BILL NUMBER: SB 10	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 28, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 13, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Leno

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act to add Part 5.6 (commencing with Section 11160) to Division
2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to local government
finance.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 10, as amended, Leno. Voter-approved local assessment:
vehicles.
   Existing law authorizes certain counties to impose a local vehicle
license fee not exceeding $10 per vehicle, as provided, for the
privilege of operating specified vehicles on public roads in the
county. Existing law requires a county imposing this fee to contract
with the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect and administer the
fee, as specified.
   This bill would authorize counties and the City and County of San
Francisco to impose a voter-approved local assessment for specified
vehicles if certain conditions, including approval by local voters,
are met. The bill would require the county or the city and county to
contract with the department to collect and administer the
assessment, as provided.  The bill would authorize a county
or city and county to assess a lesser amount for low-emission
vehicles, as defined. 
   The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize
various deductions against the income that is otherwise subject to
tax under those laws, including a deduction for local taxes that were
paid or incurred by a taxpayer.
   This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to notify the
department of estimated revenue losses to the state resulting from
taxpayers deducting, for purposes of the Personal Income Tax Law and
the Corporation Tax Law, the voter-approved local assessments
authorized by this bill. This bill would require the department to
transmit from the assessments collected an amount equal to these
reported losses for deposit in the General Fund.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the Local
Assessment Act.
  SEC. 2.  Part 5.6 (commencing with Section 11160) is added to
Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

