Heavy equipment rentals: rental agreements: property tax reimbursement.

Existing law prescribes the manner in which contracts or agreements may be created. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would establish, in a rental agreement of heavy equipment property by a qualified heavy equipment renter, a rebuttable presumption that the parties agreed to the addition of estimated personal property tax reimbursement to the rental price of heavy equipment property to a lessee if specified conditions occur, including that the rental agreement states that the estimated personal property tax reimbursement amount charged is the amount estimated by the qualified heavy equipment renter owed for personal property tax on that heavy equipment property for a specified lien date and that any amounts in excess of the actual amount of personal property taxes owed on the heavy equipment property will be remitted to the State Board of Equalization for deposit into the state General Fund. This bill would require every qualified heavy equipment renter to register with the State Board of Equalization, as provided, and would require a qualified heavy equipment renter to file an annual return with the board, in a form prescribed by the board, that shows the ad valorem property tax levied on qualified heavy equipment property for the previous fiscal year lien date and the property tax reimbursement collected in the aggregate on any heavy equipment property for the 12-month period ending August 31. This bill would require any property tax reimbursement that is collected in excess of the ad valorem property tax levied to be paid to the board and would require the board to collect those excess reimbursement amounts pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would require all amounts, less refunds, to be deposited into the General Fund. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, which imposes criminal penalties for various acts, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.