155-169

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE
SECTION 155-169




155.  The time fixed in this division for the performance of any act
by the assessor or county board may be extended by the board or its
executive director for not more than 30 days, or, in case of public
calamity, 40 days. If an extension of time is granted, the executive
director of the board shall give written notice thereof to the county
auditor, county tax collector, and the officer or county board to
whom the extension is granted. The executive director shall inform
the board at its next regular meeting of any action with respect to
extensions taken by him or her. There shall be the same extension of
time for any act of the board dependent on the act for which time was
extended.


155.3.  The time fixed for the performance of any act by the auditor
or tax collector may be extended by the Controller for not more than
30 days, or, in the case of public calamity, 40 days. If an
extension of time is granted, the Controller shall give written
notice thereof to the county auditor, tax collector, assessor, and
board of supervisors. There shall be the same extension of time for
any act of the Controller dependent on the act for which time was
extended.


155.20.  (a) Subject to the limitations listed in subdivisions (b),
(c), (d), and (e), a county board of supervisors may exempt from
property tax all real property with a base year value (as determined
pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 50) of Part 0.5) as
adjusted by an annual inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of
Section 110.1, and personal property with a full value so low that,
if not exempt, the total taxes, special assessments, and applicable
subventions on the property would amount to less than the cost of
assessing and collecting them.
   (b) (1) The board of supervisors shall have no authority to exempt
property with a total base year value, as adjusted by an annual
inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, or
full value of more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), except that
this limitation is increased to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in
the case of a possessory interest, for a temporary and transitory
use, in a publicly owned fairground, fairground facility, convention
facility, or cultural facility. For purposes of this paragraph,
"publicly owned convention or cultural facility" means a publicly
owned convention center, civic auditorium, theater, assembly hall,
museum, or other civic building that is used primarily for staging
any of the following:
   (A) Conventions, trade and consumer shows, or civic and community
events.
   (B) Live theater, dance, or musical productions.
   (C) Artistic, historic, technological, or educational exhibits.
   (2) In determining the level of the exemption, the board of
supervisors shall determine at what level of exemption the costs of
assessing the property and collecting taxes, assessments, and
subventions on the property exceeds the proceeds to be collected. The
board of supervisors shall establish the exemption level uniformly
for different classes of property. In making this determination, the
board of supervisors may consider the total taxes, special
assessments, and applicable subventions for the year of assessment
only or for the year of assessment and succeeding years where
cumulative revenues will not exceed the cost of assessments and
collections.
   (c) This section does not apply to those real or personal
properties enumerated in Section 52.
   (d) The exemption authorized by this section shall be adopted by
the board of supervisors on or before the lien date for the fiscal
year to which the exemption is to apply and may, at the option of the
board of supervisors, continue in effect for succeeding fiscal
years. Any revision or rescission of the exemption shall be adopted
by the board of supervisors on or before the lien date for the fiscal
year to which that revision or rescission is to apply.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall authorize either of the
following:
   (1) A county board of supervisors to exempt new construction,
unless the new total base year value, as adjusted by an annual
inflation factor pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 110.1, of the
property, including this new construction, is ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or less.
   (2) An assessor to exempt or not to enroll any property of any
value, unless specifically authorized by a county board of
supervisors, pursuant to this section.



156.  In the assessment, advertisement, and sale of real property
for taxes, initial letters, abbreviations, and figures may be used to
designate the township, range, section, or part of a section. Any
other abbreviations approved by the board may be used if an
explanation of them appears on each page of the roll or a reference
appears on each page to a list of abbreviations within each volume of
the roll, or if the procedure in Section 109.6 is adopted the list
of abbreviations used shall be available to the public in the office
of the tax collector. Such list of abbreviations shall be furnished
to the tax collector by the assessor.



158.  The Controller has general supervision over the general
procedure for tax sales, tax deeds, and redemptions and, to this end,
may make any rules and regulations he deems advisable. All county
officials are bound by these rules and regulations of the Controller.




160.  In any action against the county to quiet title allowed under
this division, service of process shall be made on the tax collector
of the county where the real property is situated.



162.  The assessor, tax collector, and auditor shall, except where
specifically prohibited by law, charge and collect a fee of one
dollar ($1) for preparing each of the following documents:
   (a) A certified copy of a redemption certificate.
   (b) A certified copy of an installment redemption receipt.
   (c) A certificate of payment showing taxes paid.
   (d) A certified copy of an assessment as entered on the assessment
roll.
   The fee for providing a copy of a record or document by
photographic process shall be the actual cost thereof plus the sum of
one dollar ($1). The fee shall be placed in the county general fund.



