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 authorities 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:

The terms of all five members, including the State Controller, began on January 5, 2015.[3] As of 2008, the agency employed approximately 3,950 people throughout the state.[4]

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.

Equalization districts

District map (2001-2014)
    First District      Second District
     Third District     Fourth District
District map (effective January 1, 2015)
     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.[5] These districts became effective January 1, 2015.[6]

First district

The first Equalization District is made up of the following counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yuba, a portion of Los Angeles, and a portion of San Bernardino. Before 2015, most of this area was the second district.

Second district

The second Equalization District is made up of the following counties: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Santa Barbara. Before 2015, most of this area was the first district.

Third district

The third Equalization District is made up of Ventura County and a portion of Los Angeles County, including the cities of 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 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.

Fourth district

The fourth 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.

Members of the Board of Equalization

Year1st District2nd District3rd District4th DistrictState Controller
1879 James L. King Moses M. Drew Warren Dutton Tyler D. Heiskel Daniel M. Kenfield
1880
1881
1882
1883 Charles Gildea L. C. Morehouse C. E. Wilcoxon John Markley John P. Dunn
1884
1885
1886
1887 Gordon E. Sloss John T. Gaffey
1888
1889
1890
1891 J. S. Swan Richard H. Beamer James R. Hebbron Edward P. Colgan
1892
1893
1894
1895 A. Chesebrough George L. Arnold
1896
1897
1898
1899 J. G. Edwards Alexander Brown Thomas O. Toland
1900
1901
1902
1903 William H. Alford Frank Mattison
1904
1905
1906 A. B. Nye
1907 Joseph H. Scott Richard E. Collins Jeff McElvaine
1908
1909
1910
1911 Edward M. Rolkin John Mitchell
1912
1913 John S. Chambers
1914
1915 John C. Corbett
1916
1917
1918
1919 Phillip D. Wilson
1920
1921 Ray L. Riley
1922
1923 Harvey G. Cattell
1924
1925
1926
1927 John C. Corbett Fred E. Stewart
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935 Orfa Jean Shnotz
1936
1937 Harry B. Riley
1938
1939 George R. Reilly Eric Mont
1940
1941
1942
1943 James H. Quinn
1944
1945
1946 Thomas Kuchel
1947 Jerrold L. Seawell
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953 Robert C. Kirkwood
1954 Paul R. Leake
1955 Robert E. McDavid
1956
1957
1958
1959 John W. Lynch Richard Nevins Alan Cranston
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967 Houston I. Flournoy
1968
1969
1970
1971 William M. Bennett
1972
1973
1974
1975 Kenneth Cory
1976 Iris G. Sankey
1977
1978
1979 Ernest J. Dronenburg Jr.
1980
1981
1982
1983 Conway H. Collis
1984
1985
1986
1987 William M. Bennett Conway H. Collis Ernest J. Dronenburg, Jr. Paul Carpenter Gray Davis
1988
1989
1990
1991 Brad Sherman Matt Fong
1992
1993
1994
1995 Johan Klehs Dean Andal Brad Sherman Kathleen Connell
1996
1997 John Chiang
1998
1999 Claude Parrish
2000
2001
2002
2003 Carole Migden Bill Leonard Steve Westly
2004
2005 Betty Yee
2006
2007 Michelle Park Steel Judy Chu John Chiang
2008
2009
2010 Barbara Alby / Sean Wallentine Steve Shea / Jerome Horton
2011 George Runner Jerome Horton
2012
2013
2014
2015 George Runner Fiona Ma Jerome Horton Diane Harkey Betty Yee

Tax and fee programs

The State Board of Equalization administers the following tax and fee programs:[7][8]

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.

Special Tax and Fee Programs

Property Tax Programs

Tax Appellate Programs

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to State Board of Equalization (California).

References

  1. 1 2 State Board of Equalization, About BOE
  2. State Board of Equalization, Board Members
  3. "California State Board of Equalization Members Assume Office". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. State Board of Equalization, 2007-2008 Annual Report, Profile, "Governance" p. 3.
  5. http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/maps-final-draft-board-of-equalization-districts.html
  6. http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/new_boundaries.htm
  7. State Board of Equalization, 2007-2008 Annual Report, Profile, "Tax and Fee Programs, 2007-2008" pp. 2.
  8. State Board of Equalization. "Special Taxes". Retrieved May 21, 2006.

External links

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