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9A Page 13 Federal Eminent Domain Legislation Last December, an amendment to the Senate's Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 was defeated that would have preempted state and local land use laws by prohibiting any state or local government from exercising eminent domain authority over any "farmland or grazing land for the purpose of a park, recreation, open space, conservation, preservation view, scenic vista or similar purpose." While little action is expected on eminent domain this session, three measures have been introduced on the issue: the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2007 (HR 3053/S 48) and the Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property Act of 2007 (HR 926). The Internet Tax Freedom Amendments Act of 2007 The President signed the Internet Tax Freedom Amendments Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-108) in October, which extended the moratorium on internet access taxes that expired in November of 2007 until 2014. The legislation also amended the definition of Internet access to make clear that the moratorium applies only to the service that connect a user to the Internet and not to goods and services sold over the Internet. No additional legislation is expected on this issue this session. State Controller Issues Advisory Letter on Property Tax Administrative Charges The audit division of the State Controllers Office issued a letter Jan. 7 clarifying its recent legal opinion on the appropriate method for calculating property tax administrative charges related to the triple flip and property tax in lieu of Vehicle License Fees (VLF). In recent months, numerous city officials have voiced concerns about a significant increase in property tax administrative charges related to the administration of the triple flip and property tax in lieu of VLF. The triple flip is the mechanism by which the state reimburses cities and counties with property tax for local sales tax taken to payoff the Economic Recovery Bonds under Proposition 57 (2004). Property tax in lieu ofVLF is the additional property tax revenue cities and counties receive since the VLF for Property Tax Swap of 2004. These concerns raised an issue requiring legal interpretation. Under the law, beginning in FY 2006-07, a county may impose a fee for administrative costs of implementing the triple flip and property tax in lieu ofVLF, but the fee, charge, or other levy may not exceed the actual cost of providing these services. County auditors had been redistributing the total costs of property tax administration in proportion to the distributions of triple flip and property tax in lieu of VLF, resulting in substantially larger additional charges than actual cost. Interested cities should visit http://www.californiacitvfinance.comJ#PROPTAXADMINFEES to review the letter from the audit division of the State Controllers Office. Sustainable Cities Feature Launches This week Priority Focus runs the first sustainable cities feature with a profile of Palo Alto Green, the city's program that enables residents to purchase renewable energy. The sustainable cities series highlights innovative practices California cities are using to promote sustainability. We are now collecting stories for this new series and want to hear about what your city is doing to be more sustainable. Has your city recently converted its vehicle fleet, installed solar on city buses or perhaps developed a public awareness campaign to encourage city residents to conduct an energy audit at home? These are the kinds of stories we want to hear. Questions and submissions should be sent to League Communications Director Eva Spiegel at as pi eo e l@cacities. or~. 6