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AB-25 Taxation: disaster relief.(1991-1992)

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AB25:v94#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 25
CHAPTER 15

An act to amend Section 194.1 of, and to add Sections 196.4, 196.5, and 196.6 to, the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to property taxation, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  June 30, 1992. Approved by Governor  June 30, 1992. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 25, Bates. Taxation: disaster relief.
Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to provide by ordinance for the reassessment of property that is damaged or destroyed, without fault on the part of the assessee, by a major misfortune or calamity, upon the application of the assessee or upon the action of the county assessor with the approval of the board of supervisors. With respect to an eligible county, defined to mean a county that, among other things, has adopted a reassessment ordinance as described above, existing law also authorizes owners of eligible property, as defined, who have applied for reassessment under that ordinance, to apply for and receive the deferral of the next installment of property taxes on the regular secured roll. It additionally authorizes an eligible county to adopt an ordinance allowing, upon the filing of a claim by an assessee, the deferral of that assessee’s unpaid and nondelinquent taxes on the supplemental roll. Existing law provides, as specified, for state allocations to eligible counties to reimburse those counties for the deferral of taxes on the regular secured and supplemental rolls, and requires eligible counties to in turn reimburse the state, as provided, for those allocations. Existing law also continuously appropriates, without regard to fiscal years, moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties for purposes of the above provisions.
This bill would modify the authorization for owners of eligible property to apply for and receive the deferral of the next installment of property taxes on the regular secured roll to apply both to those owners who have applied for reassessment under a reassessment ordinance and those owners whose property is otherwise reassessed under that ordinance. It would also provide, as specified, for state allocations to eligible counties, declared by the Governor to be in a state of disaster as a result of either of certain fires occurring in California in 1990 and 1991, of the estimated amounts of the reductions in property tax revenues on the regular secured and supplemental rolls as result of reassessment of damaged properties under a reassessment ordinance. It would require those eligible counties receiving those allocations to reimburse the state for those amounts, where the estimated reductions in property tax revenues exceed actual reductions.
By requiring moneys continuously appropriated from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties to be allocated by the Controller for the new purpose of reimbursing certain new eligible counties for the above property tax revenue reductions, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Appropriation: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 194.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read:

194.1.
 (a)  Any owner of eligible property who files on or before the next property tax installment payment date, a claim for reassessment pursuant to Section 170, or whose property is otherwise reassessed pursuant to Section 170, may apply to the county assessor to defer payment of that installment of property taxes on the regular secured roll for the current fiscal year with respect to that property which are due no later than that date which immediately follows the disaster which resulted in substantial disaster damage. If a timely claim for deferral is filed, the payment shall be deferred without penalty or interest until the assessor has reassessed the property and a corrected bill prepared pursuant to Section 170 has been sent to the property owner. Taxes deferred pursuant to this section are due 30 days after receipt by the owner of the corrected tax bill and if unpaid thereafter are delinquent as provided in Section 2610.5 and shall be subject to the penalty provided by law.
(b)  If, following reassessment pursuant to subdivision (a), the assessor determines that an owner who applied and was granted a deferral of property taxes did not file the claim in good faith, the owner shall be assessed a delinquency penalty for the nonpayment of the deferred taxes.
(c)  This section does not apply to property taxes paid through impound accounts.

SEC. 2.

 Section 196.4 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

196.4.
 (a)  In the 1991–92 fiscal year, the county auditor of an eligible county, proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster as a result of the Oakland/Berkeley Fire that occurred in October 1991, shall certify to the Director of Finance an estimate of the total amount of the reduction in property tax revenues on both the regular secured roll and the supplemental roll for that fiscal year resulting from the reassessment of eligible properties by the county assessor pursuant to Section 170.
(b)  In the 1991–92 fiscal year, the county auditor of an eligible county, proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of disaster as a result of the Painted Cave Fire that occurred in June 1990, shall certify to the Director of Finance an estimate of the total amount of the reduction in property tax revenues on both the regular secured roll and the supplemental roll for the 1990–91 fiscal year resulting from the reassessment of eligible properties by the county assessor pursuant to Section 170.

SEC. 3.

 Section 196.5 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

196.5.
 After the county auditor of an eligible county, as described in Section 196.4, has made the applicable certification to the Director of Finance pursuant to Section 196.4, the director shall, within 30 days after verification of the county auditor’s estimate, certify this amount to the Controller for allocation to the county. Upon receipt of certification from the Director of Finance, the Controller shall make the appropriate allocation to the county within 10 working days thereafter.

SEC. 4.

 Section 196.6 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

196.6.
 (a)  On or before December 31, 1992, each eligible county, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 196.4, shall compute and remit to the Controller for deposit in the General Fund an amount equal to the amount allocated to it by the Controller pursuant to Section 196.4, less the actual amount of its property tax revenue lost in the immediately preceding fiscal year on the regular secured and supplemental rolls with respect to eligible properties as a result of the reassessment of those properties pursuant to Section 170. If the amount computed pursuant to this subdivision for an eligible county described in this subdivision is less than zero, the Controller shall allocate that amount to the county.
(b)  On or before December 31, 1992, each eligible county, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 196.4, shall compute and remit to the Controller for deposit in the General Fund an amount equal to the amount allocated to it by the Controller pursuant to Section 196.4, less the actual amount of its property tax revenue lost in the 1990–91 fiscal year on the regular secured and supplemental rolls with respect to eligible properties as a result of the reassessment of those properties pursuant to Section 170. If the amount computed pursuant to this subdivision for an eligible county as described in this subdivision is less than zero, the Controller shall allocate that amount to the county.

SEC. 5.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to promptly provide vitally necessary relief and facilitate recovery from the heavy damage to lives and property inflicted by the fires which took place in California in June 1990 and October 1991, and to permit the more efficient operation of county government as soon as possible, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.