Bill Text: CA SB1493 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Property taxation assessor: tax collector:
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2010-08-23 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 185, Statutes of 2010. [SB1493 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB1493-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1493 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 185
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 23, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 23, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 9, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Revenue and Taxation (Senators Wolk
(Chair), Alquist, Ashburn, Padilla, and Walters)
MARCH 15, 2010
An act to amend Sections 75.31, 155.20, 465, 619, 621, and 3698.7
of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to property taxation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1493, Committee on Revenue and Taxation. Property taxation
assessor: tax collector: administration.
(1) Existing property tax law provides for supplemental and escape
assessments to be made on property outside the regular assessment
period and requires that certain notices, in a form approved by the
State Board of Equalization, of those assessments be furnished to
assessees by regular United States mail.
This bill would allow the assessor to provide the information by
electronic mail in lieu of regular mail, if he or she chooses to
accept a written request from the assessee to do so.
(2) Existing property tax law authorizes each county board of
supervisors to exempt from property taxation those properties having
a full value too low to justify the costs of assessment and
collection, and limits any exemption granted by each county board of
supervisors to property with a value not exceeding $10,000.
This bill would clarify that the base year value is adjusted by an
annual inflation factor, as specified.
(3) Existing property tax law allows county assessors to destroy
documents containing information obtained from taxpayers 6 years
after the lien date for the taxes for which the information was
obtained, or 3 years after the lien date if the documents have been
microfiched, microfilmed, imaged, or otherwise preserved.
This bill would authorize assessors to destroy those documents
immediately upon preservation in a medium that provides access to the
documents, including, among others, electronic document imaging.
(4) Existing property tax law requires the assessor to inform each
assessee of real property, as specified, of the assessed value of
that property, as provided.
This bill would authorize the assessor to provide the information
by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States mail, if he or
she chooses to accept a written request from the assessee to do so.
This bill would also authorize the information to be posted on the
assessor's Internet Web site.
(5) Existing law requires the price at which tax-defaulted
property, for which a property tax welfare exemption has been
granted, may be offered for sale to be the greater of either 50% of
the fair market value of the property or the total amount necessary
to redeem the property, plus costs. Existing law authorizes the tax
collector, with the approval of the board of supervisors, where the
property or property interests have been offered for sale and no
acceptable bids have been received, to offer that property or
property interest at the next scheduled sale at a minimum price the
tax collector deems appropriate.
This bill would authorize the tax collector to offer that property
or property interest at the same sale at a minimum price that the
tax collector deems appropriate in light of the most current assessed
valuation of that property or property interest, or any unique
circumstances with respect to that property or those interests.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 75.31 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:
75.31. (a) Whenever the assessor has determined a new base year
value as provided in Section 75.10, the assessor shall send a notice
to the assessee showing the following:
(1) The new base year value of the property that has changed
ownership, or the new base year value of the completed new
construction that shall be added to the existing taxable value of the
remainder of the property.
(2) The taxable value appearing on the current roll, and if the
change in ownership or completion of new construction occurred
between January 1 and May 31, the taxable value on the roll being
prepared.
(3) The date of the change in ownership or completion of new
construction.
(4) The amount of the supplemental assessments.
(5) The exempt amount, if any, on the current roll or the roll
being prepared.
(6) The date the notice was mailed.
(7) A statement that the supplemental assessment was determined in
accordance with Article XIII A of the California Constitution that
generally requires reappraisal of property whenever a change in
ownership occurs or property is newly constructed.
(8) Any other information which the board may prescribe.
(b) In addition to the information specified in subdivision (a),
the notice shall inform the assessee of the procedure for filing a
claim for exemption that is to be filed within 30 days of the date of
the notice.
(c) (1) The notice shall advise the assessee of the right to an
informal review and the right to appeal the supplemental assessment,
and, unless subject to paragraph (2) or (3), that the appeal shall be
filed within 60 days of the date of mailing printed on the notice or
the postmark date therefor, whichever is later. For the purposes of
equalization proceedings, the supplemental assessment shall be
considered an assessment made outside of the regular assessment
period as provided in Section 1605.
(2) For counties in which the board of supervisors has adopted the
provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 1605, and the County of Los
Angeles, the notice shall advise the assessee of the right to appeal
the supplemental assessment, and that the appeal shall, except as
provided in paragraph (3), be filed within 60 days of the date of
mailing printed on the tax bill or the postmark date therefor,
whichever is later. For the purposes of equalization proceedings, the
supplemental assessment shall be considered an assessment made
outside of the regular assessment period as provided in Section 1605.
