BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 563|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 563
Author: Furutani (D)
Amended: 5/11/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/29/11
AYES: Wolk, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Liu
NOES: Huff, Fuller, La Malfa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 8/15/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-27, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Property taxation: assessor: disclosure:
appraisal information
SOURCE : City of Los Angeles
DIGEST : This bill requires 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.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution (Article XIIIA,
Section 4) prohibits the state from levying transaction
taxes or sales taxes on transfers of real property;
CONTINUED
AB 563
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however, the Documentary Transfer Tax (DTT), enacted in
1967, allows cities and counties to enact taxes on deeds of
transfer of realty within that jurisdiction. Counties or
cities may use proceeds of the tax for general or specific
purposes, although all DTTs levied thus far are general
taxes. County recorders administer the tax, and cannot
record the property transfer until the purchaser pays the
tax. Counties collect the tax but remit the city tax to
the appropriate city. All of California's 58 counties and
hundreds of cities levy the tax, ranging from the general
law city rate of fifty-five cents per $1000 of value up to
$15.00 per $1,000 in the City of Oakland. In counties, the
rate is $0.55 for each $500 of value. The DTT is largely
modeled after the repealed Federal Documentary Stamp Tax.
This bill requires the assessor to disclose information,
furnish abstracts, or permit access to all records in
his/her office to designated employees of a city's finance
office when conducting an investigation to determine
whether a documentary transaction tax should be imposed for
an unrecorded change in control or ownership of property.
Upon request, the assessors shall provide the information
to the designated employee, who must certify to the
assessor that the information is necessary to assist with
the preparation and enforcement of the DTT, and is not a
public record that is open to public inspection. This bill
states that any information provided cannot include social
security numbers.
Comments
Generally, any information and records in the assessor's
office are not public documents and are not open to public
inspection, unless allowed by law. Exemptions include
information for law enforcement agencies, county grand
jury, or the Board of Supervisors. Two years ago, the
Legislature required the assessor to disclose information,
furnish abstracts, and permit access to all records to the
County Recorder when conducting an investigation to
determine whether the documentary transfer tax is due. The
City of Los Angeles wants the Assessor to share this
information with city financial officials to help assess
the DTT.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
Information sharing Unknown reimbursable costs
to assessors General
mandate to provide specified information to city
officials
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/11)
City of Los Angeles (source)
California Assessors' Association
California Nurses Association
California Tax Reform Association
City of Lakewood
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "AB 563
would allow for information sharing between County
Assessor's Offices' and cities to identity change of
ownership legal entity transfers and other real property
transfers that may not be currently captured. Enactment of
the proposed legislation is estimated to result in improved
and increased collection of the Documentary Transfer Tax at
a time of fiscal crisis for local governments."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-27, 5/31/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
AB 563
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NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Fletcher, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth,
Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell
AGB:kc 8/17/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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