Amended in Assembly April 7, 2016

Amended in Assembly February 8, 2016

Amended in Assembly July 13, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 6

Introduced by Assembly Members Brown and Salas

April 20, 2015

Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 6—A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 3 of Article XIII thereof, and by amending Section 2 of Article XIII A thereof, relating to taxation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACA 6, as amended, Brown. Property taxation: exemptions: fruit and nut trees: base year value transfers: persons with a severely disabled child.

(1) The California Constitution requires that all property be taxed unless otherwise provided by the California Constitution or the laws of the United States. The California Constitution exempts, among other things, fruit and nut trees for 4 years after the season in which they were planted in orchard form.

This measure would exempt from property taxation pistachio trees for 6 years after the season in which they were planted in orchard form.

(2) The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, “full cash value” is defined as the assessor’s valuation of real property as shown on the 1975-76 tax bill under “full cash value” or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to provide that persons over the age of 55 and persons who are severely disabled may transfer the base year value, as defined, of property to a replacement dwelling.

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This measure would expand the authorization for base year value transfers provided to persons over the age of 55 years to include each individual member of a married couple who is over the age of 55 years, but only with respect to a replacement property purchased or newly constructed on or after the effective date of this measure and only with respect to an individual member of a married couple who has not transferred a base year value prior to that same effective date.

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This measure would additionally authorize the Legislature to provide for transfer of base year value of property to a replacement dwelling for persons who begin delete have end delete begin insert are the parent or legal guardian of end insert a severely disabled child begin insert and reside with that child end insert .

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Existing property tax law implementing the constitutional authorization described above authorizes taxpayers to transfer the base year value of property to a replacement dwelling if certain conditions are met, including, among others, that the claimant has not previously been granted, as a claimant, this property tax relief. For purposes of applying this condition, existing property tax law requires the spouse of a claimant previously granted this property tax relief, where the spouse is a record owner of the replacement dwelling, to also be considered a claimant previously granted this property tax relief.

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This measure would, for purposes of applying this condition of eligibility, exclude from the term “claimant” a spouse of a person who previously claimed and was granted this property tax relief, where that spouse is also a record owner of the replacement dwelling. This measure would apply these provisions only to persons who file a claim on or after the effective date of this measure.

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Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2015-16 Regular
Session commencing on the first day of December 2014, two-thirds
of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to
the people of the State of California, that the Constitution of the
State be amended as follows:

  

First-- That Section 3 of Article XIII thereof is amended to
read:

SEC. 3.  

The following are exempt from property taxation:

(a) Property owned by the State.

(b) Property owned by a local government, except as otherwise
provided in Section 11(a).

(c) Bonds issued by the State or a local government in the State.

(d) Property used for libraries and museums that are free and
open to the public and property used exclusively for public schools,
community colleges, state colleges, and state universities.

(e) Buildings, land, equipment, and securities used exclusively
for educational purposes by a nonprofit institution of higher
education.

(f) Buildings, land on which they are situated, and equipment
used exclusively for religious worship.

(g) Property used or held exclusively for the permanent deposit
of human dead or for the care and maintenance of the property or
the dead, except when used or held for profit. This property is also
exempt from special assessment.

(h) Growing crops.

(i) (1) Fruit and nut trees until four years after the season in
which they were planted in orchard form and grape vines until
three years after the season in which they were planted in vineyard
form.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), pistachio trees until six years
after the season in which they were planted in orchard form.

(j) Immature forest trees planted on lands not previously bearing
merchantable timber or planted or of natural growth on lands from
which the merchantable original growth timber stand to the extent
of 70 percent of all trees over 16 inches in diameter has been
removed. Forest trees or timber shall be considered mature at such
time after 40 years from the time of planting or removal of the
original timber when so declared by a majority vote of a board
consisting of a representative from the State Board of Forestry, a
representative from the State Board of Equalization, and the
assessor of the county in which the trees are located.

The Legislature may supersede the foregoing provisions with
an alternative system or systems of taxing or exempting forest
trees or timber, including a taxation system not based on property
valuation. Any alternative system or systems shall provide for
exemption of unharvested immature trees, shall encourage the
continued use of timberlands for the production of trees for timber
products, and shall provide for restricting the use of timberland to
the production of timber products and compatible uses with
provisions for taxation of timberland based on the restrictions.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to exclude timberland
from the provisions of Section 8 of this article.

