BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 948
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON REVENUE AND TAXATION
Henry T. Perea, Chair
SB 948 (Committee on Governance and Finance) - As Amended:
June 7, 2011
Majority vote. Fiscal committee.
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Property taxation.
SUMMARY : Makes several technical changes to the property tax
law relating to collection of tax. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a local county assessor to provide to the tax
collector, upon written request from the tax collector,
certain confidential information for the preparation and
enforcement of tax sales, as specified. Specifies that this
information will remain confidential, not subject to public
inspection, and requires the tax collector to reimburse the
assessor for the actual and reasonable costs incurred by the
assessor in providing this information.
2)Modifies the procedure of filing property tax protests by
specifying that taxpayers must file a protest with the county
clerk, and pay taxes to the treasurer-tax collector.
3)Amends Revenue and Taxation Code (R&TC) Section 2611.1,
relating to discharges of accountability by a county
department, officer, or employee who collects taxes, to
require discharges under that section to comply with updated
Government Code sections that describe the process for county
officials to file an application for a "discharge of
accountability on the grounds that the amount owed is too
small to justify the costs of collection."
4)States that an overpayment of tax is determined by the tax
collector as of the date and time that the tax payment is
received. Allows the tax collector, if the refund is due the
taxpayer, to process a refund without sending a notice of
overpayment to the taxpayer.
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5)Deletes the requirement to notify the State Controller in the
situation when a treasurer-tax collector proposes property for
a tax sale but then later removes it from the sale upon the
recommendation from the county counsel.
6)Requires third-party agents, who are acting on behalf of any
party of interest with respect to filing a claim for any
excess proceeds from the tax sale, to submit proof that the
source of those proceeds have been disclosed to the party of
interest and that a claim to recover those proceeds may be
filed by the party of interest directly with the county at no
cost.
7)Allows treasurer-tax collectors, when they are required to
provide notice of the right to claim proceeds that exceed $150
to the last known mailing address of the parties of interest
in a tax sale but cannot obtain the address, to forego the
requirement to publish the notice in a newspaper of general
circulation if the costs of publication exceed the amount of
the tax sale proceeds.
8)Revises the provision dealing with the correction of errors in
publications published by a treasurer-tax collector to specify
that the treasurer-tax collector has 60 days after the
original publication to republish, and specifies that the
re-publication may not affect the right of a taxpayer,
assessee, or other private party in a material way.
9)Requires the treasurer-tax collector, when taxpayers or their
agents make payments on the wrong property, to transfer the
payment to the intended property or refund the payment to the
taxpayer within 60 days of verifying the mistake, or the date
when the payment is not subject to chargeback, dishonor, or
reversal. Specifies that interest shall only be paid if the
treasurer-tax collector has failed to transfer or refund the
payment as required.
10)Makes other technical corrections to property tax collection
laws to update incorrect cross- references and correct
outdated code sections.
11)Provides that no reimbursement is required by the provisions
of this bill because the only costs that may be incurred by a
local agency or school district are the result of a program
for which legislative authority was requested by that local
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agency or school district.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the treasurer-tax collector to publish various
notices in a newspaper or three public places including, among
others, notice of impending default for failure to pay taxes
on real property and notice of intended sale of tax-defaulted
property by the tax collector. Authorizes a treasurer-tax
collector, in the case of an error in a publication, to
correct the error in a supplementary publication lasting at
least ten days in the same manner as the original publication.
2)Requires assessors to keep certain information confidential.
�R&TC Section 408(a)]. Provides an exception to the general
rule of confidentiality for certain governmental agencies or
representatives. Requires the county assessor to disclose
information, furnish abstracts, or permit access to all
records in his/her office to law enforcement agencies, the
county grand jury, and other specified entities, including the
county recorder in the case of an investigation to determine
whether a documentary transfer tax (DTT) is imposed. �R&TC
Section 408(b)].
3)Establishes a procedure by which an assessee of property taxes
may pay taxes under protest in cases in which the assessor
does not, upon or prior to completion of the local tax roll,
send a notice to an assessee whose property was not on the
prior year's secured roll, or to an assessee of real property
on the local secured roll whose property's full value has
increased. Requires a protest to be filed with the tax
collector, together with the payment of taxes, as specified.
4)Allows any county department, officer, or employee who
collects taxes, penalties, or other costs to file an
application for a "discharge of accountability" whenever the
costs of collection exceed the revenue collected.
5)Requires the treasurer-tax collector, when a taxpayer overpays
tax by more than $10, to notify the taxpayer of the
overpayment.
6)Authorizes a county tax collector to sell tax-defaulted
property after a specified amount of time. Allows the
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treasurer-tax collector, whenever a treasurer-tax collector
proposes property for a tax sale, to remove the parcel upon
recommendation from the county counsel, that the removal is in
the best interest of the county, and requires the
treasurer-tax collector to notify the State Controller of the
removal of the parcel for sale.
