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Legislative Bill Action The following are summaries of just a few of the legislative bills that are currently being acted upon by the League of California Cities. The League encourages you to review the bills and contact the appropriate committees to demonstrate your support or opposition of issues that are important to your community. Your assistance is appreciated. REVENUE AND TAXATION AB 2100 ($imitian); AB 1865 AB 81 (Migden). Property Taxation. State- (Canciamilla). ERAF Cap. These two measures Assessed Property. Prior to energy deregulation, have re-emerged from last session and merit city the Board of Equalization (BOE) had authority for support. Both would take an incremental ap- assessing property taxes on power generation proach to capping the growth on property taxes facilities with the property tax revenues distrib- shifted in the 1990%. Both bills have similar uted through the county pool. The rationale for structures; they include delayed effective dates to using this unitary method was that these facilities get the state past the current fiscal crisis. Had were part of all the properties owned by the these bills been in effect in the last few years, electric companies. With the implementation of cities would have recaptured some of the property deregulation and sales of these generating plants tax growth of the recent past. AB 2100 and to other parties, the BOE adopted Rule 905 1865 have trigger mechanisms that would allow shifting property assessment and taxation to the the suspension of the cap if the state's reserves counties. The shift resulted in property taxes drop below certain minimum levels. Lastly, the bills return the growth in increments over an being allocated on a situs basis. The results were extended period, City officials will remember AB that cities where plants were sited or proposed would receive the property tax revenues associated 100 (Simitian) and AB 1076 (Canciamilla) from with the plants. This transfer of authority raised last year. Staff: Dwight Stenbakken, Status: two issues. First, some property tax assessments AsLG, Position: Support. were tied up on legal battles as the owners of the facilities challenged county assessments. Second, ADMINISTRATIVE properties under county assessment authority were SB 994 (Morrow). Skateboard Parks. now limited to assessment increases under Propo- sition 13. With the increasing property value of Liability. SB 994 extends the sunset for the existing law that provides limited liability protec- power plants and the need for additional plants caused by the energy crisis, the BOE in October tion for public agencies for lawsuits resulting from 2001 voted to reassert its assessment authority, injuries at skateboard parks, Due to several city This bill allows the BOE to retain assessment attorneys expressing a concern about whether or not to let the existing law sunset, the League authority and requires the property tax revenues to be distributed on a situs basis. Staff: Dwight asked interested city attorneys to review this bill. Stenbakken, Status: SenApps; Hrg-3/11; Posi- A strong majority of city attorneys recommended tion: Support. proceeding with SB 994 and suggested several different amendments to improve it. The League shared this information with the author, and sponsors of the bill, the City of Laguna Hills, and IOur Mission Restore and protect local control for cities through education and advocacy to enhance the quality of life For all Ealifomlans. PAGE 2/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www. cacities.org