(k) Seven thousand dollars ($7,000) of the full value of a
dwelling, as defined by the Legislature, when occupied by an
owner as his principal residence, unless the dwelling is receiving
another real property exemption. The Legislature may increase
this exemption and may deny it if the owner received state or local
aid to pay taxes either in whole or in part, and either directly or
indirectly, on the dwelling.

No increase in this exemption above the amount of seven
thousand dollars ($7,000) shall be effective for any fiscal year
unless the Legislature increases the rate of state taxes in an amount
sufficient to provide the subventions required by Section 25.

If the Legislature increases the homeowners’ property tax
exemption, it shall provide increases in benefits to qualified renters,
as defined by law, comparable to the average increase in benefits
to homeowners, as calculated by the Legislature.

(l) Vessels of more than 50 tons burden in this State and engaged
in the transportation of freight or passengers.

(m) Household furnishings and personal effects not held or used
in connection with a trade, profession, or business.

(n) Any debt secured by land.

(o) Property in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) of
a claimant who--

(1) is serving in or has served in and has been discharged under
honorable conditions from service in the United States Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Revenue Marine
(Revenue Cutter) Service; and--

(2) served either

(i) in time of war, or

(ii) in time of peace in a campaign or expedition for which a
medal has been issued by Congress, or

(iii) in time of peace and because of a service-connected
disability was released from active duty; and--

(3) resides in the State on the current lien date.

An unmarried person who owns property valued at five thousand
dollars ($5,000) or more, or a married person, who, together with
the spouse, owns property valued at ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
or more, is ineligible for this exemption.

If the claimant is married and does not own property eligible for
the full amount of the exemption, property of the spouse shall be
eligible for the unused balance of the exemption.

(p) Property in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) of
a claimant who--

(1) is the unmarried spouse of a deceased veteran who met the
service requirement stated in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection
3(o), and

(2) does not own property in excess of ten thousand dollars
($10,000), and

(3) is a resident of the State on the current lien date.

(q) Property in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) of
a claimant who--

(1) is the parent of a deceased veteran who met the service
requirement stated in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 3(o),
and

(2) receives a pension because of the veteran’s service, and

(3) is a resident of the State on the current lien date.

Either parent of a deceased veteran may claim this exemption.

An unmarried person who owns property valued at five thousand
dollars ($5,000) or more, or a married person, who, together with
the spouse, owns property valued at ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
or more, is ineligible for this exemption.

(r) No individual residing in the State on the effective date of
this amendment who would have been eligible for the exemption
provided by the previous Section 11⁄4 of this article had it not been
repealed shall lose eligibility for the exemption as a result of this
amendment.

  

Second-- That Section 2 of Article XIII A thereof is amended
to read:

SEC. 2.  

(a) (1) The “full cash value” means the county
assessor’s valuation of real property as shown on the 1975-76 tax
bill under “full cash value” or, thereafter, the appraised value of
real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in
ownership has occurred after the 1975 assessment. All real property
not already assessed up to the 1975-76 full cash value may be
reassessed to reflect that valuation. For purposes of this section,
“newly constructed” does not include real property that is
reconstructed after a disaster, as declared by the Governor, where
the fair market value of the real property, as reconstructed, is
comparable to its fair market value prior to the disaster. For
purposes of this section, the term “newly constructed” does not
include that portion of an existing structure that consists of the
construction or reconstruction of seismic retrofitting components,
as defined by the Legislature.

(2) (A) However, the Legislature may provide that, under
appropriate circumstances and pursuant to definitions and
procedures established by the Legislature, any person over the age
of 55 years who resides in property that is eligible for the
homeowner’s exemption under subdivision (k) of Section 3 of
Article XIII and any implementing legislation may transfer the
base year value of the property entitled to exemption, with the
adjustments authorized by subdivision (b), to any replacement
dwelling of equal or lesser value located within the same county
and purchased or newly constructed by that person as his or her
principal residence within two years of the sale of the original
property. This paragraph applies to any replacement dwelling that
was purchased or newly constructed on or after November 5, 1986.

