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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01141992 - IO.4 I .O. -4 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS s----L- ? Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa s DATE: January 6, 1992 r; County a couN`� SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON THE SENIOR TAX WORK-OFF PROGRAM AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION TO PERMIT PILOTING SUCH A PROGRAM SPECIFIC REQUESTS)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Request the County Administrator to convene staff from the following departments (and any additional staff he believes are needed) to serve in a staff capacity to prepare responses to a number of questions which are presented below and to review and comment on the feasibility of implementing various options for a Senior Tax Work-Off Program: County Administrator' s Office Auditor-Controller's Department Treasurer-Tax Collector' s Department County Counsel ' s Office Personnel Department Social Services Department 2 . Request the staff committee named above to obtain a detailed proposal from the County of Riverside on the Senior Tax Work-Off Program they are designing and evaluate it to determine whether it would be feasible to consider such a program for implementation in this County. 3 . Request the staff committee to review in detail the Colorado proposal, evaluate it in terms of similarities and differences with California' s current situation and provide our Committee with a report and recommendations regarding the feasibility of implementing a similar program in this County. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUN INISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE SIGNATURE(S): R RODER �SUNNE�WRIGHT MC PEAK ACTION OF BOARD ON January 14, 1992 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE �DATE gSHOWN. CC: ATTESTED— JAN 11+ 1992 Please see Page 3 . PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY (LLG��T - � , DEPUTY M382 (10/88) I .O. -4 -2- 4 . Request the staff committee to review and provide answers to the following questions/issues which have been raised: A. What types of jobs in the County would be appropriate fora Senior Tax Work-Off Program? B. What is an appropriate wage to pay for these jobs where they are performed as a part of a Senior Tax Work-Off Program? C. Should some type of means test be included to eliminate those senior citizens who are better able financially to pay their property taxes? D. Should such a program provide a credit which is provided directly to the Treasurer-Tax Collection as a credit against property taxes or should it provide a direct wage to the senior citizen, who is then still responsible for paying his or her property taxes? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternatives? E. If provided as a credit against property taxes, should there be a cap on the amount that can be credited or should the senior citizen be able to "work-off" all of his or her property tax. Likewise, if the program is designed as a wage payment, should there be a maximum amount the individual should be allowed to earn? F. Should the program be available only to senior citizens or should it be available to any individual or family which is experiencing difficulty in paying property taxes or which is considered low income? G. How can such a program protect against the possible resentment on the part of existing volunteers who are providing similar types of services totally free of any remuneration and who may refuse to continue to volunteer if they see others being paid or having their property taxes credited for providing the same or similar types of work. H. Can such a program be designed in such a way that other taxing jurisdictions which receive a portion of the property tax are protected legally in terms of receiving the cash to which they are entitled? I . Under a property tax credit program, would the senior citizen be required to be treated as an employee and have taxes and other deductions withheld from his or her pay before it is credited against property taxes? Is the tax situation different than if the senior citizen received a cash payment which is not connected with or credited against the property tax directly. J. Should a distinction be made between seniors who still own "pre-Prop 13" homes as opposed to those who have bought a home more recently and thus have had their home reappraised to current value? K. How can the legitimate concerns of the employee organizations regarding the possible loss of jobs for full-time County employees in exchange for helping senior citizens be addressed? L. What additional liability exposure does the County incur with the use of senior citizens in jobs such as those which have been suggested where the County may be sued because of the actions of the senior citizen? I .O. -4 -3- M. If a reasonable set of assumptions are made about the size and scope of such a program, what is staff' s best estimate of the cost of providing the credit to the Treasurer-Tax Collector to offset the loss of a cash property tax payment and how would this ,loss be covered by the departments which are receiving the services from the senior citizens? N. Can a program be designed which avoids the problems raised by County Counsel and thus avoids the need for State statutory and/or Constitutional amendments? What options are available for such a program? 0. Given a reasonable set of assumptions about the size, scope and complexity of such a Senior Tax Work-Off Program, what is staff ' s best estimate of the administrative cost of operating such a program and how are those estimates arrived at? 5 . Request the Director of Personnel to keep all interested employee organizations up-to-date with the work of the staff committee so that any and all concerns of the employee organizations are identified and taken into consideration in reviewing the available options . 6 . Request the County Administrator to report back to our Committee on the results of ' the work of the above staff committee, along with the committee' s and County Administrator' s recommendations, by July 1, 1992 . 7 . Remove this item as a referral to our Committee and instead refer it to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee for the purpose of providing continuing oversight to this subject and receiving the reports identified above. BACKGROUND: On November 19, 1991, the Board of Supervisors, at the request of Supervisor McPeak, asked our Committee to review a proposal for a Senior Tax Work-Off Program which is operational in the State of Colorado and which provides an opportunity for senior citizens to work off their property tax bill rather than having to use their savings to pay their taxes . On January 6, 1992, our Committee met with the Auditor-Controller,, Treasurer-Tax Collector, Director of Personnel, County Counsel, staff from the Area Agency on Aging, the Chair of the Advisory Council on Aging, representatives from employee organizations and senior citizen advocates . Our Committee reviewed the attached reports from the Auditor-Controller, County Counsel, Advisory Council on Aging, received a copy of the attached report from the Riverside County Area Agency on Aging, which is implementing a similar program and heard comments from all of those present. It is clear that while there is a good deal of support for such a program, there are a number of questions which must be answered, issues which must be researched, and thought which must be given to the concerns which have been expressed. We are asking that a group of County staff from several departments meet under the leadership of the County Administrator' s Office to address the issues which we have outlined above and return a comprehensive report to our Committee (actually to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee) by July 1, 1992 . We will then be in a better position to determine the feasibility of implementing such a program. cc: County Administrator County Counsel Treasurer-Tax Collector Auditor-Controller Director of Personnel Social Services Director Dmpgoyoee'Organiza io�iso?VAialPersonnel)