(Sacramento, CA) – Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) to reform state oversight procedures over county assessors in order to more effectively ensure uniformity, fairness, and integrity of the property tax assessment process across California.
“We will now have much better information about the performance of our property tax system to determine what is being done right and what needs improvement,” said Ting who served as the Assessor Recorder of San Francisco prior to his election to the State Assembly. “These reforms ensure that state audits of county assessors are undertaken in a way that will better improve services that they provide on the ground.”
“I am very pleased that Governor Brown signed this legislation that will reduce the time that the State Board of Equalization takes to audit local assessors,” stated Board Member Fiona Ma. “This bill will provide accountability and transparency for taxpayers, while allowing assessors the opportunity to improve operations during the elected Assessors term of office. Further, this bill will streamline internal procedures for the largest counties in the state.”
In 1850, the Legislature first directed county assessors to tax property but assessors in different counties often applied different tax rates and methods of assessment. The California Constitution of 1879 created BOE to equalize rates and assessment practices among counties. As part of its oversight role, BOE surveys each county assessor every five years to determine whether a county's practices and procedures are adequate, as well as its general performance. The results of BOE's survey are published into public documents known as "Assessment Practices Survey.”
Prior to Ting’s Assembly Bill (AB) 681, surveys would take up to 24 months to complete. This limited the value of the information provided by these audits as a mechanism to improve the performance of county assessor offices. With Governor Brown signing AB 681, surveys will be done in a single year.
The bill is the outcome of working closely with the BOE and the California County Assessors Association to ensure that survey quality is enhanced. In order to achieve that outcome, the bill creates a three-tiered review system to help the BOE manage its workload. Under AB 681, the BOE must still audit the top ten county assessors every five years. However, audits of county assessors in counties with smaller property tax receipts will occur in a sampling rotation. The bill also allows a former assessor the chance to provide input on a survey if necessary.
AB 681 passed the Assembly 80-0 and the Senate 40-0. Further information is available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.