Property taxation: certificated aircraft assessment.

Existing property tax law requires the personal property of an air carrier be taxed at its fair market value, and the California Constitution requires property subject to ad valorem property taxation to be assessed in the county in which it is situated. Existing law, for the 2005–06 fiscal year to the 2010–11 fiscal year, inclusive, specifies a formula to determine the fair market value of certificated aircraft of a commercial air carrier. Existing law further requires, until December 31, 2010, the Aircraft Advisory Subcommittee of the California Assessors' Association to designate, after soliciting input from commercial air carriers operating in the state, a lead county assessor's office for each commercial air carrier operating certificated aircraft in this state in an assessment year, and requires the lead county assessor to calculate the value of the air carrier's personal property and to transmit these calculations to other county assessors, but specifies that each county assessor is responsible for assessing and enrolling the taxable value of the property in his or her county, as provided. Existing law also requires, until December 31, 2010, the lead county assessor's office to lead a team to audit the books and records of a commercial air carrier and authorizes these air carriers to file a property statement solely with the lead county assessor's office, as provided. This bill would extend the 2010–11 fiscal year termination date to the 2015–16 fiscal year and the December 31, 2010, repeal date to December 31, 2015, for the above-described provisions relating to the determination of the fair market value and taxation of certificated aircraft. This bill would also specify that it shall be rebuttably presumed that the fair market value of certificated aircraft is the amount determined under the formula specified above, and would authorize this value to be rebutted by certain evidence. This bill would also require the value of an individual aircraft assessed to the original owner of that aircraft to not exceed its original cost from the manufacturer, as provided. By extending the application of the aforementioned valuation process for certificated aircraft beyond the 2010–11 fiscal year, thereby imposing new duties upon a lead county assessor's office, the 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.