California Senate Bill SB1214 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1214INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Anderson FEBRUARY 20, 2014 An act to amend Section 16213 of, and to repeal and add Section 16180 of, the Government Code, and to amend and repeal Section 20623 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1214, as introduced, Anderson. State Controller: property tax postponement. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, until February 20, 2009, authorized a claimant, as defined, to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of ad valorem property taxes, where household income, as defined, did not exceed specified amounts. That law authorized the Controller, upon approval of the claim, to either make payment directly to specified entities, or to issue the claimant a certificate of eligibility that constituted a written promise of the state to pay the amount specified on the certificate, as provided. That law required these payments to be made out of specified funds appropriated to the Controller, as specified, and also required certain repaid property tax postponement payments to be paid into an impound account and transferred, as specified, to the General Fund. Existing law, on and after February 20, 2009, prohibits a person from filing a claim for postponement, and prohibits the Controller from accepting applications for postponement, under the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law. This bill would make inoperative the prohibition against a person filing a claim for postponement and the Controller from accepting applications for postponement under the program as of July 1, 2015, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2016. This bill would create in the State Treasury a Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund. The bill would require that repaid property tax postponement payments be transferred from the impound account to, or be directly deposited into, the newly created fund. The bill would continuously appropriate these funds to the Controller for purposes of administering the property tax postponement program, as specified. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 16180 of the Government Code is repealed.  16180. Out of the amount appropriated to the Controller by Section 16100, the sum of twelve million seven hundred thousand dollars ($12,700,000) for the 1977-78 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter is hereby made available to the Controller to pay the face amount of all certificates of eligibility for the postponement of property taxes submitted to the Controller which are signed and countersigned in the manner specified in Sections 20602, 20603, 20639.6, 20640.6, and 20640.7 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.  SEC. 2. Section 16180 is added to the Government Code, to read: 16180. (a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund. Subject to subdivision (b) and notwithstanding Section 13340, the fund is continuously appropriated to the Controller, commencing January 1, 2015, for purposes of administering this chapter, including, but not limited to, necessary administrative costs and disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes pursuant to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 20581) of Part 10.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code). (b) The Controller shall transfer any moneys in the fund in excess of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to the General Fund. (c) Any loan repayments relating to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law that are not deposited into an impound account, as described in Section 16210 or 16211.5, shall be deposited into the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund. SEC. 3. Section 16213 of the Government Code is amended to read: 16213. At the end of the six-month period specified in Section 16210 or the six-month period specified in Section 16211.5, all funds remaining in an impound account shall be transferred to the  General Fund   Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, established pursuant to Section 16180  . SEC. 4. Section 20623 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read: 20623.  (a)    No person shall file a claim for postponement under this chapter on or after the effective date of the act adding this section, and the Controller shall not accept applications for postponement under this chapter on or after that date.  (b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and as of January 1, 2016, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.