Amended in Senate April 27, 2016

Amended in Senate March 28, 2016

Senate BillNo. 1416


Introduced by Senator Stone

February 19, 2016


An act to addbegin insert and repealend insert Article 4 (commencing with Section 18735)begin delete toend deletebegin insert ofend insert Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to the Salton Sea.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1416, as amended, Stone. begin deletePersonal income taxes: voluntary end deletebegin insertVoluntary end insertcontribution:begin insert Reviveend insert the Saltonbegin delete Sea.end deletebegin insert Sea Fund.end insert

Existing lawbegin delete allowsend deletebegin insert authorizesend insert an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of his or her personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds.begin insert Existing law also contains administrative provisions that are generally applicable to voluntary contributions.end insert

This bill would allow an individual to designate on his or her tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the Revive the Salton Sea Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill wouldbegin delete require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fundend deletebegin insert prohibit a voluntary contribution designation for the Revive the Salton Sea Fund from being added on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation is removed or a space is availableend insert andbegin delete to includeend deletebegin insert would require, once the designation is added,end insert specified begin deleteinformation,end deletebegin insert information to be on the tax form,end insert including the purposes for which the contribution would be used.

This bill would require money contributed to the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and to thebegin delete nonprofit corporation Revive the Salon Sea to fund or supplementend deletebegin insert Natural Resources Agency for distributions of grants to provide funds or supplementend insert funding of the state,begin delete county,end deletebegin insert countyend insert andbegin delete local agenciesend deletebegin insert local agencies, nonprofit,end insert and projects identified as necessary for the restoration and maintenance of the Salton Sea and to develop a mechanism to provide ongoing public awareness, as specified.

begin insert

The bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the first appearance of the fund on the tax return, but would further provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not equal or exceed the minimum contribution amount, as defined, for that calendar year, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year.

end insert

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

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

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Article 4 (commencing with Section 18735) is
2added to Chapter 3 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and
3Taxation Code
, to read:

4 

5Article 4.  Revive the Salton Sea Fund
6

 

7

18735.  

(a) An individual may designate on the tax return that
8a contribution in excess of the tax liability, if any, be made to the
9Revive the Salton Sea Fund established by Section 18736. That
10designation shall be used as a voluntary contribution on the tax
11return.

12(b) The contributions shall be in full dollar amounts and may
13be made individually by each signatory on a joint return.

14(c) A designation under subdivision (a) shall be made for a
15taxable year on the original return for that taxable year and once
16made shall be irrevocable. If payments and credits reported on the
17return, together with any other credits associated with the
18individual’s account, do not exceed the individual’s tax liability,
19the return shall be treated as though no designation has been made.

P3    1(d) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertThe Franchise Tax Board shall revise the form of the
2return to include a space labeled “Revive the Salton Sea Fund” to
3allow for the designation permitted under subdivision (a). The
4form shall also include in the instructions information that the
5contribution may be in the amount of one dollar ($1) or more and
6that the contribution shall be used to fund all of the following:

begin delete

7(1)

end delete

8begin insert(A)end insert Programs to create statewide public awareness and grassroots
9support for the restoration of the Salton Sea.

begin delete

10(2)

end delete

11begin insert(B)end insert Programs to engage the public through promotion and
12education about the Salton Sea.

begin delete

13(3)

end delete

14begin insert(C)end insert Current and future projects identified as necessary for
15restoration and maintenance of the Salton Sea, including projects
16identified by the Salton Sea Authority.

begin insert

17
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, a voluntary contribution
18designation for the Revive the Salton Sea Fund shall not be added
19on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation
20is removed or space is available, whichever occurs first.

end insert

21(e) A deduction shall be allowed under Article 6 (commencing
22with Section 17201) of Chapter 3 of Part 10 for any contribution
23made pursuant to subdivision (a).

24

18736.  

There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
25Revive the Salton Sea Fund to receive contributions made pursuant
26to Section 18735. The Franchise Tax Board shall notify the
27Controller of both the amount of money paid by taxpayers in excess
28of their tax liability and the amount of refund money that taxpayers
29have designated pursuant to Section 18735 to be transferred to the
30Revive the Salton Sea Fund. The Controller shall transfer from
31the Personal Income Tax Fund to the Revive the Salton Sea Fund
32an amount not in excess of the sum of the amounts designated by
33individuals pursuant to Section 18735 for payment into that fund.

