Taxation: property tax deferment.

The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, until February 20, 2009, authorized a claimant, as defined, to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of ad valorem property taxes, where household income, as defined, did not exceed specified amounts. Existing law authorized the Controller, upon approval of the claim, to either make payment directly to specified entities, or to issue the claimant a certificate of eligibility that constituted a written promise of the state to pay the amount specified on the certificate, as provided. Existing law required these payments to be made out of specified funds appropriated to the Controller, as specified, and also required repaid property tax postponement payments to be transferred, as specified, to the General Fund. Existing law, on and after February 20, 2009, prohibits a person from filing a claim for postponement, and prohibits the Controller from accepting applications for postponement, under the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law. This bill would establish the County Deferred Property Tax Program for Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens, authorize a county to elect to participate in the program by adopting a resolution indicating the county's intention to participate in and administer the program, and specify that the requirements of a county or county officials set forth in the bill are conditioned upon the county's passage of the above-described resolution. Under the program, a participating county would be authorized to defer a claimant's property taxes retroactively, for property taxes due on or before February 20, 2010, and prospectively, as specified. This bill would require a claimant, as defined, to use the application form of a county to initiate participation in the program. The bill would authorize the county treasurer or county tax collector to review the claimant's application for program participation, as specified, and, if the claimant is eligible, and if there are sufficient funds within the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, which this bill would require a participating county to establish within its treasury, to (1) defer property taxes on the claimant's residential dwelling for that fiscal year, (2) issue a subvention payment to that county, in an amount equivalent to the amount of the deferred property taxes, from the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, (3) direct the county auditor to apportion that subvention payment in the same manner as if the property taxes had been paid, and (4) provide a letter or other written notice to the claimant, noting the relevant fiscal year of participation, for use as written confirmation of participation. The bill would authorize the county treasurer of a participating county, if he or she makes a specified determination, upon the adoption of a specified resolution by that county's board of supervisors, to deposit specified funds in the county treasury for the purpose of investment of those funds in the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund. This bill would require the amount of property taxes deferred, plus any interest accrued thereon, to be secured by a county property tax lien, as specified. The bill would also require the lien to be evidenced by a notice of lien, and various county officials to process and record the notice of lien, as specified. The bill would require a participating county to charge a claimant a specified adjusted rate of interest on the amount owed for the deferment of property taxes. The bill would require the amount secured by the lien to be increased to reflect the accrual of interest on the property taxes deferred, or decreased by the amount of any payment made to reduce the amount secured by the lien, as specified. The bill would provide procedures for the release of the lien if the obligation is paid in full or otherwise discharged, and would require all amounts owed by a claimant under the program to become due immediately under specified circumstances. This bill would authorize a participating county to charge an application fee to the claimant to offset the actual costs of administering the program, and would require the fee proceeds to be deposited in an account within the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, to be used exclusively for those administrative costs. The bill would require the letter or other written confirmation of participation in the program provided by the county to be considered as evidence of program participation.