      PART 5.6.  VOTER-APPROVED LOCAL ASSESSMENT


   11160.  This part is applicable only to counties and to the City
and County of San Francisco.
   11161.  For purposes of this part:
   (a) "Board of supervisors" means the board of supervisors of the
county or the city and county.
   (b) "City and county" means the City and County of San Francisco.
   (c) "County" means any county of the state.
   (d) "Department" means the Department of Motor Vehicles.
   (e) "Market value" has the same meaning and shall be determined in
the same manner as required under Part 5 (commencing with Section
10701) of Division 2.
   (f) "Person" includes an individual, a firm, a corporation, a
limited liability company, a partnership, or any other legal entity.
   (g) "Resident of the county or city and county" means a person
whose address, as reflected in department registration records, is in
the county or the city and county, but does not include a person
that establishes to the satisfaction of the department that the
person's place of residence is elsewhere.
   (h) "Voter-approved local assessment" means a supplemental charge
added to the fee imposed pursuant to Section 10751.
   11162.  Notwithstanding Section 10758, the board of supervisors
may, by ordinance, impose a voter-approved local assessment for
general revenue purposes pursuant to this part, if all of the
following conditions are met:
   (a) The ordinance proposing the assessment complies with both of
the following:
   (1) Section 11163.
   (2) Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 53720) of Chapter 4 of
Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
   (b) The ordinance proposing the assessment is approved by
two-thirds of all members of the board of supervisors.
   (c) The ordinance proposing the assessment is submitted to the
electorate of the county or city and county and is approved by a
majority vote of the voters voting on the ordinance.
   (d) The board of supervisors transmits to the department and the
Franchise Tax Board a certified copy of the ordinance imposing that
assessment immediately after the results of the election described in
subdivision (c) are certified.
   11163.  An ordinance imposing a voter-approved local assessment
pursuant to this part shall contain provisions in substance as
follows:
   (a) A provision that the assessment is imposed for the privilege
of a resident of the county or the city and county to operate upon
the public highways in the county or the city and county a vehicle or
trailer coach, the registrant of which is subject to tax under Part
5 (commencing with Section 10701).
   (b) (1) A provision establishing the annual amount of the
assessment at a rate that equals the difference between the following
two rates:
   (A) Two percent of the market value of the vehicle or trailer
coach.
   (B) The rate, including any offset to that rate, set forth in Part
5 (commencing with Section 10701), for a vehicle or trailer coach.
   (2) A provision that the rate established under the provision
described in paragraph (1) is subject to both of the following:
   (A) That the rate may not exceed 2 percent of the market value of
the vehicle or trailer coach.
   (B) That any adjustment that is required to be made to the rate
because of a change in the rate, or any offset to that rate, set
forth in Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701), shall not take
effect until the first day of the first fiscal year that follows the
fiscal year in which the change to the rate or offset set forth in
that part became operative.
   (c) A provision that the assessment will begin to be imposed as
follows:
   (1) If the election in which the ordinance receives voter approval
occurs between January 1 and June 30, on the first January 1 that
follows that election.
   (2) If the election in which the ordinance receives voter approval
occurs between July 1 and December 31, on the first July 1 that
follows that election.
   (d) Provisions identical to those contained in Part 5 (commencing
with Section 10701), insofar as they relate to vehicle license fees
and are applicable, except that the name of the county or the city
and county as the taxing agency shall be substituted for that of the
state.
   (e) A provision that all amendments, subsequent to the effective
date of the voter-approved local assessment ordinance, to Part 5
(commencing with Section 10701) relating to vehicle license fees and
not inconsistent with this part, shall automatically be incorporated
into the voter-approved local assessment ordinance.
   (f) A provision that requires the county or the city and county to
contract with the department, which contract shall contain
provisions in substance as follows:
   (1) A requirement that the department perform all functions
incident to the administration and collection of the voter-approved
local assessment.
   (2) A provision specifying the manner in which refunds to
licensees pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701), as
incorporated in the voter-approved local assessment ordinance
pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d), will be made and administered.
   (3) A provision that requires the county or the city and county to
pay the department for the initial setup and programming costs
identified by the department.
   11163.2.  Any ordinance approved pursuant to Section 11163 shall
be valid and enforceable even if approved, as required by Section
11162, by the board of supervisors and by the voters prior to the
effective date of the act adding this section, but only if both of
the following apply:
   (a) Any assessment imposed pursuant to the approval of the
ordinance is not levied until at least 90 days after the effective
date of the act adding this section.
   (b) The board of supervisors ratifies its adoption of the
ordinance after the effective date of the act adding this section and
prior to the first levy of the assessment imposed pursuant to the
approval of the ordinance. 
   11163.5.  (a) A county or city and county imposing an assessment
pursuant to this part may impose an assessment at a rate less than
the rate provided by Section 11163, as determined by the county or
city and county, for low-emission vehicles.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "low-emission vehicle" means any
vehicle described in subdivision (a) of Section 5205.5 of the
Vehicle Code. 
   11164.  The department shall do all of the following:
   (a) Collect the voter-approved local assessment pursuant to a
contract with the county or the city and county.
   (b) Deduct its costs in administering the voter-approved local
assessment from the assessments collected under subdivision (a).
   (c) From the assessments collected under subdivision (a), transmit
to the Controller for deposit in the General Fund the amount
reported under Section 11166.
   (d) Transmit revenues derived from the assessments collected under
subdivision (a) to the county or the city and county as promptly as
feasible. 
   (e)  Report quarterly to the Franchise Tax Board, at a time and in
a manner prescribed by the Franchise Tax Board, the aggregate amount
paid by each person or entity that paid an assessment imposed under
this part in the prior calendar quarter.  
   (e) The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Franchise Tax Board
shall develop a reporting process that enables the department to
report to the board in a timely manner the data necessary for the
board to prepare the estimate of revenue loss specified in Section
11166. 
   11165.  (a) This part shall not be construed to supplant any
moneys that the state apportions to the county or the city and
county, including, but not limited to, moneys apportioned to that
entity under the Vehicle License Fee Law set forth in Part 5
(commencing with Section 10701), or any successor to that law.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a county or
city and county that imposes a voter-approved local assessment has a
reduction in revenue derived from that assessment because of an
increase in the rate, including any offset to that rate, set forth in
Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701) for a vehicle or a trailer
coach, reimbursement by the state shall not be made to the county or
city and county for that loss in revenue.
   11166.  On or before January 1 of the second year that follows a
year, or portion thereof, in which an assessment is imposed pursuant
to this part, the Franchise Tax Board shall report to the department
an estimate of the total amount of the revenue loss to the state for
the prior year resulting from deductions taken under the Personal
Income Tax Law (Part 10 (commencing with Section 17001)) and the
Corporation Tax Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 23001)) for
taxes paid or incurred as a result of a tax being imposed pursuant to
this part.