California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1322

Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Levine)

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 16213 of, and to repeal and add Section 16180 of, the Government Code, and to amend and repeal Section 20623 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1322, as introduced, Patterson. State Controller: property tax postponement.

The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, until February 20, 2009, authorized a claimant, as defined, to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of ad valorem property taxes, where household income, as defined, did not exceed specified amounts. Existing law authorized the Controller, upon approval of the claim, to either make payment directly to specified entities, or to issue the claimant a certificate of eligibility that constituted a written promise of the state to pay the amount specified on the certificate, as provided. Existing law required these payments to be made out of specified funds appropriated to the Controller, as specified, and also required repaid property tax postponement payments to be paid into an impound account and transferred, as specified, to the General Fund.

Existing law, on and after February 20, 2009, prohibits a person from filing a claim for postponement, and prohibits the Controller from accepting applications for postponement, under the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law.

This bill would repeal the prohibition against a person filing a claim for postponement and the Controller from accepting applications for postponement under the program as of July 1, 2014.

This bill would create in the State Treasury a Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund. The bill would require that repaid property tax postponement payments be transferred from the impound account to, or be directly deposited into, the newly created fund. The bill would continuously appropriate these funds to the Controller for purposes of administering the property tax postponement program, as specified.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 16180 of the Government Code is
repealed.

begin delete

16180.  

Out of the amount appropriated to the Controller by
Section 16100, the sum of twelve million seven hundred thousand
dollars ($12,700,000) for the 1977-78 fiscal year and each fiscal
year thereafter is hereby made available to the Controller to pay
the face amount of all certificates of eligibility for the
postponement of property taxes submitted to the Controller which
are signed and countersigned in the manner specified in Sections
20602, 20603, 20639.6, 20640.6, and 20640.7 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 16180 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

16180.  

(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a
Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement
Fund. Subject to subdivision (b) and notwithstanding Section
13340, the fund is continuously appropriated to the Controller,
commencing July 1, 2013, for purposes of administering this
chapter, including, but not limited to, necessary administrative
costs and disbursements relating to the postponement of property
taxes pursuant to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens
Property Tax Postponement Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 20581) of Part 10.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code).

(b) The Controller shall transfer any moneys in the fund in
excess of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to the General Fund.

(c) Any loan repayments relating to the Senior Citizens and
Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law that are not
deposited into an impound account, as described in Section 16210
or 16211.5, shall be deposited into the Senior Citizens and Disabled
Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund.

SEC. 3.  

Section 16213 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

16213.  

At the end of the six-month period specified in Section
16210 or the six-month period specified in Section 16211.5, all
funds remaining in an impound account shall be transferred to the
begin delete General Fund end delete begin insert Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax
Postponement Fund, established pursuant to Section 16180 end insert .

SEC. 4.  

Section 20623 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:

20623.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert No person shall file a claim for postponement
under this chapter on or after the effective date of the act adding
this section, and the Controller shall not accept applications for
postponement under this chapter on or after that date.

begin insert

(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2014, and
as of January 1, 2015, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends the dates
on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

end insert

SEC. 5.  

This act is a bill providing for appropriations related
to the Budget Bill within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section
12 of Article IV of the California Constitution, has been identified
as related to the budget in the Budget Bill, and shall take effect
immediately.