BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2643|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2643
Author: Ma (D)
Amended: 5/29/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/28/12
AYES: Wolk, Dutton, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hernandez, Kehoe,
La Malfa, Liu, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/31/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Property taxation
SOURCE : California Association of County Treasures Tax
Collectors
DIGEST : This bill makes several changes to the statutes
related to property tax collection.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law :
1. Requires, when the amount of property taxes paid exceeds
the amount due by more than $10, the tax collector to
send notice of the overpayment to the taxpayer, and
provides that the notice must be mailed to the
taxpayer's last known address and state the amount of
overpayment and that a refund claim may be filed, as
specified.
CONTINUED
AB 2643
Page
2
2. Allows the tax collector to apply any refund due a
taxpayer, or the taxpayer's agent, to any delinquent
taxes due on the same property for which the same
taxpayer or his/her agent is liable, except as specified
for the return of replicated property tax payments.
3. Limits, in the case in which a taxpayer has failed to
pay taxes on an assessment that is the subject of a
pending assessment appeal, as provided, the amount of
penalty relief to the difference between the final
determination of value by the county board, as defined,
and the value on the assessment roll for the fiscal year
covered by the application.
4. Requires the county board to provide a specified notice
to taxpayers impacted by the penalty provisions.
5. Requires the payment of interest on property tax refunds
at the greater of 3% per annum or the county pool
apportioned rate.
6. Requires the county treasurer to advise the State
Controller of the county pool apportioned rate and of
computations made in deriving that rate, no later than
60 days after the end of that fiscal year.
This bill:
1. Deletes the exception for the return of replicated
property tax payments, for purposes of allowing the tax
collector to apply any refund due to a taxpayer, or the
taxpayer's agent, to any delinquent taxes due for the
same property for which the same taxpayer, or his/her
agent, is liable, thereby applying the provisions
authorizing the tax collector to apply any refund to any
delinquent taxes.
2. Limits penalty relief, for cases in which a taxpayer has
failed to pay taxes on an assessment that is the subject
of a pending informal review due to a decline in value
as a result of damage, destruction, depreciation,
obsolescence, removal of property, or other factors
causing a decline in value, to the difference between
CONTINUED
AB 2643
Page
3
the county assessor's final determination of value and
the value on the assessment roll for the fiscal year
covered by the application.
3. Restricts the penalty relief specified in 3. above to
those properties upon which an application for an
informal review is pending before the county assessor on
the effective date of the bill's implementation, or in
situations where those applications for an informal
review are filed with the county board after the date of
the bill's implementation.
4. Specifies for the penalty relief for any taxpayer that
has paid at least 80% of the amount of tax finally
determined due by the county assessor within 30 days of
filing an application for reassessment, that the tax
collector must accept payment of the balance of the tax
due without penalties or interest.
5. Requires the county tax collector to notify all
taxpayers that receive a tax bill of the provisions of
the bill related to penalty relief.
6. Provides that the provisions of the bill related to
penalty relief may only become operative if the board of
supervisors of a county, with the approval of the
county's tax collector and the county's auditor, adopts
a resolution or ordinance approving this section.
7. Extends, for purposes of calculating the interest on
property tax refunds, the time period the county
treasurer has to advise the State Controller of the
county pool apportioned rate and of computations made in
deriving that rate from 60 to 90 days.
Comments
According to the author, "AB 2643 makes some important
changes to property tax collection procedures, to make the
law clearer for taxpayers. Current law does not explicitly
state what taxpayers' obligation is regarding property
taxes during an informal assessment appeal. This bill will
clarify that taxpayers must pay their property taxes during
that time. Secondly, this measure authorizes tax
CONTINUED
AB 2643
Page
4
collectors to apply duplicate payments made on the same
property to delinquent bills, instead of returning the
duplicate payment and then sending the delinquent notice.
Finally, this bill clarifies that tax collectors may wait
90 days to report the pool rate, instead of the current 60
days. This modest change in law is reflective of the time
needed to do the calculation. These changes in law are
intended to improve the taxpayer's experience by making the
procedures clear and reducing confusion regarding the
status of property tax payments made."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/2/12)
California Association of County Treasurer-Tax Collectors
California State Association of Counties
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/31/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen,
Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Mendoza, Norby, Valadao
AB:d 7/3/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED
AB 2643
Page
5
CONTINUED