BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 563 (Furutani)
Hearing Date: 08/15/2011 Amended: 05/11/2011
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: G&F 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 563 would require a county assessor to provide
information to city finance officials when conducting an
investigation related to the imposition of a documentary
transfer tax on an unrecorded change in control or ownership.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Information sharing mandate unknown reimbursable costs to
assessors General
to provide specified information to city
officials
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File.
Existing law authorizes cities and counties to enact an
ordinance to impose a documentary transfer tax (DTT), which
applies to deeds of transfer of realty within that jurisdiction,
and is based on the value of the transfer. The DTT is imposed
at a rate of fifty-five cents for each $500 of value in
counties, while general law cities may impose a DTT at half the
county rate, which counts as a credit against the county tax.
Charter cities may impose a higher rate; the City of Oakland
imposes the highest rate at $7.50 per $500 in value. County
recorders generally collect the DTT and remit the city portion
as appropriate. Existing law provides that information and
records in the assessor's office are not public documents, and
are not open for public inspection unless allowed by law.
Specific exemptions exist for law enforcement agencies, county
grand juries, boards of supervisors, and state taxing agencies.
SB 816 (Ducheny), Chapter 622 of 2009, requires the assessor to
provide specified information to the county recorder when
conducting an investigation to determine whether a DTT is
imposed.
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AB 563 would require the assessor to disclose information,
furnish abstracts, or permit access to all records, except
social security numbers, to designated employees of a city's
finance office when conducting an investigation to determine
whether a DTT should be imposed for an unrecorded change in
control or ownership of property. The bill would require the
designated city employee to certify under penalty of perjury
that the information is necessary to enforce the DTT and that
any confidential information is not a public record subject to
inspection.
This bill would impose a reimbursable state-mandated local
program by requiring county assessors to provide information to
city officials investigating whether a DTT should be imposed.
It is unlikely that costs to provide the information would be
significant, but if a successful claim is filed with the
Commission on State Mandates, county costs would be
state-reimbursable. Existing law requires state departments
that access this information to reimburse the assessor for any
costs incurred for providing records. Staff suggests that the
bill be amended to require cities to reimburse the assessor for
any costs incurred for providing information to city finance
officials.