7)Allows a party of interest in the tax-defaulted property sold
at a tax sale to file a claim for the excess proceeds from the
sale, as specified. Allows third party agents to recover
excess tax proceeds on behalf of a party of interest, as
specified.
8)Requires a county to provide notice, including publishing
notice in a newspaper, of the right to claim the excess
proceeds from the sale of a tax-defaulted property.
9)Allows the treasurer-tax collector, in the case where a
taxpayer makes a payment on the wrong property, to cancel the
credit on the unintended property and apply it to the correct
property within a specified time period. If there is no
property to which the credit may be applied, the tax collector
is required, upon being convinced by substantial evidence of a
mistake, to refund the payment.
10)Requires treasurer-tax collectors to provide notice of the
right to claim proceeds to the last known address of parties
of interest in a tax sale that exceeds $150, and specifies
that if the treasurer-tax collector cannot obtain the address,
he/she must publish notice in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county of the tax-defaulted property.
11)Requires that property taxes be refunded if the payments
exceed the equalized value of the property, as determined by
the county Board of Equalization, and authorizes a county tax
collector or county auditor to refund taxes within four years
of payment if the amount paid exceeds the amount due on the
property as shown on the tax roll.
12)Requires counties to pay interest to taxpayers when a court
allows the taxpayer to recover a penalty previously assessed
under specified sections of R&TC Section 830.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this Bill . SB 948 is sponsored by the California
Association of County Treasurer-Tax Collectors. According to
the author, this bill is intended to improve the
administration of property tax laws.
2)Access to Records in the County Assessor's Office . Existing
law provides that information and records in the county
assessor's office are not public documents and shall not be
open to public inspection, unless specifically exempted by
law. Exemptions include sharing of information with law
enforcement agencies, county grand jury, and a board of
supervisors. In 2009, the list of enumerated exemptions was
expanded to allow a county recorder access all records in the
assessor's office for purposes of determining whether a DTT is
due. �R&TC Section 408(b)]. SB 948 would further amend R&TC
Section 408(b) to add local tax treasurers-collectors to the
list of agencies that may access the assessor's records for
purposes of preparing and enforcing tax sales.
Generally, critics of information sharing between government
entities are concerned about possible unlawful disclosure or
inspection of confidential tax information. Thus, often,
provisions allowing information sharing contain safeguards
against, and penalties for, unlawful disclosure of
confidential taxpayers' information. For example, an existing
information sharing program between the Franchise Tax Board
(FTB) and cities provides for criminal sanctions for unlawful
disclosure or inspection of such information, which
supplements FTB's institutional commitment to taxpayer
information confidentiality. The information possessed by the
county assessor's office is considerably less sensitive than
the information found on income tax returns. However, this
bill contains no protection against unlawful disclosure of
information acquired by a county treasurer-tax collector from
the county assessor.
Similar to this bill, AB 563 (Furutani), set to be heard June
29, 2011 in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee,
expands the list of authorized agencies that have access to
the assessor's records to include certain designated city
employees. This Committee amended AB 563 to require a
designated employee of a city's finance office to submit a
written request to the assessor certifying, under penalty of
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perjury, that he/she needs the information to assist with the
preparation and enforcement of a DTT and that confidential
information will not become public record and will not be open
to public inspection. The Committee may wish to amend SB 948
to include a similar provision, in order to ensure consistency
in the treatment of various agencies that are authorized to
have access to the assessor's records.
3)Double Referral . This bill was doubled-referred with the
Assembly Committee on Local Government, and passed out of that
Committee with a 9-0 vote on June 15, 2011. For additional
discussion of this bill, please refer to that Committee's
analysis.
4)Related Legislation.
AB 563 (Furutani), introduced in the current legislative
session, authorizes designated city employees to obtain or
access otherwise confidential information from the county
assessor when the city is conducting an investigation to
determine whether the documentary transfer tax (DTT) should be
imposed. AB 563 is currently pending in the Senate Governance
and Finance Committee.
SB 816 (Ducheny), Chapter 622, Statutes of 2009, made changes in
the DTT law relative to city ordinances, assessor records, and
change of ownership statements, including allowing county
recorders to assess the county assessors' records when
investigating if a DTT is due.
SB 1146 (Cedillo), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2008, extended the
sunset date for the program that allows the FTB to share
information with tax officials of any city in California until
December 31, 2014.
SB 1374 (Cedillo), Chapter 513, Statutes of 2006, extended the
program that allows the FTB to provide information to tax
officials of any city in California until December 31, 2011.
AB 63 (Cedillo), Chapter 915, Statutes of 2001, extended the
circumstances under which the FTB may disclose tax information
to tax officials of any city, until December 31, 2008.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
SB 948
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Support
California Association of County Treasurer-Tax Collectors
Opposition
Robert Pool, Esq., Gangloff, Gangloff & Pool
Analysis Prepared by : Oksana Jaffe / REV. & TAX. / (916)
319-2098