Property tax revenue allocations: qualified fire protection districts.

Existing property tax 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. This bill, for the 2020–21 to 2024–25 fiscal years, inclusive, would require the auditor of a county in which a qualified fire protection district, as defined, is located to increase the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated to each qualified fire protection district by the fire protection district equity amount, as defined, and to commensurately reduce the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue otherwise required to be allocated among all other local agencies in the county that are not fire protection districts by the fire protection district equity amount. The bill, on or before January 1, 2020, would require the Office of Emergency Services to identify which fire protection districts in the state are qualified fire protection districts and to determine what amount of additional ad valorem property tax revenues are necessary for the qualified fire protection district to provide effective services for the district. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to report these amounts to the auditor of each county in which a qualified fire protection district is located. By changing the manner in which ad valorem property tax revenues are allocated by local government officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By increasing the amount of ad valorem property tax revenues allocated to qualified fire protection districts from all other local agencies that are not fire protection districts, this bill would change the pro rata shares in which ad valorem property tax revenues are allocated among local agencies in a county, within the meaning of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 25.5 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.