BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2476
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2476 (Daly) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires a local agency, within one week following a
legislative body's vote to place a proposed parcel tax on the
ballot, to provide specified notice to all property owners
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affected by the tax. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "local agency" to mean a city, county, special
district, or school district authorized to impose a parcel
tax.
2)Requires the notice to include the amount or rate of the
proposed parcel tax, the method and frequency for collecting
the proposed parcel tax, the duration of time the parcel tax
will be imposed, the date that the proposed parcel tax will be
voted on, and the telephone number and address that interested
persons may contact to receive additional information about
the proposed parcel tax.
3)Requires the notice to be mailed, for all properties proposed
to be subject to the new parcel tax, to those persons whose
names and addresses appear on the last equalized county
assessment roll or the State Board of Equalization assessment
roll.
4)Authorizes the local agency to recover the reasonable costs of
the notice from the proceeds
of the parcel tax, but prohibits the recovered costs from
exceeding the reasonable costs of preparing and mailing the
notice.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)If the parcel tax is not approved by the voters, potentially
reimbursable mandate costs, potentially in the hundreds of
thousands to low millions of dollars (GF) annually, for
preparing and mailing the notices.
2)If the measure is approved, the bill allows a local agency to
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recover reasonable costs of the notice requirement from the
proceeds of the parcel tax.
Note: Local costs will vary by jurisdiction depending on the
number of property owners affected. Assuming $1 per-property
owner cost of printing, postage and staff time, a jurisdiction
with 50,000 property owners would incur $50,000 in costs for
the notification per ballot measure. Between 2002 and November
2013, 45% of the 396 measures placed on the ballot were
approved (178 passed, 218 failed).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "Currently, property owners
are required to pay parcel taxes approved by the voters of a
local jurisdiction. If a property owner is a resident of the
local jurisdiction that is seeking to enact a parcel tax, that
property owner will receive a voter pamphlet prior to the
election. Non-resident property owners - who own a parcel or
parcels within a local jurisdiction but reside elsewhere -
receive no notice of a pending parcel tax vote. AB 2476 seeks
to provide a measure of fairness by establishing a process for
notifying the non-resident property owners.
This bill seeks to ensure that all property owners are
notified of a pending parcel tax vote, whether or not they are
entitled to vote on the measure.
2)Background. A parcel tax is a particular type of special tax
that is based on either a flat per-parcel rate or a rate that
varies depending upon use, size, and/or number of units on
each parcel. The California Constitution allows cities,
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counties, and special districts to impose special taxes by a
two-thirds vote of the qualified electors in that
jurisdiction.
To place a parcel tax measure on the ballot, a local agency
must adopt a resolution stating the type of tax and rate to be
levied, the method of collection, and the date of the
election. In addition, local agencies must issue a statement
indicating the specific purpose of the tax, create an account
in which to deposit proceeds, and issue an annual report that
includes the amount of funds collected and expended, and the
project status of any project required or authorized by the
tax measure.
A parcel tax measure levied by a local agency requires
approval by two-thirds of the "qualified electors." The Court
has interpreted the phrase "qualified electors of such
district" to mean the "registered voters" voting in the
election concerning the proposed tax. Non-resident property
owners who are not registered voters within the district's
boundaries do not vote on the proposed parcel tax. Voters who
do not own real property, but are registered within the
district's boundaries, like renters or tenants, are able to
vote on a parcel tax. However, they are not included in the
notification requirement proposed by this bill.
3)Prior Legislation.
a) AB 237 (Daly) of 2015, was nearly identical to this
bill. This bill was held on this Committee's Suspense File.
b) AB 2109 (Daly), Chapter 781, Statutes of 2014, required
the State Controller to report annually on the imposition
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of each locally assessed parcel tax, and required each
county, city, and special district to provide any
information required by the Controller in order to complete
the report.
c) AB 892 (Daly) of 2013, would have required the Board of
Equalization to report annually to the Governor on the
imposition of each locally assessed parcel tax. This bill
was held on this Committee's Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081