Bill Text: CA AB362 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Real property taxation: land value taxation study.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB362 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB362-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 362
| Introduced by Assembly Member Lee |
February 01, 2023 |
An act to add Section 169.5 to the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 362, as introduced, Lee.
Real property taxation: land value taxation study.
The California Constitution provides that all property is taxable, and requires that it be assessed at the same percentage of fair market value, unless otherwise provided by the California Constitution or federal law. Existing law governs the methods and procedures for assessing real property.
This bill would require the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to conduct or commission a study on the efficacy of a statewide land value taxation system as an alternative to the current appraisal methods utilized for real property taxation. The bill would require the study to be provided to the Legislature by January 1, 2025. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) A land value tax is a levy on the value of land without regard to buildings, property, or other improvements.
(b) Establishing a land value tax removes financial incentives to hold unused land solely for price appreciation, thereby making more land available for productive uses.
(c) The state considered Proposition 19 during the 1918 elections, which would have required all public revenues to be raised by a taxation on land values, irrespective of any improvements on the land.
(d) Land
value tax was founded by American political economist and journalist Henry George in his 1879 work “Progress and Poverty.” His ideology later became known as Georgism and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era.
(e) In 1904, Lizzie Magie created a board game called “The Landlord’s Game” to demonstrate Henry George’s theories. This was later turned into the popular board game “Monopoly.”
(f) Land value taxation is currently implemented throughout the world in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It has also been applied to lesser extents in parts of Australia, Mexico, and in Allentown, Pennsylvania, of the United States.
(g) After Allentown, Pennsylvania, adopted a land value tax through a split-rate system in 1996, the number of building permits increased by 32
percent.
SEC. 2.
Section 169.5 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:169.5.
(a) The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration shall conduct a study on the efficacy of a statewide land value taxation system as an alternative to the current appraisal methods for real property taxation.(b) The department may commission the study required by subdivision (a) to an appropriate third party.
(c) The author of the study required by subdivision (a) may subcontract with other entities as appropriate to obtain any necessary data.
(d) The department shall provide to the Legislature, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, the findings of the study by January 1,
2025.
