HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12191995 - SD10 jo
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
CostaFROM: GUS S. KRAMER, Assessor •' '•�•
By: Stephen Dawkins, Chief of Standards .;�.
County
DATE: December 6;'1995 c...............`Tq-e-
SUBJECT: Claim for refund of property taxes for the 91-92 fiscal year by
Brian Miller, Westco Consulting.
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Reconfirm denial for refund on recommendation from County Counsel. Prior denial
was approved November 7th, 1995.
FISCAL IMPACT
Undeterminable.
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
The subject claim seeks refunds of over payment of property taxes levied against
Diablo Communications Inc. for the fiscal year 1991-1992.
The Assessor's Office has corrected the value, and refunds have been granted to the
subject property for the fiscal years 1995-96, 95-94, 94-93 and 93-92. Under
statute, the Assessor is not authorized to correct more than four years of values.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON December 19 1995 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER X
The Board .CONTINUED `"l..�L-s decision on the above request for reconsideration
of the Board's denial �f6r -refund of property taxes to January 23, 1996.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT none AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
cc: Assessor ATTESTED DPcemhPr 19, 1995
County Counsel PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Auditor SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
L�,BY14)y, ,DEPUTY
M382 (10/88) t
Contra Gus S.Kramer
Office o f Assessor Assessor
Costa
' e34 COURT STREET • MARTINEZ.CALIFORNIA 94553-1795 • (510)313-7400
County
August 18, 1995
Westco Consulting
1500 W. El Camino Avenue #273
Sacramento, California 95833
ATTN: Brian M. Miller
RE: Possessory Interest Account Number 127990-0004
Dear Mr. Miller,
This letter is in response to your letter to Louis Rivara dated August 15, 1995.
As I understand the question, we are correcting the base year value for an
assessment that should not have been reappraised.
I agree this correction falls under Section 51.5(d) of the Revenue and Taxation
Code. That section states in part . .appropriate cancellations or refunds of
tax shall be granted in accordance with this division." The appropriate refund
". . .is within four years after July 1 of the assessment year in which the
property escaped taxation or was underassessed." as stated in Section 532.
Since you requested the change after we closed the 1995-96 roll , the four years
of corrections are for the 92-93, 93-94, 94-95 and 95-96 rolls.
In your letter, you implied that under Section 5097, you deserve five years of
refunds rather than four. I remember you raising this issue several years ago.
Letter to Assessor (LTA) No. 91/53 addresses this very issue. Quoting from .page
2 of this document under the section titled Refunds Beyond Four Years, the letter
says "For the reasons stated below, the Board staff's view is that Section 2635
should not be construed as appTying to base year value -corrections under Section
51.5 so as to extend the four-year limit found in Section 5097." The letter goes
on to say, "We believe that the normal four-year limit under Section 5097 is
applicable to 51.5 base year value corrections when a correction of a base year
value brought about a revision of the amount of taxes due as shown on the tax
rolls and the tax bills."
Mr. Miller
August 18, 1995
Page 2
I believe (LTA) No. 91/53 is clear on this issue and four years of refunds is
appropriate in your case.
If you do not agree with our position, then I recommend you contact the
Taxpayer's Rights Advocate, Jennifer L. Willis. She can be reached at (916) 324-
2798. Her address is P.O. Box 942879 MIC: 70, 22nd Floor, Sacramento, CA 94279-
0001.
Very truly yours,
STEPHEN DAWKINS
Chief, Standards
cc: Louis Rivara
Michael Menesini
SD/dm
standards/mi11895.ltr
12/1511995 16:54 9168880997 WESTCO CONSULTING PAGE 01
WESTCO I;ONSULTING a
SUITE 273 D
1500 WEST EL C.A.NIINO AVENUE
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95833 15 1995
TEL= (916) 888-0788
FAX: (916) 888-0997
December 15, 1995
Supervisor Mark De Saulnier
2425 Bisso Ln#110
Concord CA 94520
RE: AGENDA.ITEM#SD.10 !DECEMBER 19, 1995
CLAIM.FOR REFUND OF OVERPAYMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES
LEVIED AGAINST DIABLO COMMMCATIONS, INC.
Dear Supervisor De Saulnier:
Please remove the above referenced item from the 12/19/95 agenda for a period of at least
30 days.
Ct.today received a copy of the recommendation by the assessor and county counsel to
our claim for refund. After discussing the matter with the State Board of
alization's legal staff', they concur with me that said claim should not be denied.
ever, they have requested I send all the information.regarding this issue along with a
est for their opinion on the matter. Their written response should not exceed 30 days.
Because the State Board of Equalization is charged with the enforcement an.d
interpretation of statutes regarding property taxes, their written opinion should be
reviewed by the Board of Supervisors prior to taking action on this claim.
If you have any questions, please contact me. Thank you for your assistance in this
matter.
Very truly yours,
Brian M. Miller