BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1534 (Committee on Revenue and Taxation) - Assessment
analyst: certification
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|Version: April 30, 2015 |Policy Vote: GOV. & F. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: July 6, 2015 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1534 would permit local boards of supervisors to
impose certification and annual training requirements on county
assessor employees responsible for property tax change in
ownership and exemption decisions.
Fiscal
Impact: The Board of Equalization (BOE) would incur annual costs
of up to $175,000 (General Fund) annually to implement the costs
of the bill. BOE indicates that the bill would not impact
property tax revenues.
Background: Under the provisions of the California Constitution, all
property is taxable unless explicitly exempted by it or federal
law. In 1850, the Legislature directed county assessors to tax
AB 1534 (Committee on Revenue and Taxation)
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property; however, tax rates and methods of assessment varied
significantly from county to county. The California
Constitution of 1879 created the Board of Equalization (BOE) to
equalize property tax rates and assessment practices among
counties. As part of this oversight role, BOE administers the
property tax certification program, which imposes certification
and annual training requirements on property tax appraisers and
auditor-appraisers who are county employees.
Proposed Law:
This bill would prohibit an assessor or any person employed by
the office of an assessor from making any decisions regarding
"change in ownership" issues or property tax exemptions without
holding valid assessment analyst certificates issued by BOE, but
only if the relevant city or county has adopted a resolution to
require a valid assessment analyst certificate. The bill would
(1) set up a process to certify an assessment analyst, and (2)
create three additional certificates, as specified.
Staff
Comments: This bill is substantially similar to AB 2756
(Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee) of 2014, which was
vetoed by the Governor. That bill required all assessor offices
to obtain the training and certification of its employees,
likely resulting in a state mandate. In his veto message, the
Governor indicated that county assessors should be providing
this training without a state mandate. As noted earlier, AB
1534 includes an opt-in provision for county assessors,
requiring counties and cities to first adopt a resolution upon
recommendation of the assessor before requiring its employees to
obtain certifications.
Since the adoption of Proposition 13 in 1978, real property has
generally been taxed on its value at the time of its
acquisition, with increases for inflation limited to 2 percent
per year. The property is reassessed to its market value when
the ownership of property is changed. While the requirement to
reassess property upon a change in ownership is contained in the
California Constitution, the phrase "change in ownership" is not
defined. Change in ownership and exemption decisions are highly
complex, requiring a thorough understanding of different legal
documents, statutes, regulations, and court decisions.
AB 1534 (Committee on Revenue and Taxation)
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Since current law requires appraisers to be certified, similar
certification procedures are needed for state and local
government employees making decisions in regard to change in
ownership and property tax exemptions. This bill is intended to
ensure that employees making change in ownership and exemption
decisions are adequately trained and educated.
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