The Sales and Use Tax Law (SUT) imposes certain sales and use taxes for the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail. The SUT requires all fees, taxes, interest, and penalties imposed and all amounts of tax required to be paid to the state under the SUT be paid to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration in the form of remittances payable to the department.

This bill, the Historic Venue Restoration and Resiliency Act, would, until July 1, 2030, require a return filed with the department to report gross receipts for sales tax purposes to segregate the taxable sales on a line or a separate form, as prescribed by the department, if the place of sale in this state is on or within the real property of a confirmed historic venue on the day of a qualified event and would require the department to report the amount of the total gross receipts segregated on the returns filed for the prior fiscal year to the Department of Finance on or before November 1 of each year, as prescribed. The bill would define “qualified event” to mean a live event at a confirmed historic venue to which tickets are offered for public sale and would define “historic venue” to mean a venue in the state that meets certain criteria, including that the venue contains a structure built before 1940, contains a structure officially designated by the United States National Park Service or the United States Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark, or is located at a site continuously used for live, ticketed events for more than 50 years. The bill would create the Historic Venue Restoration and Resiliency Fund and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund for transmission by the Controller to cities and counties with historic venues, as specified. The bill would require an amount equal to 5% of the total amount of gross receipts, or adjusted gross receipts, for the prior fiscal year reported to the Department of Finance by the department to be included in the next annual Governor’s Budget for deposit into the fund. The bill would require, no later than 30 days after the enactment of the annual Budget Act, the amount appropriated by the Legislature to the Controller, as described above, to be transferred by the Controller to the fund. By creating a continuously appropriated fund and providing revenue to be deposited into that fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would, among other things, require a city or county to identify a historic venue within its jurisdiction to the department, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, for a confirmation as a historic venue, as prescribed. The bill would also require a city or county to distribute funds received pursuant to the bill only for certain purposes, including capital infrastructure improvements and preservation of a historic venue, as prescribed. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, a city or county that receives money from the fund to deliver a report to the department regarding how that money is being used. The bill would define “county” to mean the County of Alameda, the County of Santa Clara, and the County of Los Angeles and would define “city” to mean a city within the geographic boundaries of any of those counties. By requiring certain local governments to identify historic venues to the department, implement processes to distribute funds to confirmed historic venues, and report to the department regarding the use of those funds, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Alameda, the County of Santa Clara, and the County of Los Angeles and cities within the geographic boundaries of any of those counties.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.