SB 863

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of land devoted to agricultural use, whereby the owners agree to continue using the property for that purpose, and the city or county agrees to value the land accordingly for purposes of property taxation. Existing law sets forth procedures for reimbursing cities and counties for property tax revenues not received as a result of these contracts. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2011, and until January 1, 2015, authorize a county, in any fiscal year in which payments authorized for reimbursement to a county for lost revenue are less than 12 of the participating county's actual foregone general fund property tax revenue, to revise the term for newly renewed and new contracts and require the assessor to value the property, as specified, based on the revised contract term. The bill would provide that a landowner may choose to nonrenew and begin the cancellation process. The bill would also provide that any increased revenues generated by properties under a new contract shall be paid to the county. This bill would appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Controller for the 2010–11 fiscal year to make subvention payments to counties, as specified. The bill would provide, in the event that this bill is enacted, that the provisions of Chapter 391 of the Statutes of 2010 not become effective. (2) The Community Redevelopment Law authorizes the establishment of redevelopment agencies in communities to address the effects of blight in those communities. Existing law requires each agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and approve a redevelopment plan for each project area. Existing law requires that a redevelopment plan contain specified limitations, including, but not limited to, a limitation on the number of dollars of taxes that may be divided and allocated to a redevelopment agency. This bill would, notwithstanding specified provisions, eliminate the tax increment limit for the redevelopment plan for the Centre City Redevelopment Project, including, but not limited to, the original project area, the expanded project area, and the merged project area. (3) The Community Redevelopment Law also requires a redevelopment agency to use at least 20% of tax increments generated from a project area to increase and improve the community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing, and those funds to be held in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund until used. That law authorizes a redevelopment agency, from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, inclusive, to suspend all or part of its required allocation to its Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund, but requires the redevelopment agency to repay the revenue diverted during the suspension within a specified time period, ending as of June 30, 2015. That law requires redevelopment agencies in this state to make a specified remittance to county Supplemental Educational Revenue Augmentation Funds for the 2009–10 fiscal year and another remittance to those funds for the 2010–11 fiscal year. That law subjects a redevelopment agency that does not make either or both of the required remittances to specified prohibitions and the requirement that it allocate an additional 5% of all tax increments it receives for low- and moderate-income housing for the remainder of the time it receives them. This bill would exempt a redevelopment agency that fails to allocate either or both of the required remittances, or to otherwise arrange for their full payment, as specified, from those prohibitions and the above-described requirement, if the county auditor certifies to the Department of Finance that (1) the redevelopment agency adopted a specified resolution, or specified resolutions, and failed to make the associated remittance by May 10, 2010, or May 10, 2011, as applicable, (2) the county reduced the tax increment revenue payable to the redevelopment agency by at least 20% in the 2009–10 fiscal year, and (3) the redevelopment agency has entered into a specified agreement with the Department of Finance with respect to paying the required remittances. (4) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Centre City Redevelopment Project of the City of San Diego. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.