BILL ANALYSIS
AB 308
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 308 (Cook and Carter)
As Amended August 19, 2010
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 14, 2009) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Continues the property tax revenue allocation
methodology for a specified utility property located in the
Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) redevelopment project
area in San Bernardino County, despite a recent change in
ownership that triggers a change in allocations.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Provide that if a utility-owned state-assessed unitary
property was constructed by a wholly owned subsidiary of a
utility before January 1, 2007, and placed in service by the
utility on or after January 1, 2007, and the property is
located in a redevelopment project area of a joint powers
authority comprised of cities and a county that adopts a
resolution stating that the property is subject to a
redevelopment plan, and the joint powers authority transmits a
copy of the resolution stating that the property is subject to
a redevelopment plan to the State Board of Equalization (BOE)
and the county auditor before January 1, 2011, then, for the
2010-11 and following fiscal years (FYs), the allocation of
property tax revenues shall be subject to the requirements
enacted by AB 81 (Migden), Chapter 57, Statutes of 2002.
2)Provide that BOE may amend the tax rolls for FY 2010-11 in
order to provide the allocations as required in 1) above.
3)State that the Legislature finds and declares that a special
law is necessary in order to ensure that IVDA receives
sufficient tax increment funding to repay loans, or moneys
advance to, or indebtedness incurred by, the redevelopment
agency to finance or refinance redevelopment projects.
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4)State that this act is an urgency statute and shall take
effect immediately.
5)Add in chaptering out provisions to ensure that this bill does
not conflict with SB 1398 (DeSaulnier).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires BOE to assess public utilities for property tax
purposes.
2)Provides for the following allocation formula pursuant to SB
1317 (Torlakson), Chapter 872, Statutes of 2006, for qualified
public utility-owned electrical facilities built after January
1, 2007, and meeting specified conditions:
a) Counties, K-14 schools, and non-enterprise special
districts receive the same percentage of these property tax
revenues as they received in the previous year;
b) The city in which the electrical facility is located
receives 90% of the remaining property tax revenues;
c) The city or water districts that provide water service
to the electrical facilities receive the remaining 10% of
the property tax revenues; and,
d) The other entities that would have previously received a
share of the property tax revenues do not receive any of
the revenues
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required elections
officials to send a special runoff ballot, on which a voter may
rank all the candidates, to every overseas voter for any
election for which there may be a runoff election held within 90
days of that election. Required the elections official to tally
a vote for the highest ranked candidate on a special runoff
ballot if the overseas voter that cast the special runoff ballot
does not return a regular ballot for the runoff election.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in approximately $2 million
less property tax revenue for K-14 schools than they would
otherwise receive beginning in FY 2010-11. This bill would also
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create a reimbursable state-mandated local program by changing
the manner in which county officials allocate property tax
revenues.
COMMENTS : This bill continues the property tax revenue
allocation methodology for a specified utility property located
in the IVDA redevelopment project area in San Bernardino County
under specified conditions, despite a recent change in ownership
that triggers a change in allocations.
AB 81 (Migden), Chapter 57, Statutes of 2002, was enacted to
change the revenue allocation of power plants divested by public
utilities and sold to private operators, as well as those newly
constructed by merchant power plant owners, to provide for
situs-based revenue allocation. In 2005, San Diego Gas and
Electric sought and received special revenue allocations for a
proposed new power plant to be constructed in the City of
Escondido [AB 2558 (Plescia), Chapter 640, Statutes of 2004].
In 2006, the Legislature created an exception to the countywide
unitary tax allocation method for all newly constructed
public-utility-owned large-scale electrical generation,
substation, and transmission facilities. This exception
allocates a greater share of unitary property tax revenues to
the city or county in which a qualified electrical facility is
located [SB 1317 (Torlakson), Chapter 872, Statutes of 2006].
Formed in 1990, the IVDA is a joint powers authority comprised
of the County of San Bernardino and the cities of Colton, Loma
Linda, and San Bernardino. IVDA is responsible for redeveloping
the non-aviation portion of the former Norton Air Force Base and
surrounding properties. Southern California Edison's (SCE)
Mountainview power plant is located in the City of Redlands
within an IVDA redevelopment project area. Until this year, an
unregulated subsidiary of SCE owned the Mountainview power
plant. In March 2010, SCE took ownership of the plant. Because
it is now owned by a regulated utility company, the plant's
property tax revenues will be allocated using the 2006 Torlakson
allocation method rather than under the 2002 Migden allocation
method. Because this change reduces property tax revenues that
IVDA and other local agencies receive from the Mountainview
power plant, IVDA officials want the county auditor to continue
to allocate property tax revenues from the plan using the Migden
bill's allocation method.
This bill contains an urgency clause so that BOE and the San
Bernardino County Auditor can implement the bill's requirements
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for allocating property taxes from the Mountainview power plant
this year. This bill requires a two-thirds vote of each house
because it makes changes to the pro rata shares in which ad
valorem property tax revenues are allocated among agencies in a
county.
Support arguments: Supporters argue that without the bill, a
mere change in ownership of a power plan located within the area
of the IVDA will result in a loss of funds to the agency and to
surrounding cities and school districts. This bill maintains
the status quo, therefore preserving the existing property tax
allocation methodology.
Opposition arguments: None on file.
The Assembly version of this bill was deleted in the Senate, and
consequently, the subject matter has not been heard by an
Assembly policy committee this legislative session.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0006582