BILL ANALYSIS
AB 50
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Date of Hearing: April 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 50 (Nava) - As Amended: March 23, 2009
SUBJECT : Disaster relief.
SUMMARY : Adds several different wildfires to the list of
disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local agency
costs, deletes provisions specifying what elements need to be
included in local hazard mitigation plans, and adds the Santa
Barbara County wildfire commencing in November of 2008 to
provisions in code that allow for beneficial homeowners'
property tax exemption treatment and favorable "carry forward"
treatment of excess disaster losses. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds the wildfires that occurred in southern California
starting on or about October 20, 2007, to the list of
disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local
agency costs.
2)Adds the wildfire that occurred in the Lake Tahoe Basin
starting on June 24, 2007, to the list of disasters eligible
for full state reimbursement of local agency costs.
3)Adds the wildfire that occurred in Santa Barbara County
starting on November 13, 2008, to the list of disasters
eligible for full state reimbursement of local agency costs.
4)Deletes provisions in current law that require the inclusion
of certain elements in a local hazard mitigation plan (HMP),
including an initial earthquake performance evaluation of
public facilities, an inventory of private facilities that are
potentially hazardous, and a plan to reduce the potential risk
from private and government facilities in the event of a
disaster.
5)Requires, by October 30, 2009, the auditor of the County of
Santa Barbara to certify to the Director of Finance an
estimate for the total amount of the reduction in property tax
revenues resulting from the reassessment of properties
impacted by the November 2008 fire.
6)Requires the Director of Finance, within 30 days after
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verification of the county auditor's property tax estimate, to
certify the amount to the State Controller for allocation to
the county for reimbursement in property tax loss.
7)Allows owners of dwellings that were damaged or destroyed by
the wildfire in Santa Barbara County in November of 2008 to be
eligible for the standard homeowners' property tax exemption.
8)Provides that any taxpayer's excess disaster loss shall be
carried forward to future years for losses sustained in Santa
Barbara County as a result of the wildfire starting on
November 13, 2008.
9)Contains an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides, under the California Disaster Assistance Act, a list
of disasters eligible for full state reimbursement of local
agency costs.
2)Provides for state reimbursement to backfill property tax
revenue loss resulting from assessment reductions in areas
that the Governor has declared to be in a state of emergency.
3)Provides for a standard homeowners' property tax exemption of
$7,000, and allows dwellings damaged in disasters declared by
the Governor to continue eligibility for the exemption.
4)Allows losses sustained because of a Governor-declared
disaster to be carried forward to each of the five taxable
years following the loss, or if the loss remains after the
five years, extends the loss for the next ten years.
5)Allows a city, county, or a city and county to adopt, with its
safety element, a local hazard mitigation plan (HMP) specified
in the federal Disaster Mitigation Act (DMA) of 2000.
6)Requires the HMP to include all of the following elements
called for in the federal act requirements:
a) An initial earthquake performance evaluation of public
facilities that provide essential services, shelter, and
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critical government functions.
b) An inventory of private facilities that are potentially
hazardous, including, but not limited to, multiunit, soft
story, concrete tilt-up, and concrete frame buildings.
c) A plan to reduce the potential risk from private and
governmental facilities in the event of a disaster.
7)Prohibits the state share of reimbursement for local costs due
to a disaster from exceeding 75% of total state eligible
costs, unless the local agency is located within a city or
county that has adopted a local HMP in accordance with the
federal DMA as part of the safety element.
8)Allows the Legislature to provide for a state share of local
costs that exceeds 75% of total state eligible costs if the
city, county, or city and county has adopted a local HMP in
accordance with the DMA.
9)Requires, as specified in the federal Disaster Mitigation Act
of 2000 (Public Law 106-390; 42 U.S.C. Sec.5121 et seq.) that:
a) As a condition of receipt of an increased federal share
for hazard mitigation measures, a state, local, or tribal
government shall develop and submit for approval to the
President a mitigation plan that outlines processes for
identifying the natural hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities
of the area under the jurisdiction of the government.
b) Each mitigation plan developed by a local or tribal
government shall: (1) describe actions to mitigate hazards,
risks, and vulnerabilities identified under the plan; and
(2) establish a strategy to implement those actions.
