BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 902|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 902
Author: Alejo (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-3, 06/29/11
AYES: Wolk, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Liu
NOES: Huff, Fuller, La Malfa
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-24, 5/12/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Taxation: property tax delinquency and sales
SOURCE : California Association of County Treasurers and
Tax Collectors
DIGEST : This bill deletes the fixed fee amounts that tax
collectors may charge out of tax sale proceeds for making
reasonable efforts to contact last known assesses,
obtaining names and last known mailing addresses, and
sending and providing notices as part of tax sales. This
bill instead provides that county boards of supervisors may
fix the fees to reimburse the tax collector's actual and
reasonable costs.
ANALYSIS : County boards of supervisors can levy
authorized fees or charges in amounts reasonably necessary
to recover the costs of providing products or services or
the cost of enforcing regulations �AB 151 (Hannigan),
1983]. The fees or charges may reflect the average cost of
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providing products or services or enforcing regulations,
plus limited indirect costs. If any person disputes the
fee, then the board of supervisors may request the auditor
to study whether the fee is reasonable.
Despite generally deregulating county fees 25 years ago,
state law set a large number of fees, including civil fees,
county recorder fees, and fees charged by agricultural
commissioners in absolute amounts until the Legislature
updated many of these by tying them instead to the county's
reasonable costs �SB 676 (Wolk), Chapter 606, Statutes of
2009].
This bill deletes the fixed fee amounts that tax collectors
may charge out of tax sale proceeds for making reasonable
efforts to contact last known assesses, obtaining names and
last known mailing addresses, and sending and providing
notices as part of tax sales. This bill instead provides
that county boards of supervisors may fix the fees to
reimburse the tax collector's actual and reasonable costs.
This bill specifies that the fee for reimbursing the
expense for obtaining names and last known mailing
addresses, and for sending notices required by law to
persons of interest in the initial tax sale when someone
redeems the tax-defaulted property must be distributed to
the county general fund. This bill also makes conforming
changes.
Related legislation . AB 820 (Gordon) deletes the current
statutory cap of $1 for assessors, tax collectors, or
auditors to prepare certificates of taxes paid, providing
instead for recovery of reasonable costs as established by
the board of supervisors.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/11)
California Association of County Treasurers and Tax
Collectors (source)
Board of Supervisors, County of Fresno
Board of Supervisors, Monterey County
California State Association of Counties
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County of San Luis Obispo
Dave Cortese, President, Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara
County
Mary Lou Andrade, Treasurer-Tax Collector, County of San
Benito
Regional Council of Rural Counties
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Under
current law, a county with plans to offer at tax sale
residential, tax-defaulted property must make a reasonable
effort to contact the delinquent owner in person before
proceeding with a sale. A county is required to charge a
party of interest up to $100 to reimburse the costs of
locating and personally serving him or her, although costs
typically run higher than this cap. Cost drivers, such as
fuel, insurance and inflation, have eroded the ability of
tax collectors to recover their expenses above the $100 cap
currently in statute. AB 902 will remove the statutory cap
and instead tie the fee to the actual cost of providing
services. AB 902 removes the unfair financial burden from
counties by allowing reimbursement for costs incurred."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-24, 5/12/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, 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, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher,
Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Conway, Garrick, Gorell, Olsen,
V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Torres
AGB:mw 6/30/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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