.  This 
          bill instead provides that county boards of supervisors may 
          fix the fees to reimburse the tax collector's actual and 
          reasonable costs.  

           ANALYSIS  :    County boards of supervisors can levy 
          authorized fees or charges in amounts reasonably necessary 
          to recover the costs of providing products or services or 
          the cost of enforcing regulations ÝAB 151 (Hannigan), 
          1983].  The fees or charges may reflect the average cost of 
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          providing products or services or enforcing regulations, 
          plus limited indirect costs.  If any person disputes the 
          fee, then the board of supervisors may request the auditor 
          to study whether the fee is reasonable.

          Despite generally deregulating county fees 25 years ago, 
          state law set a large number of fees, including civil fees, 
          county recorder fees, and fees charged by agricultural 
          commissioners in absolute amounts until the Legislature 
          updated many of these by tying them instead to the county's 
          reasonable costs ÝSB 676 (Wolk), Chapter 606, Statutes of 
          2009].  

          This bill deletes the fixed fee amounts that tax collectors 
          may charge out of tax sale proceeds for making reasonable 
          efforts to contact last known assesses, obtaining names and 
          last known mailing addresses, and sending and providing 
          notices as part of tax sales.  This bill instead provides 
          that county boards of supervisors may fix the fees to 
          reimburse the tax collector's actual and reasonable costs.  
          This bill specifies that the fee for reimbursing the 
          expense for obtaining names and last known mailing 
          addresses, and for sending notices required by law to 
          persons of interest in the initial tax sale when someone 
          redeems the tax-defaulted property must be distributed to 
          the county general fund.  This bill also makes conforming 
          changes.

           Related legislation  .  AB 820 (Gordon) deletes the current 
          statutory cap of $1 for assessors, tax collectors, or 
          auditors to prepare certificates of taxes paid, providing 
          instead for recovery of reasonable costs as established by 
          the board of supervisors.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/30/11)

          California Association of County Treasurers and Tax 
          Collectors (source)
          Board of Supervisors, County of Fresno
          Board of Supervisors, Monterey County
          California State Association of Counties

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          County of San Luis Obispo
          Dave Cortese, President, Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara 
          County
          Mary Lou Andrade, Treasurer-Tax Collector, County of San 
          Benito
          Regional Council of Rural Counties

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author, "Under 
          current law, a county with plans to offer at tax sale 
          residential, tax-defaulted property must make a reasonable 
          effort to contact the delinquent owner in person before 
          proceeding with a sale.  A county is required to charge a 
          party of interest up to $100 to reimburse the costs of 
          locating and personally serving him or her, although costs 
          typically run higher than this cap.  Cost drivers, such as 
          fuel, insurance and inflation, have eroded the ability of 
          tax collectors to recover their expenses above the $100 cap 
          currently in statute.  AB 902 will remove the statutory cap 
          and instead tie the fee to the actual cost of providing 
          services.  AB 902 removes the unfair financial burden from 
          counties by allowing reimbursement for costs incurred."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  48-24, 5/12/11
          AYES:  Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, 
            Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, 
            Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Chesbro, Davis, 
            Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, 
            Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, 
            Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, Skinner, Solorio, 
            Swanson, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES:  Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher, 
            Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, 
            Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cedillo, Conway, Garrick, Gorell, Olsen, 
            V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Torres


          AGB:mw  6/30/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE


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