SB 1021, as amended, Wolk. School districts: parcel taxes.
Existing law authorizes any school district to impose qualified special taxes within the district pursuant to specified procedures. Existing law defines “qualified special taxes” as special taxes that apply uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within the school district and may exempt certain persons.
This bill would provide that special taxes that apply uniformly include any special tax imposed on a per parcel basis, according to the square footage of a parcel or the square footage of improvements on a parcel, according to the classification of a parcel, and at a lower rate on unimproved property. This bill would authorize a school district to treat multiple parcels of real property as one parcel of real property for purposes of a qualified special tax, where the parcels are contiguous, under common ownership, and constitute one economic unit.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 50079 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:
(a) Subject to Section 4 of Article XIII A of the
4California Constitution, any school district may impose qualified
5special taxes within the district pursuant to the procedures
6established in Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 50075) and
7any other applicable procedures provided by law.
8(b) For purposes of this section, all of the following shall apply:
9 (1) “Qualified special taxes” means special taxes that apply
10uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within the school
11district, except that “qualified special taxes” may include taxes
12that provide for an exemption from those taxes for all of the
13following
taxpayers:
14(A) Persons who are 65 years of age or older.
15(B) Persons receiving Supplemental Security Income for a
16disability, regardless of age.
17(C) Persons receiving Social Security Disability Insurance
18benefits, regardless of age, whose yearly income does not exceed
19250 percent of the 2012 federal poverty guidelines issued by the
20United States Department of Health and Human Services.
21(2) “Qualified special taxes” do not include special taxes
22imposed on a particular class of property or taxpayers.
23(3) “Special taxes that apply uniformly” include any special tax
24imposed in accordance with one or more of
the following:
25(A) On a per parcel basis.
26(B) According to the square footage of a parcel or the square
27footage of improvements on a parcel.
28(C) begin insert(i)end insertbegin insert end insert According to the commercial, industrial, single family
29residential, or multifamily residential classification of a parcel, so
30long as the same rate of tax is levied on all properties of the same
31classification.
32(ii) In no event shall the
rate the district imposes on property
33within the commercial or industrial classification be more than
34two times the rate imposed on property within the single family
35residential classification.
36(D) At a lower rate on unimproved property.
37(c) A school district may treat multiple parcels of real property
38as one parcel of real property for purposes of a qualified special
P3 1tax where the parcels are contiguous, under common ownership,
2and constitute one economic unit, meaning that the multiple parcels
3of real property have the same primary purpose and are not separate
4and distinct properties that may be independently developed and
5sold.
No inference shall be drawn from the enactment of
7this act with respect to the meaning of “uniformly” for purposes
8of special taxes imposed by school districts pursuant to the
9authorization in Section 50079 of the Government Code as it
10existed prior to the enactment of this act.
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