SEC. 1. Unless otherwise provided by this Constitution or the laws of the United States: (a) All property is taxable and shall be assessed at the same percentage of fair market value. When a value standard other than fair market value is prescribed by this Constitution or by statute authorized by this Constitution, the same percentage shall be applied to determine the assessed value. The value to which the percentage is applied, whether it be the fair market value or not, shall be known for property tax purposes as the full value. (b) All property so assessed shall be taxed in proportion to its full value. SEC. 2. The Legislature may provide for property taxation of all forms of tangible personal property, shares of capital stock, evidences of indebtedness, and any legal or equitable interest therein not exempt under any other provision of this article. The Legislature, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, may classify such personal property for differential taxation or for exemption. The tax on any interest in notes, debentures, shares of capital stock, bonds, solvent credits, deeds of trust, or mortgages shall not exceed four-tenths of one percent of full value, and the tax per dollar of full value shall not be higher on personal property than on real property in the same taxing jurisdiction. SEC. 3. The following are exempt from property taxation: (a) Property owned by the State. (b) Property owned by a local government, except as otherwise provided in Section 11(a). (c) Bonds issued by the State or a local government in the State. (d) Property used for libraries and museums that are free and open to the public and property used exclusively for public schools, community colleges, state colleges, and state universities. (e) Buildings, land, equipment, and securities used exclusively for educational purposes by a nonprofit institution of higher education. (f) Buildings, land on which they are situated, and equipment used exclusively for religious worship. (g) Property used or held exclusively for the permanent deposit of human dead or for the care and maintenance of the property or the dead, except when used or held for profit. This property is also exempt from special assessment. (h) Growing crops. (i) Fruit and nut trees until 4 years after the season in which they were planted in orchard form and grape vines until 3 years after the season in which they were planted in vineyard form. (j) Immature forest trees planted on lands not previously bearing merchantable timber or planted or of natural growth on lands from which the merchantable original growth timber stand to the extent of 70 percent of all trees over 16 inches in diameter has been removed. Forest trees or timber shall be considered mature at such time after 40 years from the time of planting or removal of the original timber when so declared by a majority vote of a board consisting of a representative from the State Board of Forestry, a representative from the State Board of Equalization, and the assessor of the county in which the trees are located. The Legislature may supersede the foregoing provisions with an alternative system or systems of taxing or exempting forest trees or timber, including a taxation system not based on property valuation. Any alternative system or systems shall provide for exemption of unharvested immature trees, shall encourage the continued use of timberlands for the production of trees for timber products, and shall provide for restricting the use of timberland to the production of timber products and compatible uses with provisions for taxation of timberland based on the restrictions. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to exclude timberland from the provisions of Section 8 of this article. (k) $7,000 of the full value of a dwelling, as defined by the Legislature, when occupied by an owner as his principal residence, unless the dwelling is receiving another real property exemption. The Legislature may increase this exemption and may deny it if the owner received state or local aid to pay taxes either in whole or in part, and either directly or indirectly, on the dwelling. No increase in this exemption above the amount of $7,000 shall be effective for any fiscal year unless the Legislature increases the rate of state taxes in an amount sufficient to provide the subventions required by Section 25. If the Legislature increases the homeowners' property tax exemption, it shall provide increases in benefits to qualified renters, as defined by law, comparable to the average increase in benefits to homeowners, as calculated by the Legislature. (l) Vessels of more than 50 tons burden in this State and engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers. (m) Household furnishings and personal effects not held or used in connection with a trade, profession, or business. (n) Any debt secured by land. (o) Property in the amount of $1,000 of a claimant who-- (1) is serving in or has served in and has been discharged under honorable conditions from service in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Revenue Marine (Revenue Cutter) Service; and-- (2) served either (i) in time of war, or (ii) in time of peace in a campaign or expedition for which a medal has been issued by Congress, or (iii) in time of peace and because of a service-connected disability was released from active duty; and-- (3) resides in the State on the current lien date. An unmarried person who owns property valued at $5,000 or more, or a married person, who, together with the spouse, owns property valued at $10,000 or more, is ineligible for this exemption. If the claimant is married and does not own property eligible for the full amount of the exemption, property of the spouse shall be eligible for the unused balance of the exemption. (p) Property in the amount of $1,000 of a claimant who-- (1) is the unmarried spouse of a deceased veteran who met the service requirement stated in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 3 (o), and (2) does not own property in excess of $10,000, and (3) is a resident of the State on the current lien date. (q) Property