AB 81 - Property Tax

Assembly Member Carole Migden amended AB 81 to transfer taxing authority
on generation facilities from local governments to the Board of
Equalization. The following is the text of the bill:

AB 81, as amended, Migden. Property taxation: state-assessed property

The California Constitution requires the State Board of
Equalization to assess the property, other than franchises, of
companies transmitting or selling gas or electricity. Existing
regulations require the board to assess an electric generation
facility, for purposes of this constitutional provision, only if (1) the
facility was constructed pursuant to a certificate of public convenience
and necessity issued by the California Public Utilities Commission to
the company that presently owns the facility or (2) the company owning
the facility is a state assessee for reasons other than its ownership of
the generation facility or its ownership of pipelines, flumes, canals,
ditches, or aqueducts lying within 2 or more counties.
This bill would require the board to annually assess every electric
generation facility with a generating capacity of 50
megawatts or more that is owned by an electrical corporation, as
defined. This bill also would invalidate any existing regulations that
are in conflict with the bill's provisions.