BILL NUMBER: SB 1492 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 11160) to Division
2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to local government
finance, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1492, Leno. Voter-approved local assessment: vehicles.
Existing law authorizes certain counties to impose a local vehicle
license fee not exceeding $10 per vehicle, as provided, for the
privilege of operating specified vehicles on public roads in the
county. Existing law requires a county imposing this fee to contract
with the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect and administer the
fee, as specified.
This bill would authorize the City and County of San Francisco to
impose a voter-approved local assessment for specified vehicles if
certain conditions, including approval by local voters, are met. The
bill would require the city and county to contract with the
department to collect and administer the assessment, as provided.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize
various deductions against the income that is otherwise subject to
tax under those laws, including a deduction for local taxes that were
paid or incurred by a taxpayer.
This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually notify
the department or the Controller, as provided, of estimated revenue
losses to the state resulting from taxpayers deducting, for purposes
of the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, the
voter-approved local assessments authorized by this bill, as
specified. This bill would require the department to deposit the
assessments collected in the San Francisco Vehicle Assessment Fund,
which is created in this bill. This bill would require the department
to transmit the assessments collected, minus the amount currently
outstanding that has been calculated, as provided, to the city and
county as promptly as feasible, and would continuously appropriate
moneys in the fund for this purpose. This bill would also require the
Franchise Tax Board to make adjustments to estimated revenue losses
based on actual filings and returns and would provide for
reimbursement of any differences, as specified, and would
continuously appropriate moneys in the fund for this purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San
Francisco.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Local
Assessment Act.
SEC. 2. Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 11160) is added to
Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:
PART 5.7. VOTER-APPROVED LOCAL ASSESSMENT
11160. This part is applicable only to the City and County of San
Francisco.
11161. For purposes of this part:
(a) "Board of supervisors" means the board of supervisors of the
city and county.
(b) "City and county" means the City and County of San Francisco.
(c) "Department" means the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(d) "Market value" has the same meaning and shall be determined in
the same manner as required under Part 5 (commencing with Section
10701) of Division 2.
(e) "Person" includes an individual, a firm, a corporation, a
limited liability company, a partnership, or any other legal entity.
(f) "Resident of the city and county" means a person whose
address, as reflected in department registration records, is in the
city and county, but does not include a person that establishes to
the satisfaction of the department that the person's place of
residence is elsewhere.
(g) "Voter-approved local assessment" means a supplemental charge
added to the fee imposed pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section
10701).
11162. Notwithstanding Section 10758, the board of supervisors
may, by ordinance, impose a voter-approved local assessment for
general revenue purposes pursuant to this part, if all of the
following conditions are met:
(a) The ordinance proposing the assessment complies with both of
the following:
(1) Section 11163.
(2) Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 53720) of Chapter 4 of
Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
(b) The ordinance proposing the assessment is approved by
two-thirds of all members of the board of supervisors.
(c) The ordinance proposing the assessment is submitted to the
electorate of the city and county and is approved by a majority vote
of the voters voting on the ordinance.
(d) The board of supervisors transmits to the department and the
Franchise Tax Board a certified copy of the ordinance imposing that
assessment immediately after the results of the election described in
subdivision (c) are certified.
(e) The ordinance proposing the assessment does not create
different classes of vehicles (whether by type, size, passenger
capacity, value or cost, fuel consumption, or any other
characteristic) for differential taxation (whether by rate, method,
assessment ratio, or any other means), except that the exemptions
from the vehicle license fee set forth in Part 5 (commencing with
Section 10701) shall be applicable.
11163. An ordinance imposing a voter-approved local assessment
pursuant to this part shall contain provisions in substance as
follows:
(a) A provision that the assessment is imposed for the privilege
of a resident of the city and county to operate upon the public
highways in the city and county a vehicle or trailer coach, the
registrant of which is subject to tax under Part 5 (commencing with
Section 10701).
(b) (1) A provision establishing the annual amount of the
assessment at a rate that equals the difference between the following
two rates:
(A) Two percent of the market value of the vehicle or trailer
coach.
(B) The rate, including any offset to that rate, set forth in Part
5 (commencing with Section 10701), for a vehicle or trailer coach.
(2) A provision that the rate established under the provision
described in paragraph (1) is subject to both of the following:
(A) That the rate may not exceed 2 percent of the market value of
the vehicle or trailer coach.
(B) That any adjustment that is required to be made to the rate
because of a change in the rate, or any offset to that rate, set
forth in Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701), shall not take
effect until the first day of the first fiscal year that follows the
fiscal year in which the change to the rate or offset set forth in
that part became operative.
(c) A provision that the assessment will begin to be imposed as
follows:
(1) If the election in which the ordinance receives voter approval
occurs between January 1 and June 30, on the first January 1 that
follows that election.
(2) If the election in which the ordinance receives voter approval
occurs between July 1 and December 31, on the first July 1 that
follows that election.
