BILL NUMBER: AB 2650 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Butler
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 95.31 of the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2650, as introduced, Butler. Taxation: local government
finance: property tax.
Existing property tax law authorizes an eligible county, as
defined, upon the recommendation of the assessor and by resolution of
its board of supervisors, to elect to participate in the
State-County Property Tax Administration Loan Program, pursuant to
which a participating county, in each fiscal year from the 1995-96
fiscal year to the 2001-02 fiscal year, inclusive, was eligible to
receive a loan from the state, as specified, for the purposes of
providing supplemental funding for that county's local administration
of the ad valorem property tax.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 95.31 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:
95.31. (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
eligible county may, upon the recommendation of the county assessor,
and by resolution of the board of supervisors of that county adopted
not later than December 1 of the fiscal year for which it is to first
apply, elect to participate in the State-County Property Tax
Administration Loan Program.
(2) Except as specified in paragraph (3), for the purposes of this
section, an eligible county shall mean a county in which additional
property tax revenue allocated to school entities would reduce the
amount of General Fund moneys apportioned to school entities.
However, eligibility shall be terminated when, in combination with
resources in the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund, additional
property tax revenues allocated to school entities will not result in
a reduction in the General Fund apportionments.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), both the County of Solano and
the County of San Benito shall be deemed eligible counties that may,
upon the recommendation of the county assessor, and by resolution of
the board of supervisors of the county adopted on or before March 31,
1996, elect to participate in the State-County Property Tax
Administration Loan Program.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any county in which a new
assessor is elected in 1998 may, upon the recommendation of the
county assessor, and by resolution of the board of supervisors of the
county adopted on or before January 31, 1999, elect to participate
in the State-County Property Tax Administration Loan Program
commencing with the 1998-99 fiscal year.
(b) (1) In each fiscal year from the 1995-96 fiscal year to the
2001-02 fiscal year, inclusive, an eligible county participating in
the State-County Property Tax Administration Loan Program may receive
a loan for up to the amount listed in paragraph (3). The loan shall
be repaid by June 30 of the fiscal year following the year in which
the loan is made. However, at the discretion of the Director of
Finance, the loan may be renewed once for an additional 12-month
period at the request of the participating county board of
supervisors. For the Counties of Fresno, Orange, San Benito, and
Solano any loan agreement signed on or before July 31, 1996, shall be
deemed a loan agreement for the 1995-96 fiscal year for the purposes
of this section. For any county in which a new assessor is elected
in 1998, any loan agreement signed on or before January 31, 1999,
shall be deemed a loan agreement for the 1998-99 fiscal year for the
purposes of this section.
(2) If an eligible county elects to participate in the
State-County Property Tax Administration Loan Program, it shall enter
into a contractual agreement with the Department of Finance. At a
minimum, the contractual agreement shall include the following:
(A) The loan amount, as determined by the Director of Finance.
(B) Repayment provisions, including the interception of Motor
Vehicle License Fee Account moneys apportioned pursuant to Section
11005 to repay the General Fund.
(C) A listing of the proposed use of the additional resources
including, but not limited to:
(i) Proposed new positions.
(ii) Increased automation costs.
(D) An agreement to provide to the Department of Finance, by March
31 of the fiscal year in which the loan is made, a report projecting
the impact of the increased funding in the current and subsequent
fiscal year.
