A new budget trailer bill,
SB 815, would give county assessment appeals boards
additional time to work through their backlogs and clarify that
they are allowed to hold hearings remotely.
County assessment appeals boards (AABs) are quasi-judicial bodies
that decide disputes about the taxable value of real property.
With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting in-person proceedings, and
the lack of clarity about whether remote hearings were acceptable
for these hearings and the due process rights that accompany
them, most appeals have been on hold for the past several months.
However, state law, in an effort to ensure counties hold these
hearings that have the potential to reduce property tax revenue,
automatically grants appeals that are not heard within two years.
With the two-year deadline approaching for a number of appeals,
the Governor recently extended the deadline by executive order,
but only until January 31, 2021. Many counties worried that would
not be long enough to resolve the backlog of appeals, especially
without clarification that remote hearings are permitted, and, if
a further extension was necessary, would not give the Legislature
time to approve a bill doing so.
SB 815, as recently amended, both extends the deadline and
clarifies that remote hearings are permissible, and CSAC
supported the bill during a meeting of the Assembly Budget
Committee earlier this week. (We expect minor amendments to the
bill in the coming days that have been agreed to by all parties.)
Our coalition
support letter included the Urban Counties of California, the
Rural County Representatives of California, the California
Assessors Association, the California Association of Clerks and
Elections Officials, and the Counties of Los Angeles, Sacramento,
San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Ventura.
The bill is pending on the Assembly floor, then will move to the
Senate for consideration.
