BILL NUMBER: SB 1329	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


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  thereof   of the time and
place of the hearing  shall be mailed  and, if requested by
the assessee, electronically mailed  to the assessee at its
 address   address,   electronic mail
address, or both,  as shown in the records of the board, not
less than  10   15  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  and, if requested by the
assessee, by electronic mail  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.