Taxation: property tax delinquency and sales.

Under existing property tax law, unpaid property taxes are declared delinquent and subject to penalties and costs, and, if the taxes remain unpaid, the property is declared tax-defaulted and subject to sale if not redeemed by the owner within a certain amount of time. Existing law requires a tax collector, in the case of the proposed tax sale of property that is the primary residence of the last known assessee, to make a reasonable effort to contact the owner-occupant of the property to be sold, as specified, and requires that the costs incurred by the tax collector in attempting to make contact, not to exceed $100, be added to the required amount for redemption of the property. This bill would remove the $100 limitation described above, and would instead require the actual and reasonable costs incurred by the tax collector in attempting to make contact to be established by the board of supervisors, as specified. Existing law requires the tax collector, when tax-defaulted property subject to a recorded notice is redeemed, to collect certain fees including, among others, a fee of $35 to reimburse the county for its costs of obtaining the names and last known mailing addresses of, and for mailing specified notices to, parties of interest, in addition to the amount required to redeem the tax-defaulted property. Existing law authorizes the tax collector, if the tax-defaulted property is redeemed prior to the proposed sale, but after the county has incurred costs to publish the notice of intended sale in a newspaper, as provided, to collect a fee to reimburse the tax collector for those costs. This bill would remove the $35 limitation described above, and would instead require the tax collector to collect a fee to reimburse the county for its actual and reasonable costs incurred in obtaining the information of, and for mailing the notices to, parties of interest. This bill would also authorize the tax collector to collect a fee to reimburse the tax collector for the costs of publishing a notice of agreement in a newspaper, as provided, under the circumstances described above. This bill would require the amount of any fee collected by the tax collector when tax-defaulted property subject to a recorded notice is redeemed to be established by the board of supervisors of a county, as provided. Existing law requires the price at which certain tax-defaulted property may be offered for sale to be the total amount necessary to redeem the property, plus costs, and prescribes the manner of distribution of proceeds from the sale of tax-defaulted property, including, among others, a distribution to the county general fund, not to exceed $35, to reimburse the county for the cost of giving of a specified notice, and a distribution to the tax collector, not to exceed $100, to reimburse the county for the costs of a personal contact, as specified. The bill would remove the $35 limitation described above, and would instead require any fee collected to reimburse the county for its actual and reasonable costs incurred in giving notice to be distributed to the county general fund. This bill would also remove the $100 limitation described above, and would instead require a distribution to the tax collector equal to the total amount of the actual and reasonable costs incurred by the tax collector in conducting the personal contact.