Property tax: documentary transfer tax: exemptions: Native American tribes.

The document was reformatted from the official authenticated chaptered bill (with page numbers, formal headers, and 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' banner) to a web page layout that includes site navigation elements (menu links, search boxes, version history dropdown, share buttons).

A 'Digest Key' section was added showing metadata: Vote: MAJORITY, Appropriation: NO, Fiscal Committee: YES, Local Program: YES.

The official chaptered document formatting was removed, including page numbers (92), the authenticated header, and the formal legislative layout with centered titles and section numbering style.

The bill was assigned Chapter 2 and the governor's approval date of February 10, 2026 was recorded, converting it from an enrolled bill to a chaptered law.

Page numbering, line wrapping, and header formatting were adjusted throughout to match the standard chaptered statute layout. No words in the operative text were added, removed, or changed.

Property tax exemption (Section 214.03) now applies to property owned and operated by a federally recognized Indian tribe, a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law, or a wholly owned subsidiary of a federally recognized Indian tribe, rather than only the tribe or its wholly owned subsidiary.

Documentary transfer tax exemption (Section 11930.5) now applies to land return transactions transferring ownership to a federally recognized California Native American tribe, a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law, or a wholly owned subsidiary of a federally recognized Indian tribe, rather than only a federally recognized tribe.

Added definition of 'California Native American tribe' as a Native American tribe located in California that is on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission for purposes of Chapter 905 of the Statutes of 2004.

Added 'tribal traditional knowledge, as defined in subdivision (p) of Section 8012 of the Health and Safety Code' as a qualifying conservation purpose for the property tax exemption, expanding what types of land use can qualify.

Added 'parking' fees alongside admission fees as an example of permissible revenue-generating activities under the qualified conservation management plan.

Goal statement updated to include 'and tribal traditional knowledge' in the purpose of eliminating financial barriers to reclaiming and preserving ancestral lands.

Property tax exemption sunset extended from January 1, 2031 to January 1, 2033, and the dependency on Section 214.02's operative period was removed in favor of a fixed date range (lien dates 2026-27 through 2031-32).

Reporting requirements updated: Board of Equalization report now has a specific start date of March 1, 2028, and both the property tax and documentary transfer tax reports include a qualifier that data is reported 'to the extent that the data is available from counties.'

The amendment to Section 214.02 that would have added federally recognized Indian tribes (and their wholly owned subsidiaries) to the list of eligible entities for the general open-space conservation property tax exemption was removed entirely. Tribes will no longer be folded into the existing exemption; they get only the separate standalone provision in new Section 214.03.

Section 214.03 now specifies it applies to 'property tax lien dates for the 2026-27 fiscal year to the 2031-32 fiscal year, inclusive,' adding a concrete start and end window that was not present in the Assembly version.

The sunset/repeal provision for Section 214.03 now includes the date '2033' (previously just 'January 1, 2031'), which appears to extend the expiration of the tribal property tax exemption by two years beyond the original Assembly text.

Section numbering errors in the Assembly draft (duplicate Section 1, duplicate Section 3, duplicate Section 4) were corrected. Language in Section 3 was changed from 'as amended by Section 1' to 'as added by Section 1' to reflect that Section 214.03 is now a wholly new section rather than an amendment to an existing one.

Section 214.03(a) (property tax welfare exemption): Removed 'a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law' and the standalone term 'tribe' from the list of eligible entities. Only 'a federally recognized Indian tribe or a wholly owned subsidiary of a federally recognized Indian tribe' now qualifies.

Section 11930.5(b) (documentary transfer tax exemption): Removed 'a California Native American tribe' and 'a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law' from the definition of 'tribal land return transaction.' Also removed the entire definition of 'California Native American tribe' (a tribe on the Native American Heritage Commission contact list). Only transfers to a federally recognized tribe or its wholly owned subsidiary now qualify.

Section 3(c)(1)(A) (annual reporting): Removed references to 'corporations chartered pursuant to tribal law' and standalone 'tribes' from the entities whose exempt land acreage must be reported by the Board of Equalization. Reporting now covers only federally recognized Indian tribes or their wholly owned subsidiaries.

A new Section 214.03 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code creating a standalone property tax exemption for land owned by federally recognized Indian tribes or their wholly owned subsidiaries used for conservation purposes. This section has its own sunset: it expires on January 1, 2031 or when Section 214.02 is repealed, whichever comes first.

The tribal ownership provision within Section 214.02 now carries an explicit sunset of January 1, 2031 (or earlier if the underlying provision is repealed), rather than relying solely on the existing 2028 repeal date in that section.

Section 11930.5 (the documentary transfer tax exemption for tribal land return transactions) now has a sunset provision: it expires on January 1, 2031.

The documentary transfer tax exemption in Section 11930.5 no longer covers nonfederally recognized tribes whose names appear on the Native American Heritage Commission contact list. The prior version defined 'California Native American tribe' to include both federally recognized and nonfederally recognized tribes; the amended version limits the exemption to federally recognized tribes only.

A new Section 3 requires compliance with Section 41 of the Revenue and Taxation Code (tax expenditure accountability). It specifies four goals (eliminate financial barriers for tribes, ensure equitable access to conservation exemptions, facilitate land return to tribal stewardship, promote tribal self-determination), four performance indicators (number and value of qualifying transactions, dollar amount of taxes exempted, acreage reclaimed, year-over-year growth rate), and requires the Board of Equalization and the Legislative Analyst's Office to publish annual reports by March 1 each year with baseline measurements from the year before the effective date.

The definition of 'tribal land return transaction' now requires the recipient to be a 'California Native American federally recognized tribe' instead of simply a 'California Native American tribe.' This limits the documentary transfer tax exemption to transactions involving only federally recognized tribes.

The definition was restructured from subsection (2) to a new subsection (b) with the introductory phrase 'For purposes of this section,' changing how the term is formally defined within the statute.