in the amount of $1,000 of a claimant who-- (1) is the parent of a deceased veteran who met the service requirement stated in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 3(o), and (2) receives a pension because of the veteran's service, and (3) is a resident of the State on the current lien date. Either parent of a deceased veteran may claim this exemption. An unmarried person who owns property valued at $5,000 or more, or a married person, who, together with the spouse, owns property valued at $10,000 or more, is ineligible for this exemption. (r) No individual residing in the State on the effective date of this amendment who would have been eligible for the exemption provided by the previous section 11/4 of this article had it not been repealed shall lose eligibility for the exemption as a result of this amendment. SEC. 3.5. In any year in which the assessment ratio is changed, the Legislature shall adjust the valuation of assessable property described in subdivisions (o), (p) and (q) of Section 3 of this article to maintain the same proportionate values of such property. SEC. 4. The Legislature may exempt from property taxation in whole or in part: (a) The home of a person or a person's spouse, including an unmarried surviving spouse, if the person, because of injury incurred in military service, is blind in both eyes, has lost the use of 2 or more limbs, or is totally disabled, or if the person has, as a result of a service-connected injury or disease, died while on active duty in military service, unless the home is receiving another real property exemption. (b) Property used exclusively for religious, hospital, or charitable purposes and owned or held in trust by corporations or other entities (1) that are organized and operating for those purposes, (2) that are nonprofit, and (3) no part of whose net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. (c) Property owned by the California School of Mechanical Arts, California Academy of Sciences, or Cogswell Polytechnical College, or held in trust for the Huntington Library and Art Gallery, or their successors. (d) Real property not used for commercial purposes that is reasonably and necessarily required for parking vehicles of persons worshipping on land exempt by Section 3(f). SEC. 5. Exemptions granted or authorized by Sections 3(e), 3(f), and 4(b) apply to buildings under construction, land required for their convenient use, and equipment in them if the intended use would qualify the property for exemption. SEC. 6. The failure in any year to claim, in a manner required by the laws in effect at the time the claim is required to be made, an exemption or classification which reduces a property tax shall be deemed a waiver of the exemption or classification for that year. SEC. 7. The Legislature, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, may authorize county boards of supervisors to exempt real property having a full value so low that, if not exempt, the total taxes and applicable subventions on the property would amount to less than the cost of assessing and collecting them. SEC. 8. To promote the conservation, preservation and continued existence of open space lands, the Legislature may define open space land and shall provide that when this land is enforceably restricted, in a manner specified by the Legislature, to recreation, enjoyment of scenic beauty, use or conservation of natural resources, or production of food or fiber, it shall be valued for property tax purposes only on a basis that is consistent with its restrictions and uses. To promote the preservation of property of historical significance, the Legislature may define such property and shall provide that when it is enforceably restricted, in a manner specified by the Legislature, it shall be valued for property tax purposes only on a basis that is consistent with its restrictions and uses. SEC. 8.5. The Legislature may provide by law for the manner in which a person of low or moderate income who is 62 years of age or older may postpone ad valorem property taxes on the dwelling owned and occupied by him or her as his or her principal place of residence. The Legislature may also provide by law for the manner in which a disabled person may postpone payment of ad valorem property taxes on the dwelling owned and occupied by him or her as his or her principal place of residence. The Legislature shall have plenary power to define all terms in this section. The Legislature shall provide by law for subventions to counties, cities and counties, cities and districts in an amount equal to the amount of revenue lost by each by reason of the postponement of taxes and for the reimbursement to the State of subventions from the payment of postponed taxes. Provision shall be made for the inclusion of reimbursement for the payment of interest on, and any costs to the State incurred in connection with, the subventions. SEC. 9. The Legislature may provide for the assessment for taxation only on the basis of use of a single-family dwelling, as defined by the Legislature, and so much of the land as is required for its convenient use and occupation, when the dwelling is occupied by an owner and located on land zoned exclusively for single-family dwellings or for agricultural purposes. SEC. 10. Real property in a parcel of 10 or more acres which, on the lien date and for 2 or more years immediately preceding, has been used exclusively for nonprofit golf course purposes shall be assessed for taxation on the basis of such use, plus any value attributable to mines, quarries, hydrocarbon substances, or other minerals in the property or the right to extract hydrocarbons or other minerals from the property. SEC. 11. (a) Lands owned by a local government that are outside its boundaries, including rights to use or divert water from surface or underground sources and any other interests in lands, are taxable if (1) they are located in Inyo or Mono County and (a) they were assessed for taxation to the local government in Inyo County as of the 1966 lien date, or in Mono County as of the 1967 lien date, whether or not the assessment was