(d) Provisions identical to those contained in Part 5 (commencing
with Section 10701), insofar as they relate to vehicle license fees
and are applicable, and insofar as they are consistent with this
part, except that the name of the city and county as the taxing
agency shall be substituted for that of the state.
(e) A provision that all amendments, subsequent to the effective
date of the voter-approved local assessment ordinance, to Part 5
(commencing with Section 10701) relating to vehicle license fees and
not inconsistent with this part, shall automatically be incorporated
into the voter-approved local assessment ordinance.
(f) A provision that requires the city and county to contract with
the department, which contract shall contain provisions in substance
as follows:
(1) A requirement that the department perform all functions
incident to the administration and collection of the voter-approved
local assessment.
(2) A provision specifying the manner in which refunds pursuant to
Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701), as incorporated in the
voter-approved local assessment ordinance pursuant to subdivisions
(c) and (d), will be made and administered.
(3) A provision that requires the city and county to pay the
department for the initial setup and programming costs identified by
the department.
(4) A provision specifying the manner in which reimbursements to
the state shall be made in compliance with subdivision (b) of Section
11167 after the inoperation or repeal of a voter-approved local
assessment.
11163.2. Any ordinance approved pursuant to Section 11163 shall
be valid and enforceable even if approved, as required by Section
11162, by the board of supervisors and by the voters prior to the
effective date of the act adding this section, but only if both of
the following apply:
(a) Any assessment imposed pursuant to the approval of the
ordinance is not levied until at least 90 days after the effective
date of the act adding this section.
(b) The board of supervisors ratifies its adoption of the
ordinance after the effective date of the act adding this section and
prior to the first levy of the assessment imposed pursuant to the
approval of the ordinance.
11164. The department shall do all of the following:
(a) Collect the voter-approved local assessment, pursuant to a
contract with the city and county, and deposit it into the San
Francisco Vehicle Assessment Fund, which is hereby created in the
State Treasury.
(b) Calculate its costs in administering the voter-approved local
assessment pursuant to this part.
(c) From the assessments collected under subdivision (a),
calculate the amount reported under subdivision (a) of Section 11166
as appropriately adjusted, if applicable, by the most recent amount
reported under subdivision (b) of Section 11166.
(d) Transmit revenues derived from the assessments collected under
subdivision (a), minus the amount currently outstanding that has
been calculated under subdivisions (b) and (c), to the city and
county as promptly as feasible. The moneys necessary to accomplish
the transfer shall be continuously appropriated for that purpose.
(e) The department and the Franchise Tax Board shall develop a
reporting process that enables the department to report to the
Franchise Tax Board in a timely manner the data necessary for the
Franchise Tax Board to prepare the estimate of revenue loss specified
in Section 11166.
11165. (a) This part shall not be construed to supplant any
moneys that the state apportions to the city and county, including,
but not limited to, moneys apportioned to the city and county under
the Vehicle License Fee Law set forth in Part 5 (commencing with
Section 10701), or any successor to that law.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, if the city and county that
imposes a voter-approved local assessment has a reduction in revenue
derived from that assessment because of an increase in the rate,
including any offset to that rate, set forth in Part 5 (commencing
with Section 10701) for a vehicle or a trailer coach, reimbursement
by the state shall not be made to the city and county for that loss
in revenue.
11166. (a) On or before January 1 of the year that follows a
year, or portion thereof, in which an assessment is imposed pursuant
to this part, and annually thereafter, the Franchise Tax Board shall
report to the department an estimate of the total amount of the
revenue loss to the state that is expected to occur in the next
calendar year, for a report given before January 1, or the current
calendar year, for a report given on January 1, from deductions taken
under the Personal Income Tax Law (Part 10 (commencing with Section
17001)) and the Corporation Tax Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section
23001)) for taxes paid or incurred as a result of an enacted tax
being imposed pursuant to this part.
(b) On or before January 1 of the second year that follows a year,
or portion thereof, in which an assessment is imposed pursuant to
this part, and annually thereafter, the Franchise Tax Board shall
report to the department a revision of the applicable previous
estimate made pursuant to subdivision (a), based on actual filings
and returns.
11167. For any revisions to previous estimates made by the
Franchise Tax Board on or after January 1 following the inoperation
or repeal of a voter-approved local assessment pursuant to Section
11166, the following shall apply:
(a) (1) In the event that the Franchise Tax Board's reported
estimate, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11166, exceeds the
revision of that estimate, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
11166, the city and county shall be reimbursed by the Controller from
the San Francisco Vehicle Assessment Fund.
(2) The money in the San Francisco Vehicle Assessment Fund is
hereby continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for
the purposes enumerated in this subdivision.
(b) In the event that the Franchise Tax Board's reported estimate,
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11166, is less than the
revision of that estimate, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
11166, the state shall be reimbursed by the city and county. The
reimbursement pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed as
provided in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 11163.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 11166, any revision of an applicable
previous estimate shall not be reported to the department and shall
be reported to the Controller.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because numerous groups in the City and County of San Francisco have
requested that authorization be granted for such an assessment in
that city and county.