The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday and discuss adopting a resolution in support of ballot Proposition 15.
Also known as the California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act of 2020, Prop 15
would change the way non-agricultural commercial and industrial properties are taxed to be based on their fair market value, with an exception for properties whose business owners have $3 million or less in holdings in California.
The initiative would exempt the first $500,000 in value of a business’ personal property and exempts all personal property of small businesses, which are defined as those that own state property and have 50 or fewer employees, according to the staff report.
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the measure would increase statewide property tax revenue by $7.5 billion to $12 billion annually. Revenue must first be distributed to the state to supplement decreases in revenue from the state’s personal income tax and corporation tax due to increased property tax deductions and then to counties to cover the costs of implementing the measure, according to the ballot’s initiative.
Of the remaining funds, 60% would be allocated to cities, counties and special districts. Roughly 40% would be allocated to schools and community colleges.
An analysis done by Blue Sky Consulting Group predicts Santa Barbara County, cities, and special districts would receive a total of nearly $51 million, with almost $29 million of that going into the county general fund.
In other business, the board will discuss adopting resolutions which include revisions to the county guidelines and the environmental threshold manual to bring administrative practices into alignment with revisions to the state CEQA guidelines that took effect in 2019.
Another item on Tuesday’s agenda includes the board discussing proposed amendments to the environmental threshold to comply with Senate Bill 743, which changed transportation impact analyses under CEQA.
Also on Tuesday, the board will receive a COVID-19 update and information on the county’s response and ongoing operations.
Tuesday’s meeting will begin at 9 a.m. It will be broadcast live on Channel 20. A video of the meeting will also be streamed at countyofsb.org and on the county’s YouTube page.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
