BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1053
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1053 (Cooley)
          As Amended  May 1, 2014
          2/3 vote.  Urgency
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |     |(May 16, 2013)  |SENATE: |37-0 |(May 5, 2014)  |
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               (vote not relevant)

          Original Committee Reference:    INS.  

           SUMMARY  :  Allows the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District  
          (District) to return money improperly collected from some  
          district taxpayers from 2005 through 2012. 

           The Senate amendments  delete the Assembly version of this bill,  
          and instead:  

          1)Allow the District to return to a payor any money the District  
            improperly collected from the payor due to a clerical error in  
            the District's administration of the Special Fire Tax for the  
            Rancho Murieta and Sloughhouse area levied from 2005 to 2012,  
            inclusive.

          2)Provide that the bill shall remain in effect only until  
            January 1, 2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a  
            later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015,  
            deletes or extends that date.

          3)Make a number of findings and declarations related to the  
            improperly collected money from the public due to a clerical  
            error.

          4)Find and declare that a special law is necessary and that a  
            general law cannot be made applicable because of the unique  
            and limited need of the District to return money it improperly  
            and unintentionally collected in the form of a special tax.

          5)Contain an urgency clause.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :   









                                                                  AB 1053
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          1)Background and existing law.  Proposition 218 (1996)  
            established that a tax levied by a special-purpose district is  
            a special tax requiring two-thirds voter approval.  State law  
            allows a district's legislative body to levy a special tax  
            with two-thirds voter approval (AB 2345 (Chappie), Chapter  
            672, Statutes of 1980).  

          The District is a special district organized pursuant to the  
            Fire Protection District Law of 1987 (SB 515 (Bergeson),  
            Chapter 1013, Statutes of 1987).  The District serves a  
            population of over 640,000 in a 417 square mile service area  
            within Sacramento County, including the cities of Citrus  
            Heights and Rancho Cordova and several unincorporated  
            communities.  The District was formed when the Sacramento  
            County Fire Protection District and the American River Fire  
            Protection District merged on December 1, 2000.

          More than two-thirds of the voters in the Sloughhouse and Rancho  
            Murieta areas within the American River Fire Protection  
            District approved Measure Q on the November 7, 2000, general  
            election ballot.  That ballot measure authorized the District  
            to raise revenues for fire suppression and emergency ambulance  
            services by levying an annual parcel tax at a rate not to  
            exceed $100 per parcel.  Last year, the District discovered  
            that it was levying the tax on approximately 3,800 parcels of  
            property that should not have been subject to the tax.  The  
            District erroneously began collecting taxes from these parcels  
            in the 2005-06 fiscal year.

          State law allows a local government to refund money from parcel  
            taxes that appear on the property tax bill if those taxes were  
            erroneously collected, but generally prohibits a local  
            government from refunding erroneously collected parcel taxes  
            in response to a claim that is filed more than four years  
            after the date of the payment that is to be refunded.

          2)Purpose of this bill.  This bill allows the District,  
            notwithstanding any other law, to return to a payor any money  
            the District improperly collected from the payor due to a  
            clerical error in the District's administration of the Special  
            Fire Tax for the Rancho Murieta and Sloughhouse area, levied  
            from 2005 to 2012, inclusive.  This bill specifies that its  
            provisions remain in effect only until January 1, 2015, and as  
            of that date are repealed, unless a later enacted statute,  
            that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends  








                                                                  AB 1053
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            that date.  This bill contains legislative findings and  
            declarations that specify the ways in which the bill serves a  
            public purpose.  This bill is sponsored by the District.

          3)Author's statement.  According to the author, "In 2013 the  
            District discovered that due to a clerical error, the owners  
            of approximately 3,800 pieces of property located outside the  
            boundary of a local taxation area had been inappropriately  
            charged for fire protection services since 2005, as if they  
            were part of the tax area.  Upon making this discovery, the  
            District implemented a special claims procedure through which  
            affected property owners could apply refunds.  However,  
            consistent with current law, the District has not yet been  
            able to accept or approve any claims for tax refunds where the  
            taxes had been paid more than four years before the date the  
            claim was presented."

          4)Arguments in support.  Supporters argue that this bill allows  
            the District to efficiently and quickly return money to  
            property owners.

          5)Arguments in opposition.  None on file.

          6)Urgency clause.  This bill contains an urgency clause allowing  
            the provisions of the bill to take effect immediately upon  
            enactment, and requires a two-thirds vote on the Assembly  
            Floor.

          7)The Assembly version of this bill was deleted in the Senate,  
            and consequently, the subject matter has not been heard by an  
            Assembly policy committee this legislative session.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958 


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