(3) (A) If the taxpayer does not receive a notice in accordance
with paragraph (1) at least 15 days prior to the deadline to file the
application described in Section 1603, the affected party or his or
her agent may file an application within 60 days of the date of
mailing printed on the tax bill or the postmark thereof, whichever is
later, along with an affidavit declaring under penalty of perjury
that the notice was not timely received.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, an
application for reduction in a supplemental assessment may be filed
within 12 months following the month in which the assessee is
notified of that assessment, if the affected party or his or her
agent and the assessor stipulate that there is an error in assessment
as the result of the exercise of the assessor's judgment in
determining the full cash value of the property and a written
stipulation as to the full cash value and the assessed value is filed
in accordance with Section 1607.
(d) The notice shall advise the assessee of both of the following:
(1) The requirements, procedures, and deadlines with respect to an
application for the reduction of a base year value pursuant to
Section 80, or the reduction of an assessment pursuant to Section
1603.
(2) The criteria under Section 51 for the determination of taxable
value, and the requirement of Section 1602 that the custodial
officer of the local roll make the roll, or a copy thereof, available
for inspection by all interested parties during regular office
hours.
(e) The notice shall advise the assessee that if the supplemental
assessment is a negative amount the auditor shall make a refund of a
portion of taxes paid on assessments made on the current roll, or the
roll being prepared, or both.
(f) The notice shall be furnished by the assessor to the assessee
by regular United States mail directed to the assessee at the
assessee's latest address known to the assessor. The assessor may
choose to accept a written request from the assessee to provide the
information by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States
mail.
(g) The notice given by the assessor under this section shall be
on a form approved by the State Board of Equalization.
SEC. 2. Section 155.20 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
155.20. (a) Subject to the limitations listed in subdivisions
(b), (c), (d), and (e), a county board of supervisors may exempt from
property tax all real property with a base year value (as determined
pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 50) of Part 0.5) as
adjusted by an annual inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of
Section 110.1, and personal property with a full value so low that,
if not exempt, the total taxes, special assessments, and applicable
subventions on the property would amount to less than the cost of
assessing and collecting them.
(b) (1) The board of supervisors shall have no authority to exempt
property with a total base year value, as adjusted by an annual
inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, or
full value of more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), except that
this limitation is increased to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in
the case of a possessory interest, for a temporary and transitory
use, in a publicly owned fairground, fairground facility, convention
facility, or cultural facility. For purposes of this paragraph,
"publicly owned convention or cultural facility" means a publicly
owned convention center, civic auditorium, theater, assembly hall,
museum, or other civic building that is used primarily for staging
any of the following:
(A) Conventions, trade and consumer shows, or civic and community
events.
(B) Live theater, dance, or musical productions.
(C) Artistic, historic, technological, or educational exhibits.
(2) In determining the level of the exemption, the board of
supervisors shall determine at what level of exemption the costs of
assessing the property and collecting taxes, assessments, and
subventions on the property exceeds the proceeds to be collected. The
board of supervisors shall establish the exemption level uniformly
for different classes of property. In making this determination, the
board of supervisors may consider the total taxes, special
assessments, and applicable subventions for the year of assessment
only or for the year of assessment and succeeding years where
cumulative revenues will not exceed the cost of assessments and
collections.
(c) This section does not apply to those real or personal
properties enumerated in Section 52.
(d) The exemption authorized by this section shall be adopted by
the board of supervisors on or before the lien date for the fiscal
year to which the exemption is to apply and may, at the option of the
board of supervisors, continue in effect for succeeding fiscal
years. Any revision or rescission of the exemption shall be adopted
by the board of supervisors on or before the lien date for the fiscal
year to which that revision or rescission is to apply.
(e) Nothing in this section shall authorize either of the
following:
(1) A county board of supervisors to exempt new construction,
unless the new total base year value, as adjusted by an annual
inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, of the
property, including this new construction, is ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or less.
(2) An assessor to exempt or not to enroll any property of any
value, unless specifically authorized by a county board of
supervisors, pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3. Section 465 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to
read:
465. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the assessor may
destroy any document when six years have elapsed since the lien date
for the tax year for which that document was obtained. Documents may
be destroyed immediately upon preservation in a medium that provides
access to the documents such as microfilm, microfiche, electronic
document imaging, or other media that captures a true image of the
document that may later be retrieved.
(b) Affidavits claiming an exemption, for the first time, pursuant
to Sections 254.5, 257, and 277 may be destroyed by the assessor as
follows:
(1) Six years after the lien date of the tax year for which the
exemption was last granted.
(2) Upon preservation in a medium that provides access to the
documents such as microfilm, microfiche, electronic document imaging,
or other media that captures a true image of the document that may
later be retrieved.
SEC. 4. Section 619 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to
read:
619. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the assessor
shall, upon or prior to completion of the local roll, do either of
the following:
(1) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured
roll whose property's full value has increased over its full value
for the prior year of the assessed value of that property as it shall
appear on the completed local roll.
