BOARD ROLL OF STATE-ASSESSED PROPERTY AN OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTIONS Ken Thompson – Chief, State-Assessed Properties Division (916) Jack McCool – Supervisor, Board Roll and Land Field Crew (916)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND  Under California’s first Constitution in 1849 local assessors were responsible for assessment of all taxable property; the state had no assessment responsibilities  Under the Constitution of 1879, the Board of Equalization assumed responsibility for the centralized assessment of intercounty railroads marking the beginning of state assessment in California  Under a constitutional amendment in 1910, railroad assessment responsibility went back to local assessors and the Board took a leave of absence from assessment for roughly a quarter century  In 1933, a state fiscal crisis led to a constitutional amendment granting the Board assessment responsibility to a broader class of “public utilities”

REASONS FOR CENTRAL ASSESSMENT  Early railroads were the first entities to operate across county and state boundaries  The “continuous property” of railroads was assessed markedly differently among counties  Created a problem of intercounty uniformity and equalized assessment which was a mandate of the state’s first Constitution  Given the political power of early railroads, doubts existed regarding the ability of local assessors to render equitable assessments – state assessment was seen as a countervailing power  Concern that the true value of railroad property as part of an operating unit was not being reflected in the separate assessments of the local assessors

STATUTORY AUTHORITY Section 19 of article XII of the California Constitution requires the Board to annually assess: 1) pipelines, flumes, canals, ditches, and aqueducts lying within 2 more counties and 2) property, except franchises, owned or used by regulated railway, telegraph, or telephone companies, car companies operating on railways in the State, and companies transmitting or selling gas or electricity This property shall be subject to taxation to the same extent and in the same manner as other property

WHAT IS THE BOARD ROLL?  An assessment roll transmitted by the Board to each county auditor showing 1) the unitary and operating nonunitary assessments made by the Board in the county 2) the nonunitary assessments made by the Board in each city and revenue district in the county  Sometimes referred to as “utility roll” or “state roll”  Adopted annually by the Board on or before July 31  The Board Roll is a public document open to public inspection  Considered part of the secured roll

TYPES OF PROPERTY State-assessed property is classified into one of four categories:  Unitary – property owned or used by the state assessee and used in its primary operations (TRA )  Nonunitary – owned by an assessee but not used in the assessee’s primary operations (TRA specific)  Operating Nonunitary – property that the assessee and its regulatory agency consider to be operating as a unit, but the Board considers not part of the unit in the primary function of the assessee (TRA )  Nonunitary Rail Transportation Property – property owned by a railroad that is used in rail transportation operations, but is nonetheless valued separately and apart from unitary property (TRA specific)

TAX-RATE AREAS  The Board’s TRA system facilitates compliance with the constitutional requirement that all taxable property be assessed according to situs  Assigns a unique TRA number to every geographical area in the state that corresponds to a unique combination of local revenue districts  A TRA contains six digits –  the first three refer to primary areas – incorporated cities & school districts  the second three to secondary areas - all other revenue districts in a primary area  Unitary and Operating Nonunitary property are in TRA  Qualified Electric Generation Property is in TRA  Nonunitary, “Hannigan” property, and Nonunitary RR Transportation property allocated to specific TRA

BOARD ROLL INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE LEGEND A - County Name B - This column displays the assessee’s name and/or description of property C - This column displays the primary and secondary tax- rate area number D - State Board of Equalization assigned assessee number E - These columns display assessed value by land, improvements, & pers. property F - Total assessed value for each line G - Indicates the page number of the Board Roll; each county begins with page 1 H - Total assessed value for each assessee with that TRA I - Total assessed value for the entire TRA J - Indicates the line number (1 through 24) on each page

INDEX TO BOARD ROLL LEGEND Also referred to as the Name and Address file A - County Name B - This column displays the assessee’s name and address in alphabetical order C - State Board of Equalization assigned assessee number D - Tax-rate areas in which a particular assessee appears on the Board Roll E - This column displays all of the Board Roll page numbers the assessee appears F - Indicates the page number of the Index to Board Roll  The Index appears at the back of the Board Roll; after the County Total page  Counties need to use the Index to ensure tax bills are sent to the correct address

ROLL CORRECTIONS Roll corrections are changes to a Board Roll that has already been transmitted to the county auditor (different from escaped assessment or adjustment) Roll corrections can occur for a variety of reasons Some examples include: Assessee reporting error Board adopted petition Board adopted audit findings BOE processing error

QUALIFIED PROPERTY  SB 1317 was enacted in 2006 and affects the allocation of property taxes on “qualified property” placed in service on or after January 1, 2007 by electric public utilities.  Created special allocation requirements of Revenue and Taxation (R&T) Code section  “Qualified property” means all plant and associated equipment, including substation facilities and fee-owned land and easements, placed in service by the public utility on or after January 1, 2007, and meets specific criteria in R&T section

QUALIFIED PROPERTY  Currently, 14 counties have qualified electric generation property  Assessees provide BOE with a description of the qualified property that is subject to section  Appears in TRA on the Board Roll  BOE annually transmits to the auditor and assessor of each county in which qualified property is located the information necessary to identify that property and the corresponding assessed value data necessary to make the property tax revenue allocations required by this section

KEY DATES  May 27, Board adopts unitary assessed values  June 12, Preliminary Board Roll (TRA Totals) sent to county auditors  July 28, Board Roll adopted  July 29, Final Board Roll sent to county auditors and assessors

WHAT WE SEND TO YOU  Preliminary Roll - on or before July 15 th each year U.S. Mail - Tax-Rate Area Totals and QP report (if applicable) -.txt file of TRA Totals and file layout to designated recipient(s)  Final Board Roll - on or before July 31 st each year U.S. Mail - Board Roll, Index, QP report (if applicable) -.txt file of Board Roll, Index, and file layout, QP report

ALLOCATION OF VALUES CountyValue Proportion of State Roll Los Angeles15,824,533, % San Diego10,877,890, % San Bernardino6,566,722, % Riverside6,246,929, % Orange5,230,468, % Contra Costa4,135,546, % Santa Clara3,904,504, % Fresno3,661,007, % Alameda3,577,913, % Kern3,499,695, % San Luis Obispo2,915,511, % San Francisco2,721,120, % Top 12 Total74.13%

COUNTIES WITH HIGHEST STATE-ASSESSED PROPORTION CountyValue % of County Roll Colusa902,135, % Modoc155,175, % Plumas493,639, % Sierra51,088, % Lassen167,191, % Siskiyou298,574, % San Luis Obispo2,915,511, % Imperial700,010, % Fresno3,661,007, % Shasta842,175, % Madera641,182, % Yuba248,765, %

QUESTIONS ?