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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-06-14; City Council; 9470; Collection of Taxes & Special AssessmentsZ O V a J V Z 0 0 V CITE OR CARLSBAD -- AGENBILL AB # d TITLE: MTG. 6 /14 / 88 DEPT. FIN RECOMMENDED ACTION: AGREEMENT FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS DEPT. H CITY ATI CITY MG To adopt Resolution No. P � -i authorizing the Mayor to execute the Agreement for Collection of Taxes and Special Assessments with the County of San Diego. ITEM EXPLANATION The County of San Diego has been collecting fixed charged special assessments for the City of Carlsbad since 1969. Although the County has been providing this service without charge since its inception, the Government Code, Section 29304, allows the County to charge a fee which shall be fixed by an agreement between the City and the County. These fees go into the County General Fund to help offset the cost of processing special assessments and making corrections to the tax role related to special assessments during the year. The Board of Supervisors on May 3, 1938, approved the attached agreement for collection of taxes and special assessments with the cities and special districts of the County of San Diego. The Board of Supervisors further directed the Controller to mail the agreements to cities and districts fc4 execution and return by July 1, 1988. The amended agreement provides for an increase in the charge for corrections of errors from $5, established in 1969, to $15 to cover current County costs. The agreement also provides for the County to impose a collection fee of 10 cents per parcel for each fixed charged special assessment collected by the County for the City of Carlsbad. The City of Carlsbad uses the services of the County to collect fixed charge special assessments for deed abatement, street lighting assessments, and 1915 Act bond payments. Carlsbad has an estimated 11,000 to 19,000 parcels assessed each year. Linder this agreement the County would collect approximately $1,700 to $1,900 from the City each year for the collection of special assessments. FISCAL IMPACT The collection of 17,000 to 19,000 special assessments for the City of Carlsbad will cost between $1,700 and $1,900 per year. The major burden will fall upon the Street Lighting Fund which comprises approximately 90% of the total special assessments levied by the City each year. The Street Lighting Fund should be able to absorb these additional costs without any serious fiscal impact. During 1989-90 the City may wish to incorporate these additional collection costs into any fixed charge special assessments which are being levied. EXHIBITS Resolution No. 29-2 authorizing the Mayor to execute the Agreement for VCollection of Taxes and Special Assessments with the County of San Diego. { 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13'I 14 15, 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Wo RESOLUTION NO. 88-189 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING THE M;.YOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS WITH THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO WHEREAS, the City of Carlsbad, from to time, levies fixed charge special assessments against the various par•.,ei.s w!.ttiit: tt;e City for t!ie purpose of collecting fees or charges; and WHEREAS, the County of San Diego, has effectively assisted the City of Carlsbad in the collection of these fees and charges during the past 20 years; and WHEREAS, the City of Carlsbad intends to continue its relationship with the County for collection of fixed charges and special assessments for the coming years; and WHEREAS, the County of San Diego has asked that the City of Carlsbad execute an amended agreement for collection of taxes and special assessments imposing various charges for service of collection of fixed charges and special assessments. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California that the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute the attached amended Agreement for Collection of Taxes and Special Assessments, Exhibit A. II v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21' 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 I� PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Carlsbad City Council held on the 14th day of June by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Council Member Lewis, Kulchin, Pettine, Mamaux and Larson NOES: None ABSENT: None / y Eire. CLAUDE A. LEWIS, Mayor (ATTEST: Id A-b(- Z - 9 Azr.'2�� , AL THA L. RAUTENKRANZ, City rk '> I :1! AMENDED AGREEMENT FOR COLLECTION OF TAXES AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS ( THIS AMENDED AGREEMENT made,and entered intothis day of J`M P"I n ?$ by and between the COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, hereinafter referred to as the County, and the CITY OF Carlsbad - ------------, hereinafter referred to as the City; WITNESSETH: WHEREAS, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 51500) of Part 2, Division 1, Title 5 of the Government Code provides for the transfer of city tax functions from a city to a county and the fixing of compensation therefor by agreement as described therein; and WHEREAS, Section 51800 of the Government Code provides that where the duties of assessing property and collecting city taxes are performed for A city by the county assessor and the county tax collector in a manner pro- vided -by law, cities and counties may enter into an agreement whereby special assessments may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as county taxes are collected and all the laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of county taxes shall be made applicable to such assessments; and the amount of the compensation to be paid to the county for the collection of such assessments shall be provided for in the agreement; and WHEREAS, Section 29142 of the Government Code provides that when taxes or assessments are collected by the county for