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)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |9-0 |(August 25, 2010) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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Local Government
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |16-0 |(August 26, 2010) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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Appropriations
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
AB 308
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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.
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
AB 308
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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 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
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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 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
FN: 0006798