BILL NUMBER: AB 2207INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gordon FEBRUARY 23, 2012 An act to amend Section 214.02 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2207, as introduced, Gordon. Property taxation: welfare exemption: nature resources and open-space lands. Existing property tax law, in accordance with the California Constitution, provides for a welfare exemption under which property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes and owned and operated by funds, foundations, or corporations meeting certain statutory requirements is exempt from taxation. Existing law also provides that property used exclusively for the preservation of specified nature resources or open-space lands meeting other specified criteria is deemed to be included within the welfare exemption. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 214.02 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read: 214.02. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) or (c), property that is used exclusively for the preservation of native plants or animals, biotic communities, geological or geographical formations of scientific or educational interest, or open-space lands used solely for recreation and for the enjoyment of scenic beauty, is open to the general public subject to reasonable restrictions concerning the needs of the land, and is owned and operated by a scientific or charitable fund, foundation, limited liability company, or corporation, the primary interest of which is to preserve those natural areas, and that meets all the requirements of Section 214, shall be deemed to be within the exemption provided for in subdivision (b) of Sections 4 and 5 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California and Section 214. (b) The exemption provided by this section shall not apply to any property of an organization that owns in the aggregate 30,000 acres or more in one county that were exempt under this section prior to March 1, 1983, or that are proposed to be exempt, unless the nonprofit organization that holds the property is fully independent of the owner of any taxable real property that is adjacent to the property otherwise qualifying for tax exemption under this section. For purposes of this section, the nonprofit organization that holds the property shall be considered fully independent if the exempt property is not used or operated by that organization or by any other person so as to benefit any officer, trustee, director, shareholder, member, employee, contributor or bondholder of the exempt organization or operator, or the owner of any adjacent property, or any other person, through the distribution of profits, payment of excessive charges or compensations, or the more advantageous pursuit of their business or profession. (c) The exemption provided by this section shall not apply to property that is reserved for future development. (d) This section shall be operative from the lien date in 1983 to and including the lien date in 2022, after which date this section shall become inoperative, and as of January 1, 2023, this section is repealed. (e) The amendments made bythe act adding this subdivisionSection 4 of Chapter 354 of the Statutes of 2004 shall apply with respect to lien dates occurring on and after January 1, 2005.