BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1012
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Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1012 (Gomez) - As Amended: May 7, 2013
Policy Committee: Revenue and
Taxation Vote: 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill suspends a county's obligation to send out a notice,
and the Franchise Tax Board's obligation to prepare the notice,
regarding the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax
Postponement program and the Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris Senior
Citizens Property Tax Assistance Law program.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor savings to the Franchise Tax Board and State Controller's
Office.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, given the suspension of
these programs, this is an obsolete requirement which requires
unnecessary work at the Franchise Tax Board and State
Controller's Office to annually prepare the statement and
handle the flood of inquiries received when county tax bills
are mailed. Furthermore, AB 1012 would save unnecessary
frustration and disappointment experienced by disabled people
and senior citizens when they discover they are responding to
an obsolete notice about a program that was suspended several
years ago.
2)Background . California has several property tax programs
benefiting the elderly and disabled individuals, including
property tax reappraisal relief, property tax assistance and
property tax postponement. The assistance program provides a
direct grant to qualifying seniors and disabled individuals
who own or rent a residence. The assistance program, which is
AB 1012
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administered by the FTB, was established in 1967 to provide
direct property tax relief to seniors living on a fixed
income. It was later expanded to include renters who meet the
income requirement and to homeowners who are blind and or
disabled, regardless of their age.
Unlike the assistance programs that refund a percentage of
property taxes paid, the postponement program allows eligible
homeowners to defer payment of all, or a portion, of the
property taxes on their residence. The program was enacted in
1977, after the passage of a constitutional amendment
authorizing the postponement of property taxes (California
Constitution, Article 13, Section 8) and is administered by
the State Controller's Office.
The state has not provided funding for the assistance program
since the 2007-08 Budget. On February 20, 2009, the
postponement program was indefinitely suspended as part of the
budget reductions to the state's General Fund programs.
3)Related legislation . AB 1322 (Patterson) reinstates the
Senior Citizens' Property Tax Postponement program that
provided property tax deferment to seniors and disabled
persons. This bill is pending in this committee.
4)Previous legislation . AB 1090 (Blumenfield), Chapter 369,
Statutes of 2011, creating the County Deferred Property Tax
Program for Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens.
5)There is no registered opposition to this bill .
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081