BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2211 (Ting) - Counties: information regarding general
property tax revenues.
Amended: June 18, 2014 Policy Vote: G&F 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2211 would require each county to post a graph
visualization and specified information on its website regarding
the allocation of property tax revenues and the programs funded
by those revenues.
Fiscal Impact: Unknown state-mandated costs to counties,
reimbursable from the state General Fund, as follows:
One-time costs, potentially several hundred thousand
dollars statewide, for each county to create a tool
providing a graphic representation of countywide property
tax allocations on a summarized jurisdictional level, to
compile information on the programs and services funded by
property tax revenues, and post the information and a
specified website link on the county website.
Likely minor ongoing costs for each county to annually
update the graph and to make improvements in the appearance,
organization, and clarity of the information.
Background: Article XIII A of the California Constitution
(Proposition 13 of 1978) limits the ad valorem (based on value)
property tax rate to 1% of a property's value, and requires the
tax to be collected by counties and apportioned to districts
within the counties. Apportionment formulae were established by
the Legislature following the passage of Proposition 13 (AB 8
(Greene), Chap 282/1979). The AB 8 allocations are generally
based upon the proportionate share that each jurisdiction
received prior to the passage of Proposition 13, adjusted
annually by a growth factor. The property tax is distributed to
over 4,000 local agencies statewide. All property taxes remain
within the county and county auditors distribute the revenues by
AB 2211 (Ting)
Page 1
tax rate areas, which are small geographical areas within a
county that contain properties served by a unique combination of
local governments (the county, a city, and the same set of
special districts and school districts). The number of tax rate
areas within each county varies; a single county may contain
thousands of tax rate areas.
Existing law requires specified information to be included on
each county tax bill, including the value of the property and
any improvements, the rate of the 1% ad valorem tax imposed on
the property, the rate or dollar amount of any pre-Proposition
13 voter-approved indebtedness and other bonded indebtedness,
and the amount of any special taxes and special assessments
levied on the property. While property tax bills often identify
the purpose for specified items on the bill, such as Mello-Roos
taxes, school bond payments, and other special assessments,
there is no description of the services and programs funded by
the general 1% ad valorem tax, which accounts for over 90
percent of the total property taxes paid statewide.
Proposed Law: AB 2211 would require each county to make
available on its website a graph visualization of how general ad
valorem property tax revenues are allocated countywide at a
summarized jurisdictional level that includes the county,
cities, independent special districts, school districts, and
redevelopment successor agencies. Each county's website must do
all of the following:
Inform taxpayers that all general property tax revenues
are used to fund programs and services within the county,
as specified.
Provide a brief summary of the types of programs and
services funded with general ad valorem property tax
revenues at a summary jurisdictional level.
Provide a link to the final county budget document that
details the programs and services funded with general
property tax revenues, to the extent a county posts such a
document on its website.
The bill would also require each county to annually update the
graph and work to improve the appearance, organization, and
clarity of the information provided.
Related Legislation: AB 920 (Ting), which was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense File in 2013,
AB 2211 (Ting)
Page 2
included provisions requiring three participating counties to
include information on each county tax bill that indicates: 1)
the percentage of the general ad valorem property tax allocated
to each city, county, special district, and school district in
the tax rate area in which the property is located, and 2) a
comprehensive account of all the services funded by each of the
local jurisdictions in the property's tax rate area.
Staff Comments: AB 2211 imposes a state-mandated local program
by requiring each county to make available on its website a
graphic representation and specified information regarding the
general ad valorem property tax and the programs and services
funded by those revenues. Reimbursable costs of these new
duties imposes on county officials are unknown, and would depend
upon the items included in a test claim and approved by the
Commission on State Mandates as reimbursable expenses. Staff
estimates that cumulative statewide costs for these duties could
be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars one-time, with minor
ongoing costs to annually update the website and make
incremental improvements. For illustrative purposes, if each
county had one-time eligible reimbursable expenses of $5,000,
total statewide General Fund costs would be $290,000.