BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2314|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2314
Author: Block (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 3-0, 6/9/10
AYES: Wolk, Alquist, Padilla
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Ashburn
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 4/26/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Property tax exemption: disabled veterans:
procedure
SOURCE : Board of Equalization
DIGEST : This bill extends the time period for a disabled
veteran, who has not yet received a disability rating from
the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA),
to file a property tax exemption claim, and deletes a
requirement for the disabled veteran to have a "pending"
application with the USDVA.
ANALYSIS : Existing law (California Constitution) allows
the Legislature to partially or wholly exempt from property
taxes the value of a disabled veteran's home if the veteran
has lost one or more limbs, is totally blind, or is totally
disabled, as a result of a service-connected injury. The
Constitution allows taxpayers to apply the disabled
veterans' exemption, currently provided by statute at the
CONTINUED
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inflation adjusted value of either $115,060 or $172,592
depending on the taxpayer's income, but not in addition to
the veterans or homeowners' exemption. The Constitution
additionally allows the exemption for unmarried surviving
spouses of persons who die while on active duty, or
subsequently die as a result of service-connected injuries.
Existing law provides the specific statutory exemption
amounts, and requires taxpayers eligible for the exemption
to file a claim for the exemption once with the Assessor.
Taxpayers who file claims after February 15th obtain
partial exemptions of either 85% or 90% for the first year,
then the full exemption in subsequent years; however,
taxpayers may obtain a cancellation of taxes and a refund
for a claim filed after that date when the USDVA has not
finished processing the veteran's disability rating
certification. Taxpayers receive refunds when they submit
an appropriate claim with the disability rating letter from
the USDVA the later of 30 days after receiving the letter
or on or before the next lien date (January 1), giving
taxpayers waiting for the certification some leeway to
obtain the full exemption. Additionally, the law also
requires the taxpayer to have an application pending with
the USDVA when filing the exemption.
This bill extends from 30 days to 90 days the deadline for
taxpayers applying for the disabled veterans' exemption to
submit the USDVA rating letter. The measure also repeals
the requirement that the taxpayer have an application
pending with the USDVA to be eligible for tax cancellation
and subsequent refund.
Comments
According to the author's office:
This bill removes unnecessary impediments to receiving
the disabled veterans' property tax exemption
retroactively which the Board of Equalization has
identified and would assist disabled veterans in
getting full retroactive property tax exemptions on
their home should they become eligible for the
exemption at a future date.
A disabled veterans' exemption is available to persons
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with a 100% disability rating from the USDVA. (The
exemption is also available to surviving spouses of
persons killed in active duty.) The exemption is up
to $175,592 for those with household incomes below
$51,669 and applies to the principal place of
residence.
It can take a number of years to receive a disability
rating from the USDVA, particularly if the veteran
appeals the initial disability rating. In 2000,
legislation was enacted to allow disabled veterans to
receive the full amount of the exemption retroactively
once they received a qualifying disability rating with
a back dated effective date - but they were only given
30 days to file the claim. Thirty days will not
always be enough time since there are a variety of
materials as well as various programs and benefits
that disabled veterans' and their families must sort
through after receiving their disability rating which
can be overwhelming. This bill would give disabled
veterans' more time (up to 90 days) to file for the
property tax exemption for which they become newly
qualified.
This bill would also eliminate references to having a
pending application with the USDVA which may allow
more disabled veterans to receive the exemption
retroactively to the effective date of disability. In
some instances, there may not have necessarily been a
pending application and in others tax administrators
have requested proof of the pending application which
was not easy to obtain. This is an unnecessary
condition and counter to the intent to provide any
subsequently eligible disabled veteran the full amount
of the exemption retroactively.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/10/10)
Board of Equalization (source)
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen,
Norby, Portantino, Ruskin, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Bass, Fuller, Furutani,
Monning, V. Manuel Perez, Salas, John A. Perez
DLW:nl 6/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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