(3) Upon request of the Department of Finance, the Controller
shall provide a loan to the following counties for up to the amount
specified by the Director of Finance, not to exceed the following
amounts:
Jurisdiction Amount
Alameda ..................... $ 2,152,429
Alpine ...................... 3,124
Amador ...................... 80,865
Butte ....................... 381,956
Calaveras ................... 109,897
Colusa ...................... 53,957
Contra Costa ................ 2,022,088
Del Norte ................... 36,203
El Dorado ................... 302,795
Fresno ...................... 1,165,249
Glenn ....................... 59,197
Humboldt .................... 210,806
Imperial .................... 231,673
Inyo ........................ 100,080
Kern ........................ 1,211,318
Kings ....................... 138,653
Lake ........................ 117,376
Lassen ...................... 54,699
Los Angeles ................. 13,451,670
Madera ...................... 212,991
Marin ....................... 790,490
Mariposa .................... 46,476
Mendocino ................... 160,435
Merced ...................... 298,004
Modoc ....................... 24,022
Mono ........................ 47,778
Monterey .................... 795,819
Napa ........................ 366,020
Nevada ...................... 234,292
Orange ...................... 6,826,325
Placer ...................... 628,047
Plumas ...................... 80,606
Riverside ................... 2,358,068
Sacramento .................. 1,554,245
San Benito .................. 90,408
San Bernardino .............. 2,139,938
San Diego ............. 5,413,943
San Francisco ............... 1,013,332
San Joaquin ................. 818,686
San Luis Obispo ............. 736,288
San Mateo ................... 2,220,001
Santa Barbara ............... 926,817
Santa Clara ................. 4,213,639
Santa Cruz .................. 565,328
Shasta ...................... 342,399
Sierra ...................... 7,383
Siskiyou .................... 91,164
Solano ...................... 469,207
Sonoma ...................... 1,035,049
Stanislaus .................. 866,155
Sutter ...................... 147,436
Tehama ...................... 97,222
Trinity ..................... 24,913
Tulare ...................... 501,907
Tuolumne .................... 126,067
Ventura ..................... 1,477,789
Yolo ........................ 278,309
Yuba ........................ 88,968
(4) The Department of Finance shall consider any or all of the
following items in determining the extent to which a county has
satisfied the terms and repaid the loan, pursuant to the contract, as
offered under this part:
(A) County performance as indicated by the State Board of
Equalization's sample survey required pursuant to Section 15640 of
the Government Code.
(B) Performance measures adopted by the California Assessors'
Association.
(C) Reduction of backlog of assessment appeals and Proposition 8
declines in value.
(D) County compliance with mandatory audits required by Section
469.
(E) Reduction of backlogs in new construction, changes in
ownership, and supplemental roll.
(F) Other measures, as determined by the Director of Finance.
(5) The Director of Finance shall notify the Controller of any
participating county that fails to comply with the terms of the
agreement, including the repayment of the loan. When the Controller
receives notice from the Director of Finance, the Controller shall
make an apportionment to the General Fund on behalf of the
participating county in the amount of that required payment for the
purpose of making that payment. The Controller shall make that
payment only from moneys credited to the Motor Vehicle License Fee
Account in the Transportation Tax Fund to which the participating
county is entitled at that time under Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 11001) of Part 5 of Division 2, and shall thereupon reduce,
by the amount of the payment, the subsequent allocation or
allocations to which the county would otherwise be entitled under
that chapter.
(c) (1) Funds appropriated for purposes of this section shall be
used to enhance the property tax administration system by providing
supplemental resources. Amounts provided to any county as a loan
pursuant to this section shall not be used to supplant the current
level of funding. In order to participate in the State-County
Property Tax Administration Loan Program, a participating county
shall maintain a base staffing, including contract staff, and total
funding level in the county assessor's office, independent of the
loan proceeds provided pursuant to this act, equal to the levels in
the 1994-95 fiscal year exclusive of amounts provided to the assessor'
s office pursuant to Item 9100-102-001 of the Budget Act of 1994.
However, in a county in which the 1994-95 funding level for the
assessor's office was higher than the 1993-94 level, the 1993-94
fiscal year staffing and funding levels shall be considered the base
year for purposes of this section. Commencing with the 1996-97 fiscal
year, if a county was otherwise eligible but was unable to
participate in this program in the 1995-96 fiscal year because it did
not meet the funding level and staffing requirements of this
paragraph, that county shall maintain a base staffing, including
contract staff, and total funding level in the county assessor's
office equal to the levels in the 1995-96 fiscal year.
(2) Prior to the assessor's recommendation for participation in
the State-County Property Tax Administration Loan Program, the
assessor shall consult with the county tax collector, and any other
county agency directly involved in property tax administration, to
discuss the needs of the program for the duration of the contractual
agreement.
(d) A participating county may establish a tracking system whereby
a work or function number is assigned to each appraisal or
administrative activity. That system should provide statistical data
on the number of production units performed by each employee and the
positive and negative change in assessed value attributable to the
activities performed by each employee.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 95.3, no amount of funds provided to
an eligible county pursuant to this section shall result in any
deduction from those property tax administrative
costs that are eligible for reimbursement pursuant to Section 95.3.
(f) At the request of the Department of Finance, the board shall
assist the Department of Finance in evaluating contracts entered into
pursuant to this section.