Senate Bill No. 1329

Introduced by Senator Hertzberg

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Sections 742 and 744 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1329, as introduced, Hertzberg. Property tax: reassessment: electronic mail.

With respect to state-assessed property, existing property tax law establishes a procedure by which an assessee may petition the State Board of Equalization for reassessment of unitary or nonunitary property. Existing property tax law requires the board to mail to the assessee the notice of the time and place of a hearing on the petition and the decision on the petition. Existing property tax law requires the notice of the time and place of a hearing be sent at least 10 working days in advance of the date of the hearing.

This bill would require the board to send these documents to the assessee’s electronic mail address if the assesee requests that they be sent by electronic mail. The bill would also require that notice of the time and place of the hearing instead be sent at least 15 working days in advance of the date of the hearing.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 742 of the Revenue and Taxation Code
is amended to read:

742.  

Upon receipt of a timely petition for reassessment, the
board shall set a time and place within the state for hearing on the
petition. Notice begin delete thereof end delete begin insert of the time and place of the hearing end insert shall
be mailed begin insert and, if requested by the assessee, electronically mailed end insert
to the assessee at its begin delete address end delete begin insert address, end insert begin insert electronic mail address, or
both, end insert as shown in the records of the board, not less than begin delete 10 end delete begin insert 15 end insert
working days in advance of the date of the hearing.

SEC. 2.  

Section 744 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:

744.  

(a) The board shall notify the petitioner of its decision
on a petition for reassessment by mail begin insert and, if requested by the
assessee, by electronic mail end insert and shall make written findings and
conclusions if requested at or prior to the commencement of the
hearing. The board shall send a periodic report of its decisions and
any written findings and conclusions thereon to each county in
which affected state-assessed property is situated. The findings
shall fairly disclose the board’s determination of material factual
issues and shall contain a statement of the method or methods of
valuation used by the board in valuing the property.
Notwithstanding the requirement for a statement of method or
methods, the board’s approval of a settlement of a lawsuit
contesting the value of state-assessed property shall be sufficient
disclosure when value is determined in accordance with a
board-approved settlement. Decisions of the board on petitions for
reassessment of state-assessed property shall be completed on or
before December 31.

(b) When the value of an assessee’s state-assessed property is
determined, after a hearing on a petition for reassessment, to be
different from the value originally adopted by the board, the board
shall determine the year in which the corrected value is to be
entered on the roll. The correct value may be entered on the roll
for the fiscal year in which the determination is made, or the
difference between the original and the corrected value may be
entered as an increase or decrease in the assessment for the
succeeding fiscal year. If the corrected value is entered on the roll
for the fiscal year in which it is determined, and the board roll has
been transmitted to the county auditors, the board shall make the
corresponding changes in allocations and transmit the roll
corrections to the county auditor.

(c) If the amount of the correction is to be entered on the roll
for the succeeding fiscal year, an amount is to be added in lieu of
interest. If the correction results in a reduction in assessed value,
there shall be added to the reduction, in lieu of interest, 9 percent
of the difference between the original assessed value and the
reduced assessed value. If the correction results in an increase in
assessed value, there shall be added to the increase, in lieu of
interest, 9 percent of the difference between the original assessed
value and the increased assessed value.