BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1053
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Date of Hearing: May 15, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
AB 1053 (Cooley) - As Amended: May 1, 2014
SUBJECT : Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District: return of
improperly collected money.
SUMMARY : Allows the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District
(District) to return money improperly collected from some
District taxpayers from 2005 through 2012.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Allow the District to return to a payor any money the District
improperly collected from the payor due to a clerical error in
the District's administration of the Special Fire Tax for the
Rancho Murieta and Sloughhouse area levied from 2005 to 2012,
inclusive.
2)Provide that the bill shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015,
deletes or extends that date.
3)Make a number of findings and declarations related to the
improperly collected money from the public due to a clerical
error.
4)Find and declare that a special law is necessary and that a
general law cannot be made applicable because of the unique
and limited need of the District to return money it improperly
and unintentionally collected in the form of a special tax.
5)Contain an urgency clause.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Background and existing law . Proposition 218 (1996)
established that a tax levied by a special-purpose district is
a special tax requiring two-thirds voter approval. State law
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allows a district's legislative body to levy a special tax
with two-thirds voter approval (AB 2345, Chappie, 1980).
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District is a special district
organized pursuant to the Fire Protection District Law of 1987
(SB 515, Bergeson, 1987). The District serves a population of
over 640,000 in a 417 square mile service area within
Sacramento County, including the cities of Citrus Heights and
Rancho Cordova and several unincorporated communities. The
District was formed when the Sacramento County Fire Protection
District and the American River Fire Protection District
merged on December 1, 2000.
More than two-thirds of the voters in the Sloughhouse and Rancho
Murieta areas within the American River Fire Protection
District approved Measure Q on the November 7, 2000, general
election ballot. That ballot measure authorized the District
to raise revenues for fire suppression and emergency ambulance
services by levying an annual parcel tax at a rate not to
exceed $100 per parcel. Last year, the Sacramento
Metropolitan Fire District discovered that it was levying the
tax on approximately 3,800 parcels of property that should not
have been subject to the tax. The District erroneously began
collecting taxes from these parcels in the 2005-2006 fiscal
year.
State law allows a local government to refund money from parcel
taxes that appear on the property tax bill if those taxes were
erroneously collected, but generally prohibits a local
government from refunding erroneously collected parcel taxes
in response to a claim that is filed more than four years
after the date of the payment that is to be refunded.
2)Purpose of this bill . This bill allows the Sacramento
Metropolitan Fire District, notwithstanding any other law, to
return to a payor any money the District improperly collected
from the payor due to a clerical error in the District's
administration of the Special Fire Tax for the Rancho Murieta
and Sloughhouse area, levied from 2005 to 2012, inclusive. The
bill specifies that its provisions remain in effect only until
January 1, 2015, and as of that date are repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015,
deletes or extends that date, and contains legislative
findings and declarations that specify the ways in which the
bill serves a public purpose. This bill is sponsored by the
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District.
3)Author's statement . According to the author, "In 2013 the
District discovered that due to a clerical error, the owners
of approximately 3,800 pieces of property located outside the
boundary of a local taxation area had been inappropriately
charged for fire protection services since 2005, as if they
were part of the tax area. Upon making this discovery, the
District implemented a special claims procedure through which
affected property owners could apply refunds. However,
consistent with current law, the District has not yet been
able to accept or approve any claims for tax refunds where the
taxes had been paid more than four years before the date the
claim was presented."
4)Arguments in support . Supporters argue that this bill allows
the District to efficiently and quickly return money to
property owners.
5)Arguments in opposition . None on file.
6)Urgency clause . This bill contains an urgency clause and
requires a two-thirds vote on the Assembly Floor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District [SPONSOR]
California Professional Firefighters
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958