(B) For purposes of this section, all of the following shall apply:

(i) “Any person over the age of 55 years” includes a married
couple one member of which is over the age of 55 years.

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(ii) “Any person over the age of 55 years” includes each
individual member of a married couple who is over the age of 55
years, but only with respect to a replacement property purchased
or newly constructed on or after the effective date of this clause
and only with respect to an individual member of a married couple
who has not transferred a base year value prior to that same
effective date.

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(ii) 

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begin insert (iii) end insert begin insert   end insert “Replacement dwelling” means a building, structure, or
other shelter constituting a place of abode, whether real property
or personal property, and any land on which it may be situated.

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(iii)

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begin insert (iv) end insert  A two-dwelling unit shall be considered as two separate
single-family dwellings.

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(iv) For purposes of Section 69.5 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code or any successor statute, a person shall not be deemed to
have previously claimed and been granted the property tax relief
authorized by this subdivision by reason of being or having been
the spouse of a person who previously claimed and was granted
that property tax relief, and also being or having been a record
owner of the replacement dwelling. This clause applies only to
persons who file a claim for the property tax relief authorized by
this subdivision on or after the effective date of this clause.

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(3) In addition, the Legislature may authorize each county board
of supervisors, after consultation with the local affected agencies
within the county’s boundaries, to adopt an ordinance making the
provisions of this subdivision relating to transfer of base year value
also applicable to situations in which the replacement dwellings
are located in that county and the original properties are located
in another county within this State. For purposes of this paragraph,
“local affected agency” means any city, special district, school
district, or community college district that receives an annual
property tax revenue allocation. This paragraph applies to any
replacement dwelling that was purchased or newly constructed on
or after the date the county adopted the provisions of this
subdivision relating to transfer of base year value, but does not
apply to any replacement dwelling that was purchased or newly
constructed before November 9, 1988.

(4) The Legislature may extend the provisions of this subdivision
relating to the transfer of base year values from original properties
to replacement dwellings of homeowners over the age of 55 years
to either or both of the following:

(A) Severely disabled homeowners, but only with respect to
those replacement dwellings purchased or newly constructed on
or after June 6, 1990.

(B) Homeowners begin delete with end delete begin insert who are the parent or legal guardian of end insert
a severely disabled child begin insert and reside with that child end insert , but only with
respect to those replacement dwellings purchased or newly
constructed on or after the effective date of this subparagraph.

(b) The full cash value base may reflect from year to year the
inflationary rate not to exceed 2 percent for any given year or
reduction as shown in the consumer price index or comparable
data for the area under taxing jurisdiction, or may be reduced to
reflect substantial damage, destruction, or other factors causing a
decline in value.

(c) For purposes of subdivision (a), the Legislature may provide
that the term “newly constructed” does not include any of the
following:

(1) The construction or addition of any active solar energy
system.

(2) The construction or installation of any fire sprinkler system,
other fire extinguishing system, fire detection system, or fire-related
egress improvement, as defined by the Legislature, that is
constructed or installed after the effective date of this paragraph.

(3) The construction, installation, or modification on or after
the effective date of this paragraph of any portion or structural
component of a single- or multiple-family dwelling that is eligible
for the homeowner’s exemption if the construction, installation,
or modification is for the purpose of making the dwelling more
accessible to a severely disabled person.

(4) The construction, installation, removal, or modification on
or after the effective date of this paragraph of any portion or
structural component of an existing building or structure if the
construction, installation, removal, or modification is for the
purpose of making the building more accessible to, or more usable
by, a disabled person.

(d) For purposes of this section, the term “change in ownership”
does not include the acquisition of real property as a replacement
for comparable property if the person acquiring the real property
has been displaced from the property replaced by eminent domain
proceedings, by acquisition by a public entity, or governmental
action that has resulted in a judgment of inverse condemnation.
The real property acquired shall be deemed comparable to the
property replaced if it is similar in size, utility, and function, or if
it conforms to state regulations defined by the Legislature
governing the relocation of persons displaced by governmental
actions. This subdivision applies to any property acquired after
March 1, 1975, but affects only those assessments of that property
that occur after the provisions of this subdivision take effect.

