BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1339
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 1339 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Property tax revenue allocations: Imperial County
Free Library.
SUMMARY : Addresses past and future property tax apportionment
factors in Imperial County. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deems as correct the property tax apportionment factors
applied in allocating property tax revenues in the County of
Imperial for the Imperial County Free Library for each fiscal
year (FY) from FY 2001-02 to FY 2006-07.
2)Specifies that for FY 2007-08 and each FY thereafter, property
tax apportionment factors applied in allocating property tax
revenue for the Imperial County Free Library shall be
determined on the basis of property tax apportionment factors
for prior FYs that have been fully corrected or adjusted.
3)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary because of
the uniquely severe fiscal difficulties being suffered by the
Imperial County Free Library.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each county's auditor to allocate property tax
revenue to local governments in accordance with specified
formulas and procedures.
2)Requires, generally, that each jurisdiction be allocated an
amount equal to the total received in the previous year plus
its percentage of the property tax increment, as defined by
law.
3)Provides for the computation of apportionment factors based on
property tax allocations that are applied to actual property
tax revenues in each county in order to determine actual
amounts of revenue received by each jurisdiction.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 1339
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COMMENTS :
1)AB 1339 will deem correct the amounts of property tax paid
during FYs 2001-02 to 2006-07 to the Imperial County Free
Library. Beginning in FY 2007-08 and onward, the county is
required to use the correct property tax apportionment
factors.
2)AB 1339 is sponsored by the County of Imperial to rectify a
local taxation problem. Following an audit by the State
Controller's Office, it was determined that an error in the
property tax calculation had given the Imperial County Free
Library additional funds which potentially would need to be
paid back because the county inadvertently left the library
out of the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) cost
shift. The calculation has since been corrected and the
library is moving forward with a substantially smaller revenue
stream. This bill allows the prior calculation to stand and
forgives over $950,000 owed, and the library will be able to
continue providing literacy services to the unincorporated
areas of Imperial County.
3)The Imperial County Board of Supervisors, writing in support
of AB 1339, notes that "given the large geographic area of
Imperial County, the library is often the only access to
materials that the residents have," and this bill will allow
the library to keep its doors open to the public. According
to the library, during FY 2007-08, they had 47,671 visitors,
with a circulation of 36,448 items, and served close to 3,000
persons with the library's various programs including an
active summer reading program, scheduled story times,
computers classes, and programs for adults and teens.
4)There is a precedent for deeming correct those erroneous
property tax apportionment factors used in a county's
calculations, and the net effect is that it holds the local
government harmless for the unintentional mistake, while
requiring the mistake to be rectified on a going-forward
basis. AB 1615 (Longville), Chapter 604, Statutes of 2000,
dealt with a situation in which the State Controller found
that Riverside County's property tax calculation methodology
was deficient. Riverside County disputed this interpretation
in its response to the original audit report from the
Controller. After receiving the same finding in a subsequent
report, Riverside County appealed through the established
AB 1339
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channels in the Controller's Office. The end result of that
process was an agreement by Riverside County to create a new
methodology based on the state's interpretation of the
statute.
AB 1615 provided a straightforward solution to this situation
by making the application of the new methodology for property
tax allocation prospective only, and specified that all
allocations up to that point would be deemed correct. AB 1339
seeks to do the same thing for Imperial County.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of Imperial [SPONSOR]
City of Calipatria
Friends of Calipatria Meyer Memorial Branch
Friends of the Imperial County Free Library
County Librarian, Imperial County
Library Administrator, City of Imperial Public Library
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958