Property taxation assessor: tax collector: administration.

(1) Existing property tax law provides for supplemental and escape assessments to be made on property outside the regular assessment period and requires that certain notices, in a form approved by the State Board of Equalization, of those assessments be furnished to assessees by regular United States mail. This bill would allow the assessor to provide the information by electronic mail in lieu of regular mail, if he or she chooses to accept a written request from the assessee to do so. (2) Existing property tax law authorizes each county board of supervisors to exempt from property taxation those properties having a full value too low to justify the costs of assessment and collection, and limits any exemption granted by each county board of supervisors to property with a value not exceeding $10,000. This bill would clarify that the base year value is adjusted by an annual inflation factor, as specified. (3) Existing property tax law allows county assessors to destroy documents containing information obtained from taxpayers 6 years after the lien date for the taxes for which the information was obtained, or 3 years after the lien date if the documents have been microfiched, microfilmed, imaged, or otherwise preserved. This bill would authorize assessors to destroy those documents immediately upon preservation in a medium that provides access to the documents, including, among others, electronic document imaging. (4) Existing property tax law requires the assessor to inform each assessee of real property, as specified, of the assessed value of that property, as provided. This bill would authorize the assessor to provide the information by electronic mail in lieu of by regular United States mail, if he or she chooses to accept a written request from the assessee to do so. This bill would also authorize the information to be posted on the assessor's Internet Web site. (5) Existing law requires the price at which tax-defaulted property, for which a property tax welfare exemption has been granted, may be offered for sale to be the greater of either 50% of the fair market value of the property or the total amount necessary to redeem the property, plus costs. Existing law authorizes the tax collector, with the approval of the board of supervisors, where the property or property interests have been offered for sale and no acceptable bids have been received, to offer that property or property interest at the next scheduled sale at a minimum price the tax collector deems appropriate. This bill would authorize the tax collector to offer that property or property interest at the same sale at a minimum price that the tax collector deems appropriate in light of the most current assessed valuation of that property or property interest, or any unique circumstances with respect to that property or those interests.