(2) Inform each assessee of real property on the local secured
roll, or each assessee on the local secured roll and each assessee on
the unsecured roll, of the assessed value of his or her real
property or of both his or her real and his or her personal property
as it shall appear on the completed local roll.
(b) The information given by the assessor to the assessee pursuant
to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall include a
notification of hearings by the county board of equalization, which
shall include the period during which assessment protests will be
accepted and the place where they may be filed. The information shall
also include an explanation of the stipulation procedure set forth
in Section 1607 and the manner in which the assessee may request use
of this procedure.
(c) In the case of an increase in a property's full value that is
determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) over the
property's full value determined for the prior year in accordance
with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 51, the information
shall also include the base year value of the property, compounded
annually from the base year to the current year by the appropriate
inflation factors.
(d) The information shall be furnished by the assessor to the
assessee by regular United States mail directed to him or her at his
or her latest address known to the assessor. The assessor may choose
to accept a written request from the assessee to provide the
information by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States
mail.
(e) Neither the failure of the assessee to receive the information
nor the failure of the assessor to so inform the assessee shall in
any way affect the validity of any assessment or the validity of any
taxes levied pursuant thereto.
(f) This section shall not apply to annual increases in the
valuation of property which reflect the inflation rate, not to exceed
2 percent, pursuant to the authority of subdivision (b) of Section 2
of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, for purposes of
property tax limitation determinations.
(g) This section does not apply to increases in assessed value
caused solely by changes in the assessment ratio provided for in
Section 401.
(h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1999.
SEC. 5. Section 621 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to
read:
621. In any county the assessor, with the approval of the board
of supervisors, may give the information required by Section 619, and
similar information with reference to personal property, as an
alternative to giving the information by United States mail, by
having published lists of assessments in newspapers, or by posting
the information to the assessor's Internet Web site, or any
combination of the above. In counties of more than 4 million
population and counties of more than 1 million population, as
determined by the July 1, 1965, Department of Finance revised
estimate, which are contiguous to a county with more than 4 million
population, the assessor, with the approval of the board of
supervisors, may divide the county into publication areas not to
exceed five in number. Within such areas the assessment listing may
be grouped by assessment map books, by post office zones or by such
other arrangements as may be determined by the assessor as most
likely to give notice to assessees and as practicable for publication
in local newspapers. The complete assessment data of one such area
may be printed in one year, and for other areas in successive years
as directed by him or her until the full county is covered. Each year
at least all changes of assessment listings for all the areas shall
be printed, together with a notice that no changes were made with
regard to properties not on the list of changes, so that all changes
will be on a current basis for the entire county. Newspapers for the
publications shall be selected as they are for publication of the
delinquent tax lists and the rate paid for the advertising shall be
the same.
Neither the failure of the assessee to receive this information
nor the failure of the assessor to so inform the assessee shall in
any way affect the validity of any assessment or the validity of any
taxes levied pursuant thereto.
SEC. 6. Section 3698.7 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
3698.7. (a) With respect to property for which a property tax
welfare exemption has been granted and that has become tax defaulted,
the minimum price at which the property may be offered for sale
pursuant to this chapter shall be the higher of the following:
(1) Fifty percent of the fair market value of the property. For
the purposes of this paragraph, "fair market value" means the amount
as defined in Section 110 as determined pursuant to an appraisal of
the property by the county assessor within one year immediately
preceding the date of the public auction. From the proceeds of the
sale, there shall be distributed to the county general fund an amount
to reimburse the county for the cost of appraising the property. The
value of the property as determined by the assessor pursuant to an
appraisal shall be conclusively presumed to be the fair market value
of the property for the purpose of determining the minimum price at
which the property may be offered for sale.
(2) The total amount necessary to redeem, plus costs. For purposes
of this paragraph:
(A) The "total amount necessary to redeem" is the sum of the
following:
(i) The amount of defaulted taxes.
(ii) Delinquent penalties and costs.
(iii) Redemption penalties.
(iv) A redemption fee.
(B) "Costs" are those amounts described in subdivision (c) of
Section 3704.7, subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 4112, Sections
4672, 4672.1, 4672.2, and 4673, and subdivision (b) of Section
4673.1.
(b) This section shall not apply to property or interests that
qualify for sale in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions
(b) and (c) of Section 3692.
(c) Where property or property interests have been offered for
sale at least once and no acceptable bids therefor have been
received, at the minimum price determined pursuant to subdivision
(a), the tax collector may, in his or her discretion and with the
approval of the board of supervisors, offer that same property or
those interests at the same or next scheduled sale at a minimum price
that the tax collector deems appropriate in light of the most
current assessed valuation of that property or those interests, or
any unique circumstance with respect to that property or those
interests.
