Local government finance.

(1) Existing law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also reduces the amounts of ad valorem property tax revenue that would otherwise be annually allocated to the county, cities, and special districts pursuant to these general allocation requirements by requiring, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, that the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. Existing law requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. Existing law requires the county auditor to decrease, for the fiscal adjustment period, as defined, the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue allocated to a county's Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund by the countywide adjustment amount, as defined, and requires the auditor to instead allocate this amount to the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund in the county. Existing law requires, during this same period, the county auditor to allocate moneys from the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund to cities and counties to reimburse these entities for local tax revenue losses resulting from a specified statute, as provided. Existing law requires these allocations to be made in a manner that ensures that the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue allocated to cities, counties, and special districts pursuant to specified statutes is not reduced. This bill would, for the 2012–13 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, if there is not enough ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated to a county Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund for the county auditor to complete the decreases required during the fiscal adjustment period, require the county auditor to calculate an amount, as specified, and to submit a claim to the Controller for that amount. This bill would require the Controller, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to deposit the amount of the claim into the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund, and would require the county auditor to allocate that amount among the county and to each city in the county. (2) The Vehicle License Fee (VLF) Law establishes, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state. Beginning with the 2004–05 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, existing law requires that each city, county, and city and county receive a vehicle license fee adjustment amount (VLFAA) , as defined, from a Vehicle License Fee Property Tax Compensation Fund (VLFPTCF) that exists in each county treasury. Existing law requires that these amounts be funded from ad valorem property tax revenues otherwise required to be allocated to educational entities. This bill would, for the 2012–13 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, if there is not enough ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated to educational entities for the county auditor to make the VLFAA payments, require the county auditor to allocate to the VLFPTCF a specified amount of ad valorem property tax revenue, that is not required to be allocated under a specified statute, to an elementary, high school, or unified school district. This bill would require the county auditor, if there is still not enough ad valorem property tax revenue to make the VLFAA payments, to submit a claim to the Controller for the remaining amount necessary to make those payments. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the Controller to deposit the amount of the claim into the VLFPTCF, and would require the county auditor to allocate that amount in the manner provided by the existing payment provisions. (3) By imposing additional duties upon local tax officials with respect to the allocation of ad valorem property tax revenues, 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.(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.