State Board of Equalization (California)
The State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The areas of authority of the Board fall into four broad areas: sales and use taxes, property taxes, special taxes, and acting as an appellate body for franchise and income tax appeals (which are collected by the Franchise Tax Board).[1] The BOE is the only publicly elected tax commission in the United States.[2]
The board is made up of four directly elected members, each representing a district for four-year terms, along with the State Controller, who is elected on a statewide basis, serving as the fifth member. The current board members are:
- Betty T. Yee (First District)
- George Runner (Second District)
- Michelle Park Steel (Third District)
- Jerome Horton (Fourth District)
- John Chiang (State Controller)
The terms of all five members, including the State Controller, are due to end on January 5, 2015 (only Runner and Horton are eligible to run for re-election, as term limits prevent Yee, Steel, and Chiang from seeking another term).[2] As of 2008, the agency employed approximately 3,950 people throughout the state.[3]
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[edit] History
The State Board of Equalization was created in 1879 by an amendment to the California Constitution. Its original mandate was to ensure that property tax assessments were uniform and equal across all counties in the state.[1]
Prior to the creation of the state income, sales, and fuel taxes in the 1930s, California's state government was almost completely supported by property taxes, which were and still are assessed at the county level by elected assessors. Of course, 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.
[edit] Equalization districts
| First District | Second District |
| Third District | Fourth District |
For the purposes of tax administration, the BOE divides the state into four Equalization districts, each with its own elected board member.[2][3]
[edit] First district
The first Equalization District is made up of the following counties: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Trinity, Yolo, and a portion of Santa Barbara.
[edit] Second district
The second Equalization District is made up of the following counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yuba, a portion of Los Angeles, a portion of San Bernardino, and a portion of Santa Barbara.
[edit] Third district
The third Equalization District is made up of the following counties: Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, a portion of Los Angeles, and a portion of San Bernardino.
[edit] Fourth district
The fourth Equalization District is made up of 73 of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County: Agoura Hills, Alhambra, Arcadia, Artesia, Avalon, Baldwin Park, Bell, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Calabasas, Carson, Cerritos, City of Industry, Commerce, Compton, Covina, Cudahy, Culver City, Diamond Bar, Downey, El Monte, El Segundo, Gardena, Glendale, Glendora, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Hidden Hills, Huntington Park, Inglewood, La Cañada Flintridge, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, La Puente, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Maywood, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Paramount, Pasadena, Pico Rivera, Redondo Beach, Rosemead, San Fernando, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Monica, Sierra Madre, Signal Hill, South El Monte, South Gate, South Pasadena, Temple City, Torrance, Vernon, Walnut, West Covina, West Hollywood, Westlake Village, and Whittier.
[edit] Members of the Board of Equalization
[edit] Tax and fee programs
The State Board of Equalization administers the following tax and fee programs:[4][5]
[edit] Sales and Use Tax Programs
For more information on sales and use taxes in California, see the "California" section of Sales taxes in the United States.
- Sales and Use Tax
- Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax
- District Transactions (Sales) and Use Tax
[edit] Special Tax and Fee Programs
- Electronic Waste Recycling Fee
- Environmental Fees
- Hazardous Substances Tax
- Marine Invasive Species Fee (formerly Ballast Water Management Fee)
- Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee
- Excise Taxes
- Alcoholic Beverages Tax
- Alternative Cigarette Tax Stamp Program (ACTS)
- California Tire Fee
- Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax
- Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Program
- Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge
- Energy Resources Surcharge
- Insurance Tax
- Integrated Waste Management Fee
- Natural Gas Surcharge
- Fuel Taxes
- Aircraft Jet Fuel Tax
- Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee
- Diesel Fuel Tax
- International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA)
- Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax
- Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax
- Oil Spill Response, Prevention, and Administration Fees
- Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee
- Use Fuel Tax
[edit] Property Tax Programs
- County Assessed Properties Division
- Private Railroad Car Tax
- State-Assessed Property Program
- Timber Yield Tax
[edit] Tax Appellate Programs
- Bank and Corporation Tax Law
- Personal Income Tax
- Homeowner and Renter Property Tax Assistance Law
- Publicly Owned Property Assessment Review Program
- Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Law
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: State Board of Equalization (California) |
[edit] References
- ^ a b State Board of Equalization, About BOE
- ^ a b c State Board of Equalization, Board Members
- ^ a b State Board of Equalization, 2007-2008 Annual Report, Profile, "Governance" p. 3.
- ^ State Board of Equalization, 2007-2008 Annual Report, Profile, "Tax and Fee Programs, 2007-2008" pp. 2.
- ^ State Board of Equalization. "Special Taxes". http://www.boe.ca.gov/sptaxprog/spprograms.htm. Retrieved May 21, 2006.
