BILL NUMBER: AB 1807	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Takasugi

                        FEBRUARY 10, 1998

   An act relating to taxation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1807, as introduced, Takasugi.  Property taxation: airline
property and possessory interests.
   Existing property tax law provides that all property is subject to
taxation at its full value, unless that property is otherwise
exempted from taxation in whole or in part pursuant to either state
or federal law.
   This bill would, pursuant to legislative findings and
declarations, declare the intent of the Legislature to enact those
provisions that will resolve outstanding issues arising from prior
and ongoing tax assessments made with respect to airline property and
the taxable possessory interests of airlines in publicly owned
airports.
  This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
   Vote:  2/3.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  no.
State-mandated local program:  no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) As a result of both ambiguities in the law and conflicts
between regulations and court decisions, one of the most difficult
and contentious property tax assessment issues in recent years has
been the assessment of airline property and possessory interests in
publicly owned airports.
   (2) These ambiguities and conflicts have given rise to litigation
and appeals challenging assessments involving hundreds of millions of
dollars of property tax revenues.
   (3) The uncertainty created by pending litigation and appeals over
the assessment of airline property and possessory interests in
publicly owned airports is disruptive to both airline industry tax
planning and local government and school finance.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
facilitate resolution of the disputes over the assessment of airline
property and possessory interests in publicly owned airports by
codifying recommendations, produced by a county and airline industry
working group, that:
   (1) Dispose of all outstanding litigation and appeals over
assessments on airline industry property and possessory interests in
publicly owned airports.
   (2) Define the right to assess, and method of assessing, the
possessory interests of airlines in publicly owned airports.
   (3) Establish assessment methodology for airline property.
   (4) Create a presumption of correctness if county assessors follow
the assessment guidelines provided in this measure.
   (5) Mitigate the financial impact of this statutory change on
local governments and schools by establishing a method by which the
issuance of any prior-year refunds to litigating airlines would be
treated as credits against future tax payments.
  SEC. 2.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   This measure is necessary to provide guidance and clarification
that is essential to the fair and efficient taxation of airline
industry property and possessory interests in publicly owned airports
in the current year, and to clarify the status of prior-year
property tax payments that have funded essential services provided by
local governments and schools.