BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2234
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Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2234 (Ting) - As Amended: April 30, 2014
Policy Committee: Revenue &
Taxation Vote: 7-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to the survey requirements
applicable to the Board of Equalization (BOE) in determining the
adequacy of procedures and practices employed by county
assessors in their valuation of property:
1)Requires the BOE to complete each survey within three months
of the date the BOE commenced the survey.
2)Requires the BOE to issue the final survey report within the
following periods from the date the BOE commenced the survey:
a) For surveys commenced on or before December 31, 2014,
within two years.
b) For surveys commenced after January 1, 2015 to December
31, 2015, within 18 months.
c) For surveys commenced on or after January 1, 2016,
within nine months.
3)Requires the BOE to meet with the assessor whose
administration is being reviewed, including the former
assessor when appropriate, to discuss and confer on matters
that may be included in the survey report.
4)Requires the BOE to include, in its survey report,
recommendations specific to the issues identified and
comparable examples of practices in other counties or
properties the county assessor may adopt to improve existing
practices.
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5)Requires the BOE, when appropriate, to provide a former county
assessor, whose administration is being reviewed, the right to
appeal BOE appraisals made within the county if differences
have not been resolved before completion of a field review.
FISCAL EFFECT
Annual GF costs of approximately $1.2 million to the BOE to
increase staffing needed to comply with the compressed periods
for issuing the final reports.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose. According to the author, this bill will promote
uniformity in the property tax assessment process and improve
the performance of county assessor offices. The bill requires
the BOE to provide specific recommendations the county
assessors may adopt to improve existing practices and reduce
the delay between the execution of the survey and the issuance
of the report.
2) Existing Law on Assessor Surveys and Reports. Current law
requires the BOE to conduct surveys in each county and city to
determine the adequacy of practices and procedures used by the
county assessor in the valuation of property for purposes of
taxation. The BOE is required to conduct those surveys "as
rapidly as feasible" and repeat or supplement each survey at
least once every five years.
Current law requires the BOE to prepare a written report that
details its findings and recommendations upon completion of
the survey, and meet with the assessor to discuss and confer
on those matters that may be included in the report prior to
publication. The BOE is required to produce the final survey
report within two year of the date it began the survey.
3) Reducing Survey and Reporting Time. The current survey and
reporting process, from the initial field work to publication,
takes on average 24 months. The BOE generally completes
on-site field work in about two months. Over the past year,
the BOE claims it has been working on improving the manner in
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which it conducts surveys to reduce this time period. Based
on the effort already underway at the BOE, it appears the BOE
would be able to comply with the bill's three month survey
period with relative ease. However, because the bill requires
all field work be completed within three months, it
effectively precludes the BOE from returning to the county
during the report drafting period should the need arise.
In an effort to reduce the time for the assessment surveys
from 24 to 18 months, the BOE is implementing the following
changes:
a) Reducing the size of the survey report.
b) Providing questionnaires to assessors prior to
commencement of field work on non-core assessment topics to
determine if further inquiry is required.
c) Rearranging and having simultaneous internal reviews of
the report by different BOE divisions and county-assessed
properties divisions.
d) Shortening review times where appropriate.
Given the effort to reduce the time to issue final reports
already underway, this bill effectively gives the BOE until
January 1, 2016 to reduce the time to nine months. While the
BOE is making progress in this respect, producing final
reports within nine months will require significant increases
in staff and resources.
Analysis Prepared by : Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081