valid when made, or (b) they were acquired by the local government subsequent to that lien date and were assessed to a prior owner as of that lien date and each lien date thereafter, or (2) they are located outside Inyo or Mono County and were taxable when acquired by the local government. Improvements owned by a local government that are outside its boundaries are taxable if they were taxable when acquired or were constructed by the local government to replace improvements which were taxable when acquired. (b) Taxable land belonging to a local government and located in Inyo County shall be assessed in any year subsequent to 1968 at the place where it was assessed as of the 1966 lien date and in an amount derived by multiplying its 1966 assessed value by the ratio of the statewide per capita assessed value of land as of the last lien date prior to the current lien date to $766, using civilian population only. Taxable land belonging to a local government and located in Mono County shall be assessed in any year subsequent to 1968 at the place where it was assessed as of the 1967 lien date and in an amount determined by the preceding formula except that the 1967 lien date, the 1967 assessed value, and the figure $856 shall be used in the formula. Taxable land belonging to a local government and located outside of Inyo and Mono counties shall be assessed at the place where located and in an amount that does not exceed the lower of (1) its fair market value times the prevailing percentage of fair market value at which other lands are assessed and (2) a figure derived in the manner specified in this Section for land located in Mono County. If land acquired by a local government after the lien date of the base year specified in this Section was assessed in the base year as part of a larger parcel, the assessed value of the part in the base year shall be that fraction of the assessed value of the larger parcel that the area of the part is of the area of the larger parcel. If a local government divests itself of ownership of land without water rights and this land was assessed in Inyo County as of the 1966 lien date or in Mono County as of the 1967 lien date, the divestment shall not diminish the quantity of water rights assessable and taxable at the place where assessed as of that lien date. (c) In the event the Legislature changes the prevailing percentage of fair market value at which land is assessed for taxation, there shall be used in the computations required by Section 11(b) of this Article, for the first year for which the new percentage is applicable, in lieu of the statewide per capita assessed value of land as of the last lien date prior to the current lien date, the statewide per capita assessed value of land on the prior lien date times the ratio of the new prevailing percentage of fair market value to the previous prevailing percentage. (d) If, after March 1954, a taxable improvement is replaced while owned by and in possession of a local government, the replacement improvement shall be assessed, as long as it is owned by a local government, as other improvements are except that the assessed value shall not exceed the product of (1) the percentage at which privately owned improvements are assessed times (2) the highest full value ever used for taxation of the improvement that has been replaced. For purposes of this calculation, the full value for any year prior to 1967 shall be conclusively presumed to be 4 times the assessed value in that year. (e) No tax, charge, assessment, or levy of any character, other than those taxes authorized by Sections 11(a) to 11(d), inclusive, of this Article, shall be imposed upon one local government by another local government that is based or calculated upon the consumption or use of water outside the boundaries of the government imposing it. (f) Any taxable interest of any character, other than a lease for agricultural purposes and an interest of a local government, in any land owned by a local government that is subject to taxation pursuant to Section 11(a) of this Article shall be taxed in the same manner as other taxable interests. The aggregate value of all the interests subject to taxation pursuant to Section 11(a), however, shall not exceed the value of all interests in the land less the taxable value of the interest of any local government ascertained as provided in Sections 11(a) to 11(e), inclusive, of this Article. (g) Any assessment made pursuant to Section 11(a) to 11(d), inclusive, of this Article shall be subject to review, equalization, and adjustment by the State Board of Equalization, but an adjustment shall conform to the provisions of these Sections. SEC. 12. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), taxes on personal property, possessory interest in land, and taxable improvements located on land exempt from taxation which are not a lien upon land sufficient in value to secure their payment shall be levied at the rates for the preceding tax year upon property of the same kind where the taxes were a lien upon land sufficient in value to secure their payment. (b) In any year in which the assessment ratio is changed, the Legislature shall adjust the rate described in subdivision (a) to maintain equality between property on the secured and unsecured rolls. SEC. 13. Land and improvements shall be separately assessed. SEC. 14. All property taxed by local government shall be assessed in the county, city, and district in which it is situated. SEC. 15. The Legislature may authorize local government to provide for the assessment or reassessment of taxable property physically damaged or destroyed after the lien date to which the assessment or reassessment relates. SEC. 16. The county board of supervisors, or one or more assessment appeals boards created by the county board of supervisors, shall constitute the county board of equalization for a county. Two or more county boards of supervisors may jointly create one or more assessment appeals boards which shall constitute the county board of equalization for each of the participating counties. Except as provided in subdivision (g) of Section 