BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1012|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1012
Author: Gomez (D)
Amended: 5/7/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/19/13
AYES: Wolk, Knight, Beall, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Hernandez, Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/23/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : County tax bill: notice: property tax assistance
and postponement
SOURCE : State Controller's Office
DIGEST : This bill suspends a county's obligation to send out
a notice, and the Franchise Tax Board's (FTB'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.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides several programs to assist
income-eligible, disabled, or seniors with costs of housing,
including the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax
Postponement Law, the Senior Citizens Tenant-Stockholder
Property Tax Postponement Law, the Senior Citizens Mobilehome
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AB 1012
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Property Tax Postponement Law, and the Senior Citizens
Possessory Interest Holder Property Tax Postponement Law. The
programs allow the State Controller's Office (SCO) to pay
property taxes to county tax collectors on behalf of individuals
over the age of 62 or disabled persons making less than $39,000
in income per year. The claimant must repay the SCO upon sale
of the home, who secures the loan by recording a lien. Loans do
not become due and payable if the claimant or the claimant's
spouse continues to occupy the home secured by the lien. In
2009, the Legislature prohibited persons from filing new claims
for property tax postponement, and the SCO from accepting
applications, due to the state's fiscal problems SB8 X3,
(Ducheny, Chapter 4, Statutes of 2009). However, the
Legislature partially resurrected the program when it authorized
counties to similarly defer property taxes for fund
postponements for income-eligible seniors using its own excess
cash AB 1090, (Blumenfield, Chapter 369, Statutes of 2011).
These programs are distinct from the Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris
Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP),
administered by the FTB, which is a direct grant program to
income-eligible senior citizens. The state has not funded PTAP
since the 2007-08 Budget, so the state has not paid claims more
recently than those made in 2007.
The Legislature required each county tax collector to include a
notice with the property tax bill informing taxpayers about PTAP
and the Postponement program, and required FTB to prepare the
notice for both programs.
This bill renders inoperative the requirement that counties send
the notice regarding property tax assistance and postponement
along with the property tax bill until the first lien date for
which the state provides funding. This bill does the same to
FTB's mandate to prepare the notice.
Comments
According to the author, "this bill will suspend an outdated
notification requirement in RTC 2615.6. Given the suspension of
both the postponement program and the assistance program this is
an obsolete requirement which requires unnecessary work at the
SCO and the FTB to annually prepare the statement and handle the
flood of inquires received when county tax bills are mailed.
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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 programs that were suspended several years ago."
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 1322 (Patterson) reinstates the Senior Citizens' Property Tax
Postponement program that provided property tax deferment to
seniors and disabled persons.
AB 1090 (Blumenfield, Chapter 369, Statutes of 2011), creating
the County Deferred Property Tax Program for Senior Citizens and
Disabled Citizens.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/13)
State Controller's Office (source)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/23/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John
A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Grove, Holden, Jones, Waldron, Vacancy,
Vacancy
AB:ej 8/16/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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