BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1188
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1188 (McGuire, et al.)
As Introduced February 18, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Water |15-0 |Levine, Gallagher, | |
| | |Bigelow, Dodd, | |
| | |Eggman, Cristina | |
| | |Garcia, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |Harper, Lopez, | |
| | |Mathis, Nazarian, | |
| | |Olsen, Salas, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |15-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Chang, Eggman, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
SB 1188
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| | |Weber, Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW),
when income is derived from wildlife management areas, to make
payments in lieu of taxes to the counties in which the state
wildlife management areas are located, subject to appropriation
by the Legislature. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, instead of authorizes, the DFW, when income is
derived directly from real property acquired and operated by
the state as a wildlife management area, to pay annually to
the county in which the property is located an amount equal to
the county taxes levied upon the property at the time the
property was transferred to the state.
2)Requires, instead of authorizes, the DFW to also pay
assessments levied upon the property by any irrigation,
drainage, or reclamation district.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the DFW, when income is derived directly from real
property acquired and operated by the state as a wildlife
management area, to pay annually to the county in which the
property is located, an amount equal to the county taxes
levied upon the property at the time the property was
transferred to the state.
2)Authorizes the DFW to also pay assessments levied upon the
property by any irrigation, drainage, or reclamation district.
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3)Provides that these in lieu payments shall be made only from
funds that are appropriated to the DFW for these purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, ongoing annual cost pressures of $644,000 (General
Fund) for annual obligations to counties for payments in lieu of
taxes. Payments are required to be made from funds appropriated
to the DFW by the Legislature for this purpose.
COMMENTS: This bill amends existing law, which currently
authorizes but does not require the state to make payments in
lieu of taxes to counties for loss of property tax revenues
which would otherwise have been received for lands within the
county that are operated by the state as wildlife management
areas. This bill requires rather than permits these payments,
but continues the condition that these payments shall only be
made from funds appropriated by the Legislature to the DFW for
that purpose.
State lands, including wildlife management areas, are exempt
from property taxes under the State Constitution. In 1949,
California established a process to offset impacts to county
property tax revenues when the state acquires private property
for wildlife management areas, by requiring the state to make
payments to counties known as payments in lieu of taxes.
Payments in lieu of taxes help small and rural counties fund a
variety of programs and services that benefit county residents.
The in lieu program was established with the intention of
mitigating the effects of the state's land acquisition on county
revenue sources.
However, the state, from fiscal year 1998-1999 through
2002-2003, only made partial in lieu payments to counties, and
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suspended the payments completely after 2002-2003. According to
the Legislative Analyst's Office, the amount of unpaid in lieu
payments in arrears is close to $8 million. According to the
author and sponsor of this bill, the non-payment of these in
lieu payments has been particularly burdensome on small rural
counties. Last year, $644,000 was included in the 2015-16 State
Budget to pay for the current year's in lieu payments. Budget
trailer bill language included in SB 83 (Committee on Budget),
Chapter 24, Statutes of 2015, also made the payments permissive.
The State Budget for 2016-17 also includes $644,000 for the
next fiscal year's payment. While the Governor's budget
includes funding for the annual in lieu payment for the upcoming
fiscal year, this bill seeks to ensure that counties in the
future are not left without recourse due to the now permissive
nature of the law.
The state's failure to pay in lieu payments has been a subject
of contention for several years. It is possible that continued
failure on the part of the state to pay counties the monies to
which they are entitled may create negative sentiment toward
existing and future wildlife management areas.
Making the statute mandatory rather than permissive may not
totally solve the problem, since payment of the in lieu payments
is still dependent on the Governor and the Legislature including
the annual appropriations for the payments in the DFW's budget.
This is demonstrated by the fact that even when the payments
were mandated by statute, as they were prior to last year, the
state was not making them.
Supporters note that many of California's rural counties are
home to important state wildlife areas and also have other
federal and state owned lands within their boundaries. In
either case, these lands do not generate property tax revenues,
an important source of funding for local programs and services
for county residents. This bill reverses a change in statute
made last year that made the program permissive rather than
mandatory. Many of the counties in support of this bill note
that they are owed significant amounts in arrears for unpaid in
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lieu payments. This bill will help ensure the state honors its
commitment to make future in lieu payments to counties.
No formal opposition to this bill has been received.
Analysis Prepared by:
Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096
FN:
0004052