11, the county board of equalization, under such rules of notice as the county board may prescribe, shall equalize the values of all property on the local assessment roll by adjusting individual assessments. County boards of supervisors shall fix the compensation for members of assessment appeals boards, furnish clerical and other assistance for those boards, adopt rules of notice and procedures for those boards as may be required to facilitate their work and to insure uniformity in the processing and decision of equalization petitions, and may provide for their discontinuance. The Legislature shall provide for: (a) the number and qualifications of members of assessment appeals boards, the manner of selecting, appointing, and removing them, and the terms for which they serve, and (b) the procedure by which two or more county boards of supervisors may jointly create one or more assessment appeals boards. SEC. 17. The Board of Equalization consists of 5 voting members: the Controller and 4 members elected for 4-year terms at gubernatorial elections. The State shall be divided into four Board of Equalization districts with the voters of each district electing one member. No member may serve more than 2 terms. SEC. 18. The Board shall measure county assessment levels annually and shall bring those levels into conformity by adjusting entire secured local assessment rolls. In the event a property tax is levied by the State, however, the effects of unequalized local assessment levels, to the extent any remain after such adjustments, shall be corrected for purposes of distributing this tax by equalizing the assessment levels of locally and state-assessed properties and varying the rate of the state tax inversely with the counties' respective assessment levels. SEC. 19. The Board shall annually assess (1) pipelines, flumes, canals, ditches, and aqueducts lying within 2 or more counties and (2) property, except franchises, owned or used by regulated railway, telegraph, or telephone companies, car companies operating on railways in the State, and companies transmitting or selling gas or electricity. This property shall be subject to taxation to the same extent and in the same manner as other property. No other tax or license charge may be imposed on these companies which differs from that imposed on mercantile, manufacturing, and other business corporations. This restriction does not release a utility company from payments agreed on or required by law for a special privilege or franchise granted by a government body. The Legislature may authorize Board assessment of property owned or used by other public utilities. The Board may delegate to a local assessor the duty to assess a property used but not owned by a state assessee on which the taxes are to be paid by a local assessee. SEC. 20. The Legislature may provide maximum property tax rates and bonding limits for local governments. SEC. 21. Within such limits as may be provided under Section 20 of this Article, the Legislature shall provide for an annual levy by county governing bodies of school district taxes sufficient to produce annual revenues for each district that the district's board determines are required for its schools and district functions. SEC. 22. Not more than 25 percent of the total appropriations from all funds of the State shall be raised by means of taxes on real and personal property according to the value thereof. SEC. 23. If state boundaries change, the Legislature shall determine how property affected shall be taxed. SEC. 24. The Legislature may not impose taxes for local purposes but may authorize local governments to impose them. Money appropriated from state funds to a local government for its local purposes may be used as provided by law. Money subvened to a local government under Section 25 may be used for state or local purposes. SEC. 25. The Legislature shall provide, in the same fiscal year, reimbursements to each local government for revenue lost because of Section 3(k). SEC. 25.5. (a) On or after November 3, 2004, the Legislature shall not enact a statute to do any of the following: (1) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B), modify the manner in which ad valorem property tax revenues are allocated in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 1 of Article XIIIA so as to reduce for any fiscal year the percentage of the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenues in a county that is allocated among all of the local agencies in that county below the percentage of the total amount of those revenues that would be allocated among those agencies for the same fiscal year under the statutes in effect on November 3, 2004. For purposes of this subparagraph, "percentage" does not include any property tax revenues referenced in paragraph (2). (B) Beginning with the 2008-09 fiscal year and except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (C), subparagraph (A) may be suspended for a fiscal year if all of the following conditions are met: (i) The Governor issues a proclamation that declares that, due to a severe state fiscal hardship, the suspension of subparagraph (A) is necessary. (ii) The Legislature enacts an urgency statute, pursuant to a bill passed in each house of the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring, that contains a suspension of subparagraph (A) for that fiscal year and does not contain any other provision. (iii) No later than the effective date of the statute described in clause (ii), a statute is enacted that provides for the full repayment to local agencies of the total amount of revenue losses, including interest as provided by law, resulting from the modification of ad valorem property tax revenue allocations to local agencies. This full repayment shall be made not later than the end of the third fiscal year immediately following the fiscal year to which the modification applies. (C) (i) Subparagraph (A) shall not be suspended for more than two fiscal years during any period of 10 consecutive fiscal years, which period begins with the first fiscal year for which subparagraph (A) is suspended. (ii) Subparagraph (A) shall not be suspended during any fiscal year if the full repayment required by a statute enacted in accordance with clause (iii) of subparagraph (B) has not yet been completed. (iii) Subparagraph (A) shall not be suspended during any fiscal year if the amount that was required to be paid to cities, counties, and cities and counties under Section 10754.11 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as that section read on November 3, 2004, has not been paid in full prior to the effective date of the statute providing for that suspension as described in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B). (iv) A suspension of subparagraph (A) shall not result in a total ad valorem property tax revenue loss to all local agencies within a county that exceeds 8 percent of the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenues that were allocated among all local agencies within that county for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which subparagraph (A) is suspended. (2) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), restrict the authority of a city, county, or city and county to impose a tax rate under, or change the method of distributing revenues derived under, the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law set forth in Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 7200) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as that law read on November 3, 2004. The restriction imposed by this subparagraph also applies to the entitlement of a city, county, or city and county to the change in tax rate resulting from the end of the revenue exchange period, as defined in Section 7203.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as that section read on November 3, 2004. (B) The Legislature may change by statute the method of distributing the revenues derived under a use tax imposed pursuant to the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law to allow the State to participate in an interstate compact or to comply with federal law. (C) The Legislature may authorize by statute two or more specifically identified local agencies within a county, with the approval of the governing body of each of those agencies, to enter into a contract to exchange allocations of ad valorem property tax revenues for revenues derived from a tax rate imposed under the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law. The exchange under this subparagraph of revenues derived from a tax rate imposed under that law shall not require voter approval for the continued imposition of any portion of an existing tax rate from which those revenues are derived. (3) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2), change for any fiscal year the pro rata shares in which ad valorem property tax revenues are allocated among local agencies in a county other than pursuant to a bill passed in each house of the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership concurring. (4) Extend beyond the revenue exchange period, as defined in Section 7203.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as that section read on November 3, 2004, the suspension of the authority, set forth in that section on that date, of a city, county, or city and county to impose a sales and use tax rate under the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law. (5) Reduce, during any period in which the rate authority suspension described in paragraph (4) is operative, the payments to a city, county, or city and county that are required by Section 97.68 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, as that section read on November 3, 2004. (6) Restrict the authority of a local entity to impose a transactions and use tax rate in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law (Part 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code), or change the method for distributing revenues derived under a transaction and use tax rate imposed under that law, as it read on November 3, 2004. (b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Ad valorem property tax revenues" means all revenues derived from the tax collected by a county under subdivision (a) of Section 1 of Article XIIIA, regardless of any of this revenue being otherwise classified by statute. (2) "Local agency" has the same meaning as specified in Section 95 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as that section read on November 3, 2004. SEC. 26. (a) Taxes on or measured by income may be imposed on persons, corporations, or other entities as prescribed by law. (b) Interest on bonds issued by the State or a local government in the State is exempt from taxes on income. (c) Income of a nonprofit educational institution of collegiate grade within the State of California is exempt from taxes on or measured by income if both of the following conditions are met: (1) The income is not unrelated business income as defined by the Legislature. (2) The income is used exclusively for educational purposes. (d) A nonprofit organization that is exempted from taxation by Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 23701) of Part 11 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code or Subchapter F (commencing with Section 501) of Chapter 1 of Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the successor of either, is exempt from any business license tax or fee measured by income or gross receipts that is levied by a county or city, whether charter or general law, a city and county, a school district, a special district, or any other local agency. SEC. 27. The Legislature, a majority of the membership of each house concurring, may tax corporations, including state and national banks, and their franchises by any method not prohibited by this Constitution or the Constitution or laws of the United States. Unless otherwise provided by the Legislature, the tax on state and national banks shall be according to or measured by their net income and shall be in lieu of all other taxes and license fees upon banks or their shares, except taxes upon real property and vehicle registration and license fees. SEC. 28. (a) "Insurer," as