BILL NUMBER: AB 946	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Butler

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to amend Section 279 of the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 946, as introduced, Butler. Property tax exemption: principal
residence: veterans and their unmarried surviving spouses.
    Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to the authorization
of the California Constitution, for the exemption from property
taxation of the principal residence of a disabled veteran, a veteran'
s spouse, and the unmarried surviving spouse, in the case in which
the veteran has, as a result of a service-connected disease or
injury, died while on active duty in military service. Existing law
provides when that property becomes eligible for that exemption and
also provides when that eligibility terminates.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes that would
consolidate the provisions relating to the date when property becomes
eligible for the disabled veterans' exemption, and would make other
conforming changes. This bill would also make other clarifying
changes, including clarifying that the exemption terminates for a
unmarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran when that surviving
spouse remarries.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 279 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
   279.   (a) Subject to the provisions regarding cancellations
and the limitation periods on refunds, property becomes eligible for
the disabled veterans' property tax exemption, as described in
Section 205.5, as of:  
   (1) The effective date of a disability rating, as determined by
the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, that qualifies the
claimant for the exemption.  
   (2) The date a qualified claimant purchases a property that
constitutes the principal place of residence, provided residency is
established within 90 days of purchase.  
   (3) The date a qualified claimant establishes residency at a
property owned by the claimant or the spouse, as specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 205.5.  
   (4) The date the veteran died, as a result of a service-connected
injury or disease, in the case where the unmarried surviving spouse
is the claimant.  
   (a) 
    (b)  A claim for the disabled veterans' property tax
exemption  described in Section 205.5  filed by
 the owner of a dwelling   a qualified claimant
 , once granted, shall remain in continuous effect unless any of
the following occurs:
   (1) Title to the property changes.
   (2) The owner does not occupy the dwelling as his or her principal
place of residence  on the lien date  .
   (A) If  a veteran is, on the lien date,   the
claimant is  confined to a hospital or other care facility but
principally resided at a dwelling immediately prior to that
confinement, the  veteran   claimant  will
be deemed to occupy that same dwelling as his or her principal place
of residence on the lien date, provided that the dwelling has not
been rented or leased as described in Section 205.5.
   (B) If a person receiving the disabled veterans' exemption is not
occupying the dwelling  on the lien date  because
the dwelling was damaged in a misfortune or calamity, the person will
be deemed to occupy that same dwelling as his or her principal place
of residence  on the lien date  , provided the
person's absence from the dwelling is temporary and the person
intends to return to the dwelling when possible to do so. Except as
provided in subparagraph (C), when a dwelling has been totally
destroyed, and thus no dwelling exists  on the lien date
 , the exemption provided by Section 205.5 is not applicable
until the structure has been replaced and is occupied as a dwelling.

   (C) A dwelling that was totally destroyed in a disaster for which
the Governor proclaimed a state of emergency, that qualified for the
exemption provided by Section 205.5 and has not changed ownership
since the disaster, will be deemed occupied by the person receiving a
disabled veterans' exemption  on the lien date 
provided the person intends to reconstruct a dwelling on the property
and occupy the dwelling as his or her principal place of residence
when it is possible to do so.
   (3) The property is altered so that it is no longer a dwelling.
   (4) The veteran is no longer disabled as defined in Section 205.5.

   (5) The unmarried surviving spouse claimant remarries. 

   (b) 
    (c)  The assessor of each county shall verify the
continued eligibility of each person receiving a disabled veterans'
exemption, and shall provide for a periodic audit of, and establish a
control system to monitor, disabled veterans' exemption claims.