(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
Legislature shall provide that the base year value of property that
is substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as declared
by the Governor, may be transferred to comparable property within
the same county that is acquired or newly constructed as a
replacement for the substantially damaged or destroyed property.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), this subdivision applies
to any comparable replacement property acquired or newly
constructed on or after July 1, 1985, and to the determination of
base year values for the 1985-86 fiscal year and fiscal years
thereafter.

(3) In addition to the transfer of base year value of property
within the same county that is permitted by paragraph (1), the
Legislature may authorize each county board of supervisors to
adopt, after consultation with affected local agencies within the
county, an ordinance allowing the transfer of the base year value
of property that is located within another county in the State and
is substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as declared
by the Governor, to comparable replacement property of equal or
lesser value that is located within the adopting county and is
acquired or newly constructed within three years of the substantial
damage or destruction of the original property as a replacement
for that property. The scope and amount of the benefit provided
to a property owner by the transfer of base year value of property
pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed the scope and amount
of the benefit provided to a property owner by the transfer of base
year value of property pursuant to subdivision (a). For purposes
of this paragraph, “affected local agency” means any city, special
district, school district, or community college district that receives
an annual allocation of ad valorem property tax revenues. This
paragraph applies to any comparable replacement property that is
acquired or newly constructed as a replacement for property
substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as declared by
the Governor, occurring on or after October 20, 1991, and to the
determination of base year values for the 1991-92 fiscal year and
fiscal years thereafter.

(f) For the purposes of subdivision (e):

(1) Property is substantially damaged or destroyed if it sustains
physical damage amounting to more than 50 percent of its value
immediately before the disaster. Damage includes a diminution in
the value of property as a result of restricted access caused by the
disaster.

(2) Replacement property is comparable to the property
substantially damaged or destroyed if it is similar in size, utility,
and function to the property that it replaces, and if the fair market
value of the acquired property is comparable to the fair market
value of the replaced property prior to the disaster.

(g) For purposes of subdivision (a), the terms “purchased” and
“change in ownership” do not include the purchase or transfer of
real property between spouses since March 1, 1975, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Transfers to a trustee for the beneficial use of a spouse, or
the surviving spouse of a deceased transferor, or by a trustee of
such a trust to the spouse of the trustor.

(2) Transfers to a spouse that take effect upon the death of a
spouse.

(3) Transfers to a spouse or former spouse in connection with
a property settlement agreement or decree of dissolution of a
marriage or legal separation.

(4) The creation, transfer, or termination, solely between
spouses, of any coowner’s interest.

(5) The distribution of a legal entity’s property to a spouse or
former spouse in exchange for the interest of the spouse in the
legal entity in connection with a property settlement agreement or
a decree of dissolution of a marriage or legal separation.

(h) (1) For purposes of subdivision (a), the terms “purchased”
and “change in ownership” do not include the purchase or transfer
of the principal residence of the transferor in the case of a purchase
or transfer between parents and their children, as defined by the
Legislature, and the purchase or transfer of the first one million
dollars ($1,000,000) of the full cash value of all other real property
between parents and their children, as defined by the Legislature.
This subdivision applies to both voluntary transfers and transfers
resulting from a court order or judicial decree.

(2) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), commencing with
purchases or transfers that occur on or after the date upon which
the measure adding this paragraph becomes effective, the exclusion
established by paragraph (1) also applies to a purchase or transfer
of real property between grandparents and their grandchild or
grandchildren, as defined by the Legislature, that otherwise
qualifies under paragraph (1), if all of the parents of that grandchild
or those grandchildren, who qualify as the children of the
grandparents, are deceased as of the date of the purchase or transfer.

(B) A purchase or transfer of a principal residence shall not be
excluded pursuant to subparagraph (A) if the transferee grandchild
or grandchildren also received a principal residence, or interest
therein, through another purchase or transfer that was excludable
pursuant to paragraph (1). The full cash value of any real property,
other than a principal residence, that was transferred to the
grandchild or grandchildren pursuant to a purchase or transfer that
was excludable pursuant to paragraph (1), and the full cash value
of a principal residence that fails to qualify for exclusion as a result
of the preceding sentence, shall be included in applying, for
purposes of subparagraph (A), the one-million-dollar ($1,000,000)
full cash value limit specified in paragraph (1).

