Disaster relief.

(1) Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to provide by ordinance for the reassessment of property that is damaged or destroyed, without fault on the part of the assessee, by a major misfortune or calamity, upon the application of the assessee or upon the action of the county assessor with the board's approval. With respect to certain counties that have adopted reassessment ordinances and have been declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency as a result of certain events, existing law provides for state allocations of the estimated amounts of the reductions in property tax revenues resulting in certain fiscal years from reassessments under those ordinances. Existing law also continuously appropriates, without regard to fiscal years, moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties for purposes of funding state allocations for specified disaster relief purposes. This bill would authorize an eligible county, as defined, to apply for state allocations to offset property tax revenue reductions resulting from the reassessment of property that was damaged in a Governor-declared emergency. This bill would make an appropriation by continuously appropriating moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties for this purpose. (2) Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to a specified provision of the California Constitution, for a homeowners' property tax exemption in the amount of $7,000 of the full value of a "dwelling," as defined. This bill would provide that any dwelling that qualified for the exemption and that was damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster in a designated area declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency during a specified period of time, and that has not changed ownership since the commencement date of the disaster, may not be denied the exemption solely on the basis that, as a result of that disaster, the dwelling was temporarily damaged or destroyed or was being reconstructed by the owner, or was temporarily uninhabited as a result of restricted access to the property due to the disaster. The California Constitution requires the Legislature, in each fiscal year, to reimburse local governments for the revenue losses incurred by those governments in that fiscal year as a result of the homeowners' property tax exemption. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to make this required reimbursement in the annual Budget Act. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law provide for the carryover to specified taxable years of specified losses sustained as a result of certain disasters occurring in California in an area determined by the President of the United States to warrant specified federal assistance, or proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of emergency. This bill would extend these provisions to any losses sustained as a result of a disaster that is the subject of a Governor's proclamation of a state of emergency. This bill would authorize a taxpayer to make an election to claim a deduction for those losses on the tax return for the preceding year. (4) By requiring local tax officials to implement new criteria under the homeowners' exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.