 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2014) |
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 Partisan makeup of the Board of Equalization. | |
| Board overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1879 (1879) |
| Type | Tax administration and fee collection |
| Jurisdiction | Government of California |
| Headquarters | Sacramento, California |
| Employees | 400 |
| Board executives |
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| Website | www |
TheCalifornia State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged withtax administration andfee collection in the state ofCalifornia in theUnited States. The authorities of the Board attempt to ensure that counties fairly assessproperty taxes, collectexcises taxes on alcoholic beverages, administer the insurance tax program, and other tax collection related activities.[1]
The BOE is the only publicly elected tax commission in the United States.[2] It is made up of four directly elected members, each representing adistrict for four-year terms, along with theState Controller, who is elected on a statewide basis, serving as the fifth member. In June 2017, GovernorJerry Brown signed legislation stripping the Board of many of its powers, returning the agency to its original core responsibilities (originating in the State Constitution in 1879).
The State Board of Equalization was created in 1879 by the ratification of the secondConstitution of California. Its original mandate was to ensure that propertytax assessments were uniform and equal across all counties in the state.[1]
Prior to the creation of the stateincome tax,sales tax, andfuel taxes in the 1930s, California's state government was almost completely supported byproperty taxes, which were and still are assessed at the county level by elected tax assessors. Assessors were tempted to boost their popularity with county voters by undervaluing voters' property (and thereby lowering their taxes). This presented the risk of counties with honest assessors paying more than their fair share of the burden of operating the state government, so the Board of Equalization was created to equalize the burden.
TheCalifornia Franchise Tax Board and theEmployment Development Department are separately also responsible for collecting taxes.[3] Some have criticized this as inefficient.[4] Efforts to reform the Board were made in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1990s, and 2000s.[3]
In 1994, GovernorPete Wilson vetoed a plan by the legislature to abolish the Franchise Tax Board and give its responsibilities to the Board of Equalization, explaining in his veto message that the state should have done the opposite. In 2004, GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger released a 2,500-page report seeking to merge the Board with other agencies and then promoted a bill by AssemblywomanLois Wolk to do just that. The effort failed.[3] In 2008, the agency employed approximately 3,950 people throughout the state.[5]
By 2017, the Board had expanded to collecting $60 billion a year. It collected sales and use taxes, hazardous waste fees, jet fuel taxes, marijuana taxes, and over 30 additional taxes. That year, the Board had 4,700 employees and a $617 million annual budget. Board members are paid a $137,000 annual salary and are each allowed to hire a 12-member staff. Each year, the Board spends at least $3 million on education events where elected members appear before their constituents.[3]
In March 2017, an audit by theCalifornia Department of Finance revealed missing funds and signs ofnepotism, leading to calls for the governor to put the Board under a public trustee.[6][7] In June 2017, theCalifornia Department of Justice began a criminal investigation into the members of the Board.[8]
On June 27, 2017, GovernorJerry Brown signed into law legislation stripping the Board of many of its powers. The legislation created two new departments controlled by the governor responsible for the Board’s statutory duties, theCalifornia Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the California Office of Tax Appeals.[9]
The Board still has its constitutional powers to review property tax assessments and insurer tax assessments, and its role in the collection of alcohol excise and pipeline taxes.[10] It retained 400 employees, with the rest of its 4,800 workers being shifted to the new departments.[9]
In 2023, constitutional amendment ACA-11 was introduced byPhil Ting in theCalifornia State Assembly to abolish the board and redistribute its staff and duties to other state tax agencies.[11] TheLos Angeles Times editorial board called for ACA-11 and ACA-9, which would abolish the elected position ofCalifornia State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to pass the legislature and appear before voters as aballot proposition.[12]
For the purposes of tax administration, the BOE divides the state into four Equalizationdistricts, each with its own elected board member.[13] District boundaries are redrawn following thedecennial census. The latest boundaries were drawn following the2020 census and have been in effect since January 1, 2023.[14]
The First Equalization District is made up of the following counties:Alpine,Amador,Butte,Calaveras,Colusa,El Dorado,Fresno,Glenn,Inyo,Kern,Kings,Lassen,Madera,Mariposa,Merced,Modoc,Mono,Nevada,Placer,Plumas,Sacramento, the portion ofSan Bernardino outside of the San Bernardino panhandle,San Joaquin,Shasta,Sierra,Siskiyou,Solano,Stanislaus,Sutter,Tehama,Tulare,Tuolumne,Yuba, andYolo.
The Second Equalization District is made up of the following counties:Alameda,Contra Costa,Del Norte,Humboldt,Lake,Marin,Mendocino,Monterey,Napa,San Benito,San Francisco,San Luis Obispo,San Mateo,Santa Barbara,Santa Clara,Santa Cruz,Sonoma,Trinity, andVentura.
The Third Equalization District is made up ofLos Angeles County.
The Fourth Equalization District is made up of the following counties:Imperial,Orange,Riverside andSan Diego; and a portion ofSan Bernardino County including the cities ofColton,Fontana,Grand Terrace,Highland,Loma Linda,Redlands,Rialto,San Bernardino,Twentynine Palms,Yucaipa andYucca Valley.
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After being reduced to its constitutional responsibilities in 2017, the Board retained almost none of its tax and fee responsibilities.[15][16][17] The only property taxes it actively administers in its entirety are state-assessed properties and the Private Railroad Car Tax; the Board acts only in an appellate role in collecting the Alcoholic Beverage Tax and Insurance Tax, reviewing appeals of denials of claims for refund.[18]
However, the Board does continue to appraise and auditpublic utilities,railroad companies and properties owned by counties outside of their own jurisdictions, known as 'state-assessed properties', and hear appeals from its own staff appraisals.
| Former responsibilities (as of 2008) |
Sales and use tax programs[edit]
Special tax and fee programs[edit]
Property Tax Programs[edit]
Tax Appellate Programs[edit]
|