used in this section, includes insurance companies or associations and reciprocal or interinsurance exchanges together with their corporate or other attorneys in fact considered as a single unit, and the State Compensation Insurance Fund. As used in this paragraph, "companies" includes persons, partnerships, joint stock associations, companies and corporations. (b) An annual tax is hereby imposed on each insurer doing business in this State on the base, at the rates, and subject to the deductions from the tax hereinafter specified. (c) In the case of an insurer not transacting title insurance in this State, the "basis of the annual tax" is, in respect to each year, the amount of gross premiums, less return premiums, received in such year by such insurer upon its business done in this State, other than premiums received for reinsurance and for ocean marine insurance. In the case of an insurer transacting title insurance in this State, the "basis of the annual tax" is, in respect to each year, all income upon business done in this State, except: (1) Interest and dividends. (2) Rents from real property. (3) Profits from the sale or other disposition of investments. (4) Income from investments. "Investments" as used in this subdivision includes property acquired by such insurer in the settlement or adjustment of claims against it but excludes investments in title plants and title records. Income derived directly or indirectly from the use of title plants and title records is included in the basis of the annual tax. In the case of an insurer transacting title insurance in this State which has a trust department and does a trust business under the banking laws of this State, there shall be excluded from the basis of the annual tax imposed by this section, the income of, and from the assets of, such trust department and such trust business, if such income is taxed by this State or included in the measure of any tax imposed by this State. (d) The rate of the tax to be applied to the basis of the annual tax in respect to each year is 2.35 percent. (f) The tax imposed on insurers by this section is in lieu of all other taxes and licenses, state, county, and municipal, upon such insurers and their property, except: (1) Taxes upon their real estate. (2) That an insurer transacting title insurance in this State which has a trust department or does a trust business under the banking laws of this State is subject to taxation with respect to such trust department or trust business to the same extent and in the same manner as trust companies and the trust departments of banks doing business in this State. (3) When by or pursuant to the laws of any other state or foreign country any taxes, licenses and other fees, in the aggregate, and any fines, penalties, deposit requirements or other material obligations, prohibitions or restrictions are or would be imposed upon California insurers, or upon the agents or representatives of such insurers, which are in excess of such taxes, licenses and other fees, in the aggregate, or which are in excess of the fines, penalties, deposit requirements or other obligations, prohibitions, or restrictions directly imposed upon similar insurers, or upon the agents or representatives of such insurers, of such other state or country under the statutes of this State; so long as such laws of such other state or country continue in force or are so applied, the same taxes, licenses and other fees, in the aggregate, or fines, penalties or deposit requirements or other material obligations, prohibitions, or restrictions, of whatever kind shall be imposed upon the insurers, or upon the agents or representatives of such insurers, of such other state or country doing business or seeking to do business in California. Any tax, license or other fee or other obligation imposed by any city, county, or other political subdivision or agency of such other state or country on California insurers or their agents or representatives shall be deemed to be imposed by such state or country within the meaning of this paragraph (3) of subdivision (f). The provisions of this paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) shall not apply as to personal income taxes, nor as to ad valorem taxes on real or personal property nor as to special purpose obligations or assessments heretofore imposed by another state or foreign country in connection with particular kinds of insurance, other than property insurance; except that deductions, from premium taxes or other taxes otherwise payable, allowed on account of real estate or personal property taxes paid shall be taken into consideration in determining the propriety and extent of retaliatory action under this paragraph (3) of subdivision (f). For the purposes of this paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) the domicile of an alien insurer, other than insurers formed under the laws of Canada, shall be that state in which is located its principal place of business in the United States. In the case of an insurer formed under the laws of Canada or a province thereof, its domicile shall be deemed to be that province in which its head office is situated. The provisions of this paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) shall also be applicable to reciprocals or interinsurance exchanges and fraternal benefit societies. (4) The tax on ocean marine insurance. (5) Motor vehicle and other vehicle registration license fees and any other tax or license fee imposed by the State upon vehicles, motor vehicles or the operation thereof. (6) That each corporate or other attorney in fact of a reciprocal or interinsurance exchange shall be subject to all taxes imposed upon corporations or others doing business in the State, other than taxes on income derived from its principal business as attorney in fact. A corporate or other attorney in fact of each exchange shall annually compute the amount of tax that would be payable by it under prevailing law except for the provisions of this section, and any management fee due from each exchange to its corporate or other attorney in fact shall be reduced pro tanto