any special district, or zone, or improvement district thereof, excluding a school district, the board of supervisors may provide for a collection fee for such services which when collected shall belong to the county and shall be deposited to the credit of the general- fund and shall cover expenses and compensation of officials of the county in the collection of such taxes, as provided in said section; and I WHEREAS, Section 29304 of the Government Code provides that whenever any special assessment or special assessment taxes are levied upon land or real property by any city, county, district or other public corporation, and the same are to be collected by the County, there shall'be added to the amount of the special assessment or special assessment tax an amount fixed by agreement between the County and City, district, public corporation, officer, or body for each special assessment or special assessment tax to be collected; an equal part of such charge shall be collected with each installment of such special assessment or special assessment tax and shall be deducted by the county officer collecting the tax and by him be paid into the general fund of the county; and WHEREAS, the parties desire to enter into an amended agreement whereby taxes and special assessments for the City will be collecte� by the County at the same time and in the same manner as County taxes are collected and the City will pay to the County the fees for collection hereinafter set forth; and WHEREAS, it is recognized that taxes (general and special) are levies imposed on all the taxable property within the jurisdiction of a taxing agency for government purposes and no special benefit to the taxpayer need be shown; and WHEREAS, special assessments are not taxes in the constitutional sense but are levies upon the real property (land or land and improvements) in a district for the purpose of paying for improvements or special services, the amount of the levy being based upon the benefits accruing to the property as a result of the improvements or services; and whether a particular charge is a tax or special assessment is not governed by the designation thereof in the statute providing therefor but is governed by the nature of the imposition; and -2- z r i WHEREAS, it is recognized that special assessments may be levied (a) on an ad valorem basis, determined by applying a special tax rate to the assessed value of real property in a prescribed area, or (b) on a fixed charge or dollar amount basis, determined by applying a special assessment rate to a specific lot or parcel in •a prescribed area; and -WHEREAS, it is recognized that for collection purposes and for pur- poses of this Amended Agreement taxes and special assessments may be described in two general classes which will be referred to in this agreement as (a) "ad valorem taxes and special assessments," based on an ad valorem rate applied to the assessed valuation of the property in a prescribed area, and (b) "fixed charge special assessments," based on a fixed dollar amount levied against Each lot or parcel of real property within a prescribed area; and WHEREAS, the parties to this Amended Agreement desire to amend their current agreement by providing for imposition of a collection fee for.fixed charge special assessments and for a change in the charge fo 3 errors; NOW THEREFORE 9 r correction of The parties hereto agree as follows: I. Collection Services. The County will collect for the City all City ad valorem taxes and special assessments, and fixed charge special assessments levied by the City, said taxes and assessments to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as County taxes are collected and all laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of County taxes shall be and are hereby made applicable to such taxes and assessments. The County will not collect for the City any ad valorem taxes or special assessments or fixed charge special assessments levied by the City against publicly owned property (property owned by any city, district, or governmental agency) not appearing on the County's assessment roll, -3- 2. Collection Fee. No collection fee shall- be imposed for ad valorem taxes or ad valorem special assessments collected by the County for the City. Unless otherwise provided by law, a collection fee of ten cents (10t) per parcel shall be imposed for each fixed charge special assessment i collected by the County for the collection of such assessments for a city. 3. Transmission of Information. A. For ad valorem taxes and special assessments: (1) Pursuant to Government Code Section 51510, annually on or before the third Monday in August, the County Auditor shall transmit to the City legislative body a written statement, showing separately the total value of all property within the City and the total value in each district or portion of the City for which a tax -rate area has been established and in which a different rate of taxation is to be levied. The value shall be ascertained from the assessment roll of the County for the current fiscal year. E i i (2) Pursuant to Government Code Section 51511, annually before September 1, the City legislative body shall fix and transmit to the County Auditor the rate or rates of ad valorem taxes and special assessments for the City and each portion thereof for which a tax -rate area has been established and for which there is a separate rate. (3) The County Auditor shall compute and enter on the tax roll the ad valorem taxes and special assessments at the time and in the manner he computes and enters County taxes. -4- Wii (4) The taxes so levied shall be collected at the time and in the manner as County taxes and paid into the County treasury. The taxes shall be paid to the City Treasurer by the County Auditor. B. For fixed charge special assessments: On or before August 10th of each year (unless an earlier date is specified by law) the a City shall certify and deliver to the County Auditor an assessment roll showing the amount of the