10)Specifies that local jurisdictions that have not adopted a
local hazard mitigation plan shall be given preference by the
Office of Emergency Services (OES) in recommending actions to
be funded from the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, the Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program, and the Flood Mitigation Assistance
Program to assist the local jurisdiction in developing and
adopting a local hazard mitigation plan, subject to available
funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)There were a number of bills in 2008 that focused on disaster
relief in response to wildfires in California, including SB
1537 (Kehoe) and SB 1308 (Cox). Both measures would have
added certain wildfires to the list of disasters eligible for
state reimbursement listed in the Government Code. However,
both bills were double-jointed to SB 1764 (Kehoe), which was
ultimately vetoed by the Governor, and so those provisions
adding the wildfires never took effect in state law. AB 50
(Nava) fixes this by including both of the fire disasters
listed in
SB 1537 (Kehoe) and SB 1308 (Cox), and also adds a wildfire that
occurred in Santa Barbara County in November of 2008 to the
list of disasters eligible for state reimbursement of costs.
2)SB 1064 (Hollingsworth), Chapter 386, Statutes of 2008, added
to the Revenue & Taxation Code benefits related to disaster
relief for the southern California fires addressed in SB 1537
(Kehoe) and for the Lake Tahoe Basin fire listed in SB 1308
(Cox). SB 1064 (Hollingsworth) allowed for full reimbursement
of local agency costs, including property tax loss, allowed
the continuation of the homeowner's property tax exemption for
those residents affected by the fires, and allowed favorable
"carry forward" treatment of excess disaster loss for taxation
purposes for residents affected by the fires.
AB 50 will give the same sort of taxation benefits to those
affected by the wildfire in Santa Barbara County in November
of 2008, including state backfill of local property tax loss,
and the homeowners' property tax exemption and favorable
"carry forward" treatment of excess disaster loss for those
residents affected by the fires.
3)The U.S. Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act in 2000,
the purpose of which is to "reduce the loss of life and
property, human suffering, economic disruption, and disaster
assistance costs resulting from natural disasters; and to
provide a source of predisaster hazard mitigation funding that
will assist states and local governments (including Indian
tribes) in implementing effective hazard mitigation measures
that are designed to ensure the continued functionality of
critical services and facilities after a natural disaster."
As a condition of receipt of increased federal funding for
hazard mitigation measures, a local government must develop
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and submit for approval a hazard mitigation plan. There are
currently 37 counties (both single and multi-jurisdictional)
and 292 cities (both single and multi-jurisdictional) that
have approved local hazard mitigation plans.
4)In 2006, AB 2140 (Hancock), Chapter 739, Statutes of 2006,
authorized a city or county to adopt a local hazard mitigation
plan (HMP) with the safety element of its general plan, and
created incentives for local governments to adopt HMPs. AB 50
will delete provisions added into law by AB 2140 (Hancock)
that require the inclusion of certain elements in a local
hazard mitigation plan (HMP), including an initial earthquake
performance evaluation of public facilities, an inventory of
private facilities that are potentially hazardous, and a plan
to reduce the potential risk from private and government
facilities in the event of a disaster.
The author notes that these elements required by state law to
be included in an HMP are inconsistent with the guidelines
established in the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000,
and therefore by deleting those provisions in current law, AB
50 will make the state requirements consistent with the
federal requirements for HMPs.
Staff notes that these provisions are not inconsistent with
federal law; rather, they add an additional layer of
requirements at the state level for local governments to do
when completing their hazard mitigation plans. The Committee
may wish to consider further research on how many local
governments have hazard mitigation plans that are compliant
with the three elements required under state law. Since AB
2140 (Hancock) has only been in effect since January 1, 2007,
it may be too soon to remove the provisions.
5)Staff notes that AB 50 is one of three disaster relief bills
pending in the Local Government Committee - the other bills
are AB 15 (Fuentes) and AB 79 (Duvall). As these bills move
forward, each will need to be amended to avoid chaptering out
issues.
6)TECHINICAL AMENDMENTS : The Committee may wish to request that
the author take the following technical amendments:
a) On page 5, delete lines 16 - 21. A drafting error added
the Lake Tahoe Basin fire and the Santa Barbara County fire
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to the incorrect code section. Only federally declared
disasters are eligible to be listed under Government Code
8686 (b).
b) Add clarifying language to ensure that any disaster
utilizing Government Code 8686 (b) for full state
reimbursement has fulfilled the requirements under
Government Code 8685.9, which requires that a local
government must adopt a local hazard mitigation plan.
7)This bill is an urgency measure and would take effect
immediately upon the Governor's signature.
8)This bill is double-referred to the Committee on Revenue and
Taxation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of San Diego [SPONSOR]
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
CA Special Districts Association
CA State Association of Counties
County of Santa Barbara
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
AB 50
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