Bill Text: CA AB157 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Property taxation: transfer of base year value: disaster

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 341, Statutes of 2010. [AB157 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB157-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 157	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 24, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 2, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Anderson

                        JANUARY 26, 2009

   An act to amend Section 69 of the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 157, as amended, Anderson. Property taxation: transfer of base
year value: disaster relief.
   Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to a requirement of
the California Constitution, that the property tax base year value of
real property that is substantially damaged or destroyed by a
disaster, as declared by the Governor, may be transferred to a
comparable property located within the same county that is acquired
or newly constructed within 5 years after the disaster as a
replacement property.
   This bill would, for disasters occurring on or after July 1, 2007,
and for the Cedar Fires of 2003, expand this transfer authorization
to allow a comparable replacement property to be acquired or newly
constructed within 7 years, rather than 5 years, after a disaster.
   This bill would make a legislative finding and declaration as to
the necessity for a special statute as well as a legislative finding
and declaration relating to the public purpose served by specified
provisions of the bill.
   This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 69 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
   69.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pursuant to
Section 2 of Article XIII A of the Constitution, the base year value
of property which is substantially damaged or destroyed by a
disaster, as declared by the Governor, may be transferred to
comparable property within the same county which is acquired or newly
constructed within seven years after the disaster, or five years in
the case of the Northridge earthquake, as a replacement for the
substantially damaged or destroyed property. At the time the base
year value of the substantially damaged or destroyed property is
transferred to the replacement property, the substantially damaged or
destroyed property shall be reassessed at its full cash value;
however, the substantially damaged or destroyed property shall retain
its base year value notwithstanding the transfer authorized by this
section. If the owner or owners of substantially damaged or destroyed
property receive property tax relief under this section, that
property shall not be eligible for property tax relief under
subdivision (c) of Section 70 in the event of its reconstruction.
   (b) The replacement base year value of the replacement property
acquired shall be determined in accordance with this section.
   The assessor shall use the following procedure in determining the
appropriate replacement base year value of comparable replacement
property:
   (1) If the full cash value of the comparable replacement property
does not exceed 120 percent of the full cash value of the property
substantially damaged or destroyed, then the adjusted base year value
of the property substantially damaged or destroyed shall be
transferred to the comparable replacement property as its replacement
base year value.
   (2) If the full cash value of the replacement property exceeds 120
percent of the full cash value of the property substantially damaged
or destroyed, then the amount of the full cash value over 120
percent of the full cash value of the property substantially damaged
or destroyed shall be added to the adjusted base year value of the
property substantially damaged or destroyed. The sum of these amounts
shall become the replacement property's replacement base year value.

   (3) If the full cash value of the comparable replacement property
is less than the adjusted base year value of the property
substantially damaged or destroyed, then that lower value shall
become the replacement property's base year value.
   (4) The full cash value of the property substantially damaged or
destroyed shall be the amount of its full cash value immediately
prior to its substantial damage or destruction, as determined by the
county assessor of the county in which the property is located.
   (c) For purposes of this section:
   (1) Property is substantially damaged or destroyed if it sustains
physical damage amounting to more than 50 percent of its full cash
value immediately prior to the disaster. Damage includes a diminution
in the value of property as a result of restricted access to the
property where the restricted access was caused by the disaster and
is permanent in nature.
   (2) Replacement property is comparable to the property
substantially damaged or destroyed if it is similar in size, utility,
and function to the property which it replaces.
   (A) Property is similar in function if the replacement property is
subject to similar governmental restrictions, such as zoning.
   (B) Both the size and utility of property are interrelated and
associated with value. Property is similar in size and utility only
to the extent that the replacement property is, or is intended to be,
used in the same manner as the property substantially damaged or
destroyed and its full cash value does not exceed 120 percent of the
full cash value of the property substantially damaged or destroyed.
   (i) A replacement property or any portion thereof used or intended
to be used for a purpose substantially different than the use made
of the property substantially damaged or destroyed shall to the
extent of the dissimilar use be considered not similar in utility.
   (ii) A replacement property or portion thereof that satisfies the
use requirement but has a full cash value that exceeds 120 percent of
the full cash value of the property substantially damaged or
destroyed shall be considered, to the extent of the excess, not
similar in utility and size.
   (C) To the extent that replacement property, or any portion
thereof, is not similar in function, size, and utility, the property,
or portion thereof, shall be considered to have undergone a change
in ownership when the replacement property is acquired or newly
constructed.
   (3) "Disaster" means a major misfortune or calamity in an area
subsequently proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster
as a result of the misfortune or calamity.
   (d) (1) This section applies to any comparable replacement
property acquired or newly constructed on or after July 1, 1985.
   (2) The amendments made by Chapter 1053 of the Statutes of 1993
apply to any comparable replacement property that is acquired or
newly constructed as a replacement for property substantially damaged
or destroyed by a disaster occurring on or after October 20, 1991,
and to the determination of base year values for the 1991-92 fiscal
year and fiscal years thereafter.
   (3) The amendments made by Chapter 317 of the Statutes of 2006
apply to any comparable replacement property that is acquired or
newly constructed as a replacement for property substantially damaged
or destroyed by a disaster occurring on or after July 1, 2003, and
to the determination of base year values for the 2003-04 fiscal year
and fiscal years thereafter.
   (4) The amendments made by the act adding this paragraph apply to
any comparable replacement property that is acquired or newly
constructed as a replacement for property substantially damaged or
destroyed by the Cedar Fire that commenced in October 2003, and to
the determination of base year values for the 2003-04 fiscal year and
fiscal years thereafter.
   (5) The amendments made by the act adding this paragraph apply to
any comparable replacement property that is acquired or newly
constructed as a replacement for property substantially damaged or
destroyed by a disaster occurring on or after July 1, 2007, and to
the determination of base year values for the 2007-08 fiscal year and
fiscal years thereafter.
   (e) Only the owner or owners of the property substantially damaged
or destroyed, whether one or more individuals, partnerships,
corporations, other legal entities, or a combination thereof, shall
receive property tax relief under this section. Relief under this
section shall be granted to an owner or owners of substantially
damaged or destroyed property obtaining title to replacement
property. The acquisition of an ownership interest in a legal entity
which, directly or indirectly, owns real property is not an
acquisition of comparable property.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
 because of the 
    The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
 as a result of the unique difficulties being suffered by
homeowners affected by the Cedar Fires of 2003.
  SEC. 3.  The Legislature finds and declares that this act fulfills
a statewide public purpose because of all of the following:
   (a) Former Governor Gray Davis had officially proclaimed a state
of emergency declaring that the wildfires that occurred within the
County of San Diego, commencing in October 2003, constitute
conditions of extreme peril to public health and safety to persons
and property within that county, thus qualifying affected persons for
various forms of governmental assistance and relief.
   (b) This act is consistent with the proclaimed disaster assistance
and relief by extending necessary tax relief to affected homeowners,
many of whom are still struggling to replace their homes lost in
those wildfires or have encountered delays, not of their making, in
this process of transferring their base year values of damaged or
destroyed property to their replacement property.
  SEC. 4.  This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of
Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.