BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2314
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2314 (Bigelow) - As Amended April 25, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Revenue and Taxation |Vote:|9 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill provides a mechanism for reimbursing Calaveras County
for property tax losses resulting from the reassessment of
properties damaged by the September 2015 wild fires.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Calaveras County auditor to certify to the
Director of Finance an estimate of the reduction in FY 2015-16
property tax revenues resulting from the county assessor's
reassessment of eligible properties by the 2015 wildfires, as
specified.
AB 2314
Page 2
2)Requires the State Controller to make the appropriate
allocation to the county once the Director of the Department
of Finance (DPF) certifies the amount to be allocated and upon
appropriation of that amount.
3)Requires Calaveras County to compute and remit to the State
Controller for deposit in the General Fund an amount equal to
its original allocation, less the actual property tax losses.
If, however, the actual amount of lost FY 2015-16 property tax
revenue lost exceeds the amount of the original allocation,
the State Controller will allocate the difference to the
county.
4)Provides that the provisions in this bill will sunset on
January 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT:
An estimated $538,000 would be required to backfill Calaveras
County's property tax losses. This amount would be allocated
upon appropriation. (Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties)
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill provides the statutory language necessary
to backfill property tax revenue losses incurred by Calaveras
County following the Butte Fire. Specifically, the county will
estimate its property tax losses, the Director of Finance will
verify this estimate, and the State Controller will allocate
the verified amount to the county if those moneys are
appropriated.
AB 2314
Page 3
Supporters note that an estimated $53.8 million was lost in
property value as a result of the Butte Fire, which equates to
a loss of $540,607 local property tax revenue.
2)Local property tax backfill. Under current law, the Director
of the Department of Finance (DOF) may allocate funds from the
Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties for property tax
related disaster relief when authorizing legislation is
enacted. This allows the state to reimburse local governments
for the property tax revenue loss associated with assessment
reductions the law provides to property owners incurring a
disaster, provided the Governor proclaims a state of
emergency. The reimbursement usually is limited to the taxes
related to the fiscal year in which the disaster occurred
3)Recent legislative practice. In recent years, the state has
not backfilled county property tax losses following a
disaster. As the BOE notes, the state did not backfill lost
property revenues for a number of recent disasters, including
the May 2014 fires in San Diego County. Moreover, this bill
provides relief for Calaveras County only, even though fires
also affected Amador, Lake, and Napa Counties in 2015.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 2314
Page 4