BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1493|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1493
Author: Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/14/10
AYES: Wolk, Walters, Alquist, Ashburn, Padilla
SUBJECT : Property taxation
SOURCE : California Assessors Association
California Association of County Treasurers and
Tax
Collectors
DIGEST : This bill makes five changes to the property tax
law relative to (1) assessors sending information via
electronic mail, (2) assessors posting information on the
Internet, (3) clarifying inflation adjustments for the
low-value exception, (4) destroying scanned records, and
(5) price adjustments during tax sales of welfare-exempt
property.
ANALYSIS :
Specifics of SB 1493
I. Assessors Sending Information Via Electronic Mail
Existing law requires the Assessor to mail all notices
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via the United States Postal Service to taxpayers.
This bill allows assessors to instead send base year
value notices (Section 75.31 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code [RTC]), and property tax valuation information (RTC
Section 619) via electronic mail at the written request
of the taxpayer.
II.Assessors Posting Information on the Internet
Existing law requires the Assessor to annually inform
property taxpayers of the value of their property, as
well as its increase or decline over the previous year,
and its Proposition 13 value, based on the 1975-76 value
or the most recent sale, plus a maximum two percent
growth for each succeeding year (SB 1105 [Senate Revenue
and Taxation Committee], Chapter 940, Statutes of 1997).
The Legislature added this requirement as a result of
market declines, when property values fall below the
Proposition 13 value, triggering Proposition 8 (November
1978), which requires the County Assessor to assess the
property at its fair market value. In subsequent annual
assessments, such fair market value can rise up by an
unlimited amount until it reaches the Proposition 13
level, at which time the two percent limit caps the
property's taxable value. Assessors may send the
information to the taxpayer via mail, or having
published lists in newspapers, or both.
This bill allows assessors to publish relevant lists on
the assessor's Web site upon approval of the county
board of supervisors.
III.Clarifying Inflation Adjustment for Low-Value Exception
Existing law refers to the "base year value" when
determining whether the low-value exception from
assessment applies. However, the term is ambiguous: it
could mean the original base year value or the factored
base year value. Section 155.20 refers to Section 50,
which in turn ties to Section 110.1, which refers to
Section 51, both of which include an inflation
adjustment, implying that the factored base year value
is appropriate.
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This bill codifies the inflation adjustment, thereby
removing the ambiguity.
IV.Destroying Scanned Records
Existing law requires assessors to keep paper documents
for six years even though they have been scanned and
stored on microfilm and microfiche.
This bill allows counties to destroy documents if they
have been preserved in a medium that provides access to
the documents such as microfilm, microfiche, electronic
document imaging, or other such media that captures a
true image of the document that may be later retrieved.
V. Price Adjustments During Tax Sales of Welfare-Exempt
Property
Existing law (RTC Section 3698.5) allows treasurer-tax
collectors at a lower minimum price at the same or the
next scheduled tax sale if no acceptable bids are
received. However, the treasurer-tax collector does not
have the same discretion for welfare-exempt properties
(RTC Section 3698.7), only allowing the treasurer-tax
collector to offer the welfare-exempt property at a
lower minimum price at the next sale.
This bill reconciles the conflict, thereby allowing the
treasurer-tax collector to treat both kinds of
properties similarly.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/14/10)
California Assessors' Association (co-source)
California Association of County Treasurers and Tax
Collectors (co-source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Sponsored by the California
Assessors' Association and the California Association of
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County Treasurers and Tax Collectors, this bill is a
technical, non-controversial bill that improves local
administration of property tax laws for the benefit of
taxpayers and assessors alike. Consolidating the measures
into a single bill negates the need for individual bills to
enact each change. Additionally, this bill only contains
items with universal agreement; items that are
controversial or problematic will be removed from the bill.
DLW:mw 4/15/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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