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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 03232004 - C82 C.82 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNT', CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on March 23, 2004,by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Gioia,Uilkema, Greenberg,DeSaulnier and Glover NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None On this day the Board of Supervisors RECEIVED GRAND JURY REPORT NO. 0402 entitled, "What Your Tax Bill Does Not Tell You and What You Need to Know" and referred it to the County Administrator for response. I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. Attested:March 23,2004 John Sweeten,Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator --' Deputy Clerk Grand Jur 7'25 Court Street *Contra P.O. Box 911 Cost. Martinez, CA 94553-0091 County ; 'f MAR 1 REC'D 3 1 March 16, 2004 Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street, 1st Floor Martinez, CA 94553 Re: Report No. 0402 Dear Board of Supervisors: Attached are copies of Contra Costa County Report No. 0402, "What Your Tax Bill Does Not Tell You And What You Need to Know" for your information. No response is required. Sincerely,,.. A. W. Ronat, Foreman 2003-2004 Contra Costa County Grand Jury AWR:ag A REPORT BY THE 2003-04 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY GRAND JURY 725 Court Street Martinez,California 94553 Report No. 0402 "WHAT YOUR.TAX.FULL DOES NOT TELL YOU AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW" APPROVED BY THE GRAND JURY: Date:—� a �4-04� ARTHUR W. RONAT GRAND JURY FOREMAN ACCEPTED FOR FILING: Date: RICHARD S:FLIER JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT NO. 0402 "What Your Tax Bill Does Not Tell You and What You Need To Know" TO. Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector BACKGROUND Every year in October, all Contra Costa County property taxpayers receive their annual property tax bill. For many property owners,this property tax bill gives inadequate information. It tells the taxpayer how much is owed,how it can be paid in two installments and the dates those installments are due. However, the property tax bill does not inform the taxpayer on how the 1% countywide tax dollar is spent. The property tax bill does not show how the countywide tax is allocated. Some bond and parcel tax amounts are shown, but the taxpayer cannot see how many dollars are going directly to the school, library and fire districts in their specific area. Generally the greatest part of the Countywide Tax Rate is the 1% levied on the assessed value of the owner's property. The property tax bill is currently being revised and could be formatted to include additional, valuable, detailed and easy to read information for the taxpayer. FINDINGS 1. The property tax is a significant funding source for local government services. This tax is also one of every property taxpayer's most direct connections to the funding of these services. 1 Property tax bills contain detailed information about: a. The property: It's location,ownership and assessed value along with other identifying details such as Tax hate Area and Assessor's Parcel Number. b. Individual Parcel Levies and Bonds: These are separately stated on the tax bill and indicate where and how to get additional information on these levies and bonds. c. Countywide tax rate and other special district tax levies based on assessed property valuations. 3. The property tax bill does .not further describe, at any level of detail,the allocation or distribution of the 1% basic countywide tax. For many, if not most property taxpayers, the largest portion of the property tax is the countywide tax of 1°/n. (taxes assigned to the value of the property). 4. The distribution of the funds generated by 1%basic countywide tax can vary significantly, depending upon the property's location and jurisdiction. 5. The countywide tax rate of I% funds many things including: • Elementary School Districts • High School Districts • Community College Districts • Law Enforcement Authority • Fire Protection Service Provider • Public Transit Service Agencies • Healthcare or Hospital District(if any) • Redevelopment Agency(if any) 6. There is no indication on the tax bill if the property is located in a Redevelopment Project Area. 7. The Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector is engaged in an exploration of the issues associated with revising the current property tax bill to be more user friendly, with more information systematically arranged. CONCLUSION 1. The countywide tax of I% funds most of government's services, including local governments, school districts, transportation, fire protection and other special service districts. 2. The funds generated by the countywide tax of I% is usually distributed to between 18 and 25 tax-receiving agencies,depending on jurisdiction, including local governments, school districts, transportation, fire protection, other special service districts and redevelopment agencies if applicable. 3. It is impossible for taxpayers to identify from the current property tax bill, what portion of the countywide tax of 1% goes to fund which services. 4. There is no indication on the tax bill if the property is located in a Redevelopment Project Area controlled by a Redevelopment Agency. RECOMMENDATIONS The 2003-2004 Centra Costa County Grand Jury recommends that: I. The County Treasurer-Tax Collector continue to work to improve the appearance, organization and clarity of the information provided to taxpayers as part of their property tax Bill. 1 The County Treasurer-Tax Collector redesign the tax bill to permit taxpayers to know more about how their money is being spent. 3. Space on the bill be devoted to describing the ten largest recipients as shown in the example below, of taxes paid within the property's jurisdiction. This data is available from the County Auditor-Controller based on statutory tax allocations and application of the property tax assigned to various redevelopment agencies. This information could be shown as in the fallowing example: City of Pittsburg TOTAL % Count ide Tax $47,978,603.89 100.0% Agency Receiving Funds Amt. Received As %of Taxes Paid This reflects ONLY the to 10 recipients Not Total of 100% Pittsburg Redevelopment Agency $29,982,337.52. 62.5% Pittsburg Unified School 4,451,660.19 9.3% Contra Costa Fire District 2,927,027.43 6.1% City of Pittsburg 2,689,587.30 5.6% K-12 Schools ERAF 2,150,348.92 4.5% County General 1,889,143.52 3.9% Contra Costa.Comm. College 875,839.67 1.8% East Bay Regional Park 571,740.28 1.2% Mt. Diablo Unified School Dist. 410,448.22 0.9% Los Medanos Health. Care Dist. 354,005.13 0.7% Appendix A shows similar information for other Centra Costa Cities. 4. This data be organized by political jurisdiction in the case of incorporated municipalities and by commonly recognized communities within unincorporated areas of the county. 5. This data be calculated for the current fiscal year(the year being billed on the tax form). If that is not practical then data for the previous fiscal year could be used. 6. The tax bill for property located within a Redevelopment Project Area show, within the comments area of the form: i)the name of the Project Area, ii)the Redevelopment Agency with jurisdiction and iii) the percentage of property taxes paid within the project area that are allocated to that Redevelopment Agency as its property tax, increment. 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