162.5.  Any taxing agency, including a taxing agency having its own
system for the levying and collection of taxes or assessments, but
excluding a county, may by ordinance or resolution of its governing
body provide that the county recorder shall file, record, index, and
make notations upon, written instruments pertaining to the
assessment, sale, and deeding (whether to such agency or a purchaser
therefrom) of property taxed or assessed by such agency in the same
manner and with the same effect as provided in this division with
respect to comparable instruments pertaining to property subject to
county taxes, and the county recorder shall comply with such
ordinance or resolution upon payment of the same fees as if the
taxing agency were the county. The recorded duplicate of any deed to
a taxing agency other than the State or county shall be forwarded by
the county recorder to the officer designated in the ordinance or
resolution.


163.  Any entity that receives revenue that is derived from payments
with respect to an assessment lien created pursuant to the
Improvement Bond Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section
5000) of the Streets and Highways Code), the Municipal Improvement
Act of 1913 (Division 12 (commencing with Section 10000) of the
Streets and Highways Code), or the Improvement Bond Act of 1915
(Division 10 (commencing with Section 8500) of the Streets and
Highways Code) shall annually notify the assessor of all of the
following:
   (a) The lien amount on each subject parcel at the time the lien
was created.
   (b) In the case in which a lien has been completely satisfied, the
date and amount of the payment in satisfaction of the lien, and the
identity of the party that made that payment.
   (c) The amount of the principal balance of the lien on each
subject parcel.


163.5.  The provisions of this division relating to actions and
proceedings for quieting title to property, and holding any tax deed
to be void, shall apply to property assessed, sold, or deeded for the
taxes or assessments of any taxing agency, including a taxing agency
having its own system for the levying and collection of taxes or
assessments, but excluding a county, the same, or as nearly the same
as possible, as such provisions apply to property assessed, sold, or
deeded for county taxes. For this purpose when used in such
provisions:
   (a) "State" or "county" means the taxing agency.
   (b) "Controller" means the governing body of the taxing agency.
   (c) "District attorney" means the attorney or legal counsel of the
taxing agency.
   Any reference in such provisions to all or any portion of this
division shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to refer to
comparable provisions of the law, charter, or ordinance pursuant to
which the taxing agency involved levies and collects taxes or
assessments on property.



164.  The chief accounting officer of each taxing agency other than
the State, may examine and audit the accounts of any other taxing
agency, other than the State, charged under any provision of this
code with the apportionment of the proceeds of collections made on
behalf of both agencies. In the event more than one taxing agency has
an interest in such collections the governing bodies of the
interested taxing agencies may enter into an agreement to accept the
report on the audit of the chief accounting officer of one of such
interested taxing agencies.
   As used in this section, "chief accounting officer" means as to a
county the auditor thereof, as to a city the auditor thereof, as to
an irrigation district the secretary of the board of directors
thereof, and as to any other taxing agency the officer designated as
its chief accounting officer by the governing body thereof.




166.  (a) Whenever a taxpayer is required to file any statement,
affidavit, application, or any other paper or document with a taxing
agency by a specified time on a specified date, such filing shall be
deemed to be within the specified period if it is sent by United
States mail, properly addressed with postage prepaid, and bears a
post office cancellation mark of the specified date, or earlier
within the specified period, stamped on the envelope, or on itself,
or if proof satisfactory to the agency establishes that the mailing
occurred on the specified date, or earlier within the specified
period.
   (b) The provisions of this section shall supersede any contrary
special provision of this division unless such special provision
specifically provides that this section shall not be applicable.
   (c) The provisions of this section are applicable to any filing
required to be made by ordinance, rule, or regulation of a taxing
agency.
   (d) Any statement or affidavit made by a taxpayer asserting such a
timely filing must be made within one year of the deadline
applicable to the original filing; provided, however, that this
subsection shall not apply to any statement or affidavit asserting
the timely filing of a property statement or to any statement made by
the taxpayer in connection with an escape assessment imposed
pursuant to Section 531.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section be
liberally construed in favor of the taxpayer and be applicable to all
filings relating to property taxation which are required to be made
by a taxpayer by a specified time on a specified date.



167.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, and except as provided in subdivision (b), there shall be a
rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof in favor of the
taxpayer or assessee who has supplied all information as required by
law to the assessor in any administrative hearing involving the
imposition of a tax on an owner-occupied single-family dwelling, the
assessment of an owner-occupied single-family dwelling pursuant to
this division, or the appeal of an escape assessment.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the rebuttable presumption
described in that subdivision shall not apply in the case of an
administrative hearing with respect to the appeal of an escape
assessment resulting from a taxpayer's failure either to file with
the assessor a change in ownership statement or a business property
statement, or to obtain a permit for new construction.



168.  Any document required in this division to be executed by the
tax collector may be executed with a facsimile signature in lieu of a
manual signature if the manual signature is filed with the Secretary
of State and is certified under oath by the tax collector.
   Upon compliance with this section, the facsimile signature shall
have the same legal effect as the manual signature of the tax
collector.



168.5.  Any document required in this division to be acknowledged by
the county clerk at no charge may be acknowledged by a notary public
or other county official pursuant to Section 1181 of the Civil Code,
at no charge.


169.  The board shall encourage uniform statewide appraisal and
assessment practices.