(i) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
Legislature shall provide with respect to a qualified contaminated
property, as defined in paragraph (2), that either, but not both, of
the following apply:

(A) (i) Subject to the limitation of clause (ii), the base year
value of the qualified contaminated property, as adjusted as
authorized by subdivision (b), may be transferred to a replacement
property that is acquired or newly constructed as a replacement
for the qualified contaminated property, if the replacement real
property has a fair market value that is equal to or less than the
fair market value of the qualified contaminated property if that
property were not contaminated and, except as otherwise provided
by this clause, is located within the same county. The base year
value of the qualified contaminated property may be transferred
to a replacement real property located within another county if the
board of supervisors of that other county has, after consultation
with the affected local agencies within that county, adopted a
resolution authorizing an intercounty transfer of base year value
as so described.

(ii) This subparagraph applies only to replacement property that
is acquired or newly constructed within five years after ownership
in the qualified contaminated property is sold or otherwise
transferred.

(B) In the case in which the remediation of the environmental
problems on the qualified contaminated property requires the
destruction of, or results in substantial damage to, a structure
located on that property, the term “new construction” does not
include the repair of a substantially damaged structure, or the
construction of a structure replacing a destroyed structure on the
qualified contaminated property, performed after the remediation
of the environmental problems on that property, provided that the
repaired or replacement structure is similar in size, utility, and
function to the original structure.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “qualified contaminated
property” means residential or nonresidential real property that is
all of the following:

(A) In the case of residential real property, rendered
uninhabitable, and in the case of nonresidential real property,
rendered unusable, as the result of either environmental problems,
in the nature of and including, but not limited to, the presence of
toxic or hazardous materials, or the remediation of those
environmental problems, except where the existence of the
environmental problems was known to the owner, or to a related
individual or entity as described in paragraph (3), at the time the
real property was acquired or constructed. For purposes of this
subparagraph, residential real property is “uninhabitable” if that
property, as a result of health hazards caused by or associated with
the environmental problems, is unfit for human habitation, and
nonresidential real property is “unusable” if that property, as a
result of health hazards caused by or associated with the
environmental problems, is unhealthy and unsuitable for
occupancy.

(B) Located on a site that has been designated as a toxic or
environmental hazard or as an environmental cleanup site by an
agency of the State of California or the federal government.

(C) Real property that contains a structure or structures thereon
prior to the completion of environmental cleanup activities, and
that structure or structures are substantially damaged or destroyed
as a result of those environmental cleanup activities.

(D) Stipulated by the lead governmental agency, with respect
to the environmental problems or environmental cleanup of the
real property, not to have been rendered uninhabitable or unusable,
as applicable, as described in subparagraph (A), by any act or
omission in which an owner of that real property participated or
acquiesced.

(3) It shall be rebuttably presumed that an owner of the real
property participated or acquiesced in any act or omission that
rendered the real property uninhabitable or unusable, as applicable,
if that owner is related to any individual or entity that committed
that act or omission in any of the following ways:

(A) Is a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling
of that individual.

(B) Is a corporate parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of that entity.

(C) Is an owner of, or has control of, that entity.

(D) Is owned or controlled by that entity.

If this presumption is not overcome, the owner shall not receive
the relief provided for in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph
(1). The presumption may be overcome by presentation of
satisfactory evidence to the assessor, who shall not be bound by
the findings of the lead governmental agency in determining
whether the presumption has been overcome.

(4) This subdivision applies only to replacement property that
is acquired or constructed on or after January 1, 1995, and to
property repairs performed on or after that date.

(j) Unless specifically provided otherwise, amendments to this
section adopted prior to November 1, 1988, are effective for
changes in ownership that occur, and new construction that is
completed, after the effective date of the amendment. Unless
specifically provided otherwise, amendments to this section
adopted after November 1, 1988, are effective for changes in
ownership that occur, and new construction that is completed, on
or after the effective date of the amendment.