BILL ANALYSIS
SB 822
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Date of Hearing: July 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
SB 822 (Committee on Revenue and Taxation) - As Amended: June
23, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Property taxation: local administration.
SUMMARY : Makes various non-controversial changes to the
administrative provisions of the property tax law.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the county assessor, at the time of the filing of an
approved building plan with the city or county, to require a
scale copy of floor plans and exterior dimensions of the
building in an electronic format from the property owner, if
available.
2)Increases from $5,000 to $10,000 the maximum amount of the
"low-value ordinance" exemption that may be granted by a
county board of supervisors to real or personal property
qualified for that exemption.
3)Allows county assessors to supply information from disabled
veterans' property tax exemption claims and county records to
the State Board of Equalization (BOE), as specified by BOE's
written request, in order to prevent approvals of multiple
disabled veterans' property tax exemption claims within the
state for the same homeowners.
4)Deletes, in the case of a corporate owner of property, a
requirement that the employee or agent who signs the property
statement be designated in writing by the corporation's board
of directors.
5)Provides the taxpayer, in lieu of completing the property tax
statement as printed by the assessor, with an option to file a
business property statement that is substantially similar to
the property statement, and provides that the assessor may
consider information provided by any of the methods as
specified in this section.
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6)Allows a county assessor to make a separate valuation of a
parcel covered by a subdivision map filed for record after the
lien date immediately preceding the current fiscal year, but
only if the board of supervisors of that county enacts an
ordinance, by majority vote, providing for a separate
valuation of parcels.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires assessors to assess all new construction that occurs
within their county for property tax purpose.
2)Requires city and county building departments to provide the
local county assessor with a copy of all building permits
issued, and requires property owners to file with the local
assessor a scale copy of floor plans and exterior dimensions
designated for the assessor's use.
3)Provides that all property is taxable unless otherwise
exempted by the California Constitution or federal law, and
authorizes a county board of supervisors to exempt from
property tax those real and personal properties having a full
value too low to justify the costs of assessment and
collection.
4)Limits this exemption, which is referred to as the "low-value
ordinance" exemption, granted by each county board of
supervisors to property with a value not exceeding $5,000,
except that in the case of a possessory interest in specified
facilities, the limit is increased to $50,000.
5)Authorizes the exemption from property taxation of the
principal residence of a qualified disabled veteran, or
his/her surviving spouse, in the case where a person has, as a
result of a service-related disease or injury, becomes
disabled or died while on active duty in military service.
6)Requires, in the case of a corporate owner of property, a
business property statement to be signed either by an officer
of the corporation or an employee or agent who has been
designated in writing by the board of directors.
7)Requires the county assessor to mail a property statement to
any person required to file one, in order to prompt taxpayers
to complete and file annual property statements.
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8)Allows a taxpayer, in lieu of completing the property
statement as printed by the assessor, to furnish the required
information as attachments to the property statement, provided
that one copy of the statement is signed by the taxpayer and
contains an appropriate reference to the data attached.
9)Prohibits the county assessor from making a separate valuation
on any parcel covered by a subdivision map filed for record
after the lien date immediately preceding the current fiscal
year.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Revenue and Taxation
Committee analysis, BOE estimates that this bill will have no
effect on the amount of revenues collected by the state or local
governments. However, BOE estimates that, for any county that
would opt to raise the "low value" exemption to an amount
exceeding $5,000, there would be a small cost savings equal to
the difference between the costs of assessing and billing and
the tax proceeds for properties that would qualify for the low
value property exemption only under the increased limit.
COMMENTS :
1)SB 822 is sponsored by the California Assessors' Association,
and is substantially similar to AB 3080 (Committee on Revenue
and Taxation) from the 2007-08 session. AB 3080 was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger, who cited the historic budget delay
in his veto message.
2)According to the author, SB 822 is a "technical,
non-controversial bill that improves the local administration
of property tax laws for the benefit of taxpayers and
assessors alike." SB 822
is intended to provide for several minor changes in the Revenue
and Taxation Code through a single bill, rather than using
multiple bills for relatively minor non-controversial changes.
As such, all items in the bill have been vetted through
interested parties and have universal agreement to be included
in the bill.
3)SB 822 was double-referred to the Assembly Committees on
Revenue and Taxation and Local Government. It passed out of
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the Revenue and Taxation Committee 9-0 on June 15, 2009.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Assessors' Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958