34

18737.  

(a) All money transferred to the Revive the Salton Sea
35Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be allocated as
36follows:

37(1) To the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for
38reimbursement of all costs incurred by the Franchise Tax Board
39and the Controller in connection with their duties under this article.

P4    1(2) (A)  begin deleteThe remaining moneys shall be distributed to Revive
2the Salton Sea, a California corporation that is duly incorporated
3in the state, in active status, as described on the business search
4page of the Secretary of State’s Internet Web site, and is exempt
5from federal income taxation as an organization described in
6Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, to be used to fund
7or supplement end delete
begin insertTo the Natural Resources Agency for distribution
8of grants to provide funds or supplement end insert
funding of state,begin delete county,end delete
9begin insert countyend insert andbegin delete local agenciesend deletebegin insert local agencies, nonprofit,end insert and projects
10identified as necessary for the restoration and maintenance of the
11Salton Sea, including projects identified by the Salton Sea
12Authority.

13(B) Up to 5 percent of the fundsbegin delete allocatedend delete to the Revive the
14Salton Sea Fundbegin delete shall be used for theend deletebegin insert forend insert development of a
15mechanism to provide ongoing public awareness through activities
16that will promote the charitable tax deduction for the fund and
17seek continued contributions. These activities may include
18convening a philanthropic roundtable, developing literature for
19use by city, county, or local agencies and programs, and whatever
20other activities are deemed necessary and appropriate to promote
21the fund.

22(b) No money in the Revive the Salton Sea Fund shall be used
23to supplant state General Fund money for any purpose.

begin insert
24

begin insert18738.end insert  

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of
25subdivision (b), this article shall remain in effect only until January
261 of the fifth taxable year following the first appearance of the
27Revive the Salton Sea Fund on the personal income tax return and
28is repealed as of December 1 of that year.

29
(b) (1) By September 1 of the second calendar year and each
30subsequent calendar year that the Revive the Salton Sea Fund
31appears on the tax return, the Franchise Tax Board shall do all
32of the following:

33
(A) Determine the minimum contribution amount required to
34be received during the next calendar year for the fund to appear
35on the tax return for the taxable year that includes that next
36calendar year.

37
(B) Provide written notification to the Natural Resources Agency
38of the amount determined in subparagraph (A).

39
(C) Determine whether the amount of contributions estimated
40to be received during the calendar year will equal or exceed the
P5    1minimum contribution amount determined by the Franchise Tax
2Board for the calendar year pursuant to subparagraph (A). The
3Franchise Tax Board shall estimate the amount of contributions
4to be received by using the actual amounts received and an
5estimate of the contributions that will be received by the end of
6that calendar year.

7
(2) If the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of
8the contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year
9will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount for the
10calendar year, this article shall be inoperative with respect to
11taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of that calendar
12year and shall be repealed on December 1 of that year.

13
(3) For purposes of this section, the minimum contribution
14amount for a calendar year means two hundred fifty thousand
15dollars ($250,000) for the second calendar year after the first
16appearance of the Revive the Salton Sea Fund on the personal
17income tax return or the minimum contribution amount as adjusted
18pursuant to subdivision (c).

19
(c) For each calendar year, beginning with the third calendar
20year after the first appearance of the Revive the Salton Sea Fund
21on the personal income tax return, the Franchise Tax Board shall
22adjust, on or before September 1 of that calendar year, the
23minimum contribution amount specified in subdivision (b) as
24follows:

25
(1) The minimum contribution amount for the calendar year
26shall be an amount equal to the product of the minimum
27contribution amount for the prior calendar year multiplied by the
28inflation factor adjustment as specified in subparagraph (A) of
29paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 17041, rounded off to
30the nearest dollar.

31
(2) The inflation factor adjustment used for the calendar year
32shall be based on the figures for the percentage change in the
33California Consumer Price Index for all items received on or
34before August 1 of the calendar year pursuant to paragraph (1)
35of subdivision (h) of Section 17041.

end insert


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