assessment against i each parcel of land (which shall be designated by tax -rate area i and assessment number, i.e., parcel number appearing on the County Secured Assessment Roll) to be collected by the County for the City. In cases where the City levies a fixed charge special assessment which is to be collected in installments over a period of years, the City shall compute annually the amount due as to each parcel shown on the County Secured Assessment Roll for the year in which it is to be collected and shall deliver to the County Auditor annually on or before August loth (unless an earlier date is specified by law) the assessment roll showing the installment against each such parcel of land to be collected by the County for the City. 4. Computation by County. The City shall certify to the County Auditor cither (1) the ad valorem rate to be applied to the assessed value of property within an established tax -rate area; or (2) the fixed charge special assessment in a dollar amount to be applied on each parcel of real property which parcel shall be designated by the assessment (i.e., parcel) numbers shown on the County Secured Assessment Roll for the year in which the assessment is to be collected. The County will not be required to make any computation other than the application of an ad valorem rate to the assessed value of property within a tax -rate area. -5- 5. Veri-fication by City It shall be the obligation of the City prior to the time of delivery to the County of the fixed charge special assessment roll to check the County Secured Assessment Roll after it is filed by the County Assessor with the County Auditor (July 1; Revenue and Taxation Code, Section 617) to verify that the parcel numbers on the assessment roll for fixed charge special assessments certified by the City correspond with the assessment (i.e., parcel) numbers shown on the County Secured Assessment Roll; any changes in special assessment data previously certified to the County Auditor by the City which changes occur as a result of such verification shall be certified by the City to the County Auditor no later than August Io. 6. Submission of Data in Machine Readable Form. Charge for Cost of Converting Information The performance by the County of the collection function for a charge as provided for in Paragraph 2 above is conditioned upon the delivery by the City to the County Auditor of the required data and information for -the collection of fixed charge special assessments in such "machine readable form" as may be acceptable to the County Auditor for use in the County's electronic data processing equipment. In the event the information is not submitted in such machine readable form, there will be charged by the County to the City an amount to be billed to and paid by the City prior to September 1, to cover the County's actual cost of converting the information into -machine readable form, which cost shall include salaries, employee benefits, supplies, machine rental and overhead, which total amount is currently $28.50 per hour and may be increased from year to year as the costs to the County, described above, increase. Annually, prior to July 1, the County Auditor will furnish the City with the format of the machine readable information necessary to process the special assessment. 7. Incorrect Information. The County will not be obligated to enter on the County's assessment roll or to collect fixed charge special -6- 1 i assessments where -the City has furnished incorrect assessment numbers, i.e., assessment or parcel numbers which do not correspond with assessment or parcel numbers shown on the County secured roll to which such assessments are to be added, or where the City has not furnished the information at the time or in the form specified. In such cases the County may return the assessment to the City; if the City determines that the assessment is to be placed on the County -secured assessment roll for an ensuing year, the City may certify the information to the County between July 1st and August loth of the ensuing year. ' 8. Charge for Correction of Errors After the roll has been delivered by the County Auditor to the County Tax Collector (October 16; Revenue and Taxation Code, Section 2601) a charge will be made by the County to the City'for each fixed charge special assessment corrected or deleted. 'Said charge shall be $15.00 for Bach account (assessment or parcel number) on the County secured assessment roll for which there is a deletion or correction, resulting from errors in information or data furnished by the City, such as ' the furnishing by the City to the County of incorrect amounts or incorrect parcel numbers. The amount of the charges for such corrections will be deducted by the County from the total taxes or special assessments collected by the County for the City. 9. Modification of Collection Fees and Charges " har es. The County reserves the right to increase or decrease any charges herein provided in proportion to any changes in costs incurred by the County in providing the services described herein provided that written notice of any increase or decrease in charges shall be given by the County to the City on or before May 15 of any year during the term of the agreement. -7- M 1 i a 10. Term of Agreement. All existing agreements between the County and the City pertaining to collection of taxes and special assessments by the I County for the City shall be terminated upon the execution of this agreement. This agreement shall continue from year to year and shall be subject to can- cellation by either party by giving written notice to the other- party of can- cellation on or before July 1 of any year during the term of this agreement. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Amended Agreement to be executed the first day above written. j COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO ! By Clerk of the Board of Supervisors City, o Cax sba CLAUDE A. L IS, Mayor 4 ATTEST: ALETHA L. gAUTENKRANZ, City Cle k (SEAL) t