by a sum equivalent to the amount so computed. (g) Every insurer transacting the business of ocean marine insurance in this State shall annually pay to the State a tax measured by that proportion of the underwriting profit of such insurer from such insurance written in the United States, which the gross premiums of the insurer from such insurance written in this State bear to the gross premiums of the insurer from such insurance written within the United States, at the rate of 5 per centum, which tax shall be in lieu of all other taxes and licenses, state, county and municipal, upon such insurer, except taxes upon real estate, and such other taxes as may be assessed or levied against such insurer on account of any other class of insurance written by it. The Legislature shall define the terms "ocean marine insurance" and "underwriting profit," and shall provide for the assessment, levy, collection and enforcement of the ocean marine tax. (h) The taxes provided for by this section shall be assessed by the State Board of Equalization. (i) The Legislature, a majority of all the members elected to each of the two houses voting in favor thereof, may by law change the rate or rates of taxes herein imposed upon insurers. (j) This section is not intended to and does not change the law as it has previously existed with respect to the meaning of the words "gross premiums, less return premiums, received" as used in this article. SEC. 29. (a) The Legislature may authorize counties, cities and counties, and cities to enter into contracts to apportion between them the revenue derived from any sales or use tax imposed by them that is collected for them by the State. Before the contract becomes operative, it shall be authorized by a majority of those voting on the question in each jurisdiction at a general or direct primary election. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), on and after the operative date of this subdivision, counties, cities and counties, and cities may enter into contracts to apportion between them the revenue derived from any sales or use tax imposed by them pursuant to the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law, or any successor provisions, that is collected for them by the State, if the ordinance or resolution proposing each contract is approved by a two-thirds vote of the governing body of each jurisdiction that is a party to the contract. SEC. 30. Every tax shall be conclusively presumed to have been paid after 30 years from the time it became a lien unless the property subject to the lien has been sold in the manner provided by the Legislature for the payment of the tax. SEC. 31. The power to tax may not be surrendered or suspended by grant or contract. SEC. 32. No legal or equitable process shall issue in any proceeding in any court against this State or any officer thereof to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax. After payment of a tax claimed to be illegal, an action may be maintained to recover the tax paid, with interest, in such manner as may be provided by the Legislature. SEC. 33. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. SEC. 34. Neither the State of California nor any of its political subdivisions shall levy or collect a sales or use tax on the sale of, or the storage, use or other consumption in this State of food products for human consumption except as provided by statute as of the effective date of this section. SEC. 35. (a) The people of the State of California find and declare all of the following: (1) Public safety services are critically important to the security and well-being of the State's citizens and to the growth and revitalization of the State's economic base. (2) The protection of the public safety is the first responsibility of local government and local officials have an obligation to give priority to the provision of adequate public safety services. (3) In order to assist local government in maintaining a sufficient level of public safety services, the proceeds of the tax enacted pursuant to this section shall be designated exclusively for public safety. (b) In addition to any sales and use taxes imposed by the Legislature, the following sales and use taxes are hereby imposed: (1) For the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, a tax is hereby imposed upon all retailers at the rate of 1/2 percent of the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale of all tangible personal property sold at retail in this State on and after January 1, 1994. (2) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use, or other consumption in this State of tangible personal property purchased from any retailer on and after January 1, 1994, for storage, use, or other consumption in this State at the rate of 1/2 percent of the sales price of the property. (c) The Sales and Use Tax Law, including any amendments made thereto on or after the effective date of this section, shall be applicable to the taxes imposed by subdivision (b). (d) (1) All revenues, less refunds, derived from the taxes imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be transferred to the Local Public Safety Fund for allocation by the Legislature, as prescribed by statute, to counties in which either of the following occurs: (A) The board of supervisors, by a majority vote of its membership, requests an allocation from the Local Public Safety Fund in a manner prescribed by statute. (B) A majority of the county's voters voting thereon approve the addition of this section. (2) Moneys in the Local Public Safety Fund shall be allocated for use exclusively for public safety services of local agencies. (e) Revenues derived from the taxes imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall not be considered proceeds of taxes for purposes of Article XIIIB or State General Fund proceeds of taxes within the meaning of Article XVI. (f) Except for the provisions of Section 34, this section shall supersede any other provisions of this Constitution that are in conflict with the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, Section 9 of Article II.
Last modified: January 4, 2019