Caltrans’
Aviation-Related Legislative Update Report
Status of Selected
Bills in the California Legislature
August 8,
2003
This report is concerned with the FY
2003-04 Budget and Trailer Bills, and several other bills that are
scheduled for hearing in August, after the Legislature reconvenes on
August 18, 2003.
Budget Bills: AB 1765 is the Budget Act
for 2003, and was signed by Governor Gray Davis on August 2,
2003. While the 2003 Budget
Act is not yet available, we understand that the bill, as it relates to
airport grant funds, approved the transfer of $4.762 million from the
Aeronautics Account to the General Fund (GF). These funds could have been used
for the annual credit of funds to General Aviation (GA) airports, matching
federal Airport Improvement Program grants for GA and Reliever airports,
and acquisition and development (A&D) grants for 90%-state funded
airport projects. In addition
to these provisions, only $5.2 million in GA fuel tax revenues was
available in FY 2002-03. It
had been projected to be $7.5 million, so there may be potentially similar
decreases in GA fuel tax revenues in future FYs.
As a result of aviation advocates’
efforts in the Legislature’s budget deliberations, SB 1048 would
repeal the line item transferring the $4.762 million from the Aeronautics
Account to the GF. SB 1048
was amended in the Assembly, so the Senate will need to concur with the
Assembly’s amendments before SB 1048 can be sent to the
Governor. After reconvening
on August 18, the Legislature will adjourn on September 12, 2003 for the
remainder of the calendar year.
If SB 1048 is enacted, and funds for airports become available,
existing law distributes funds in this sequence:
- Annual credits to
GA airports;
- Matching grants
for federal AIP grants; and
- A&D grants,
using 90% state funds.
The Governor’s
Mid-Year 2002-03 Budget Proposal, as reflected in SBX1 7, and his Proposed
Budget for FY 2003-04, would have amended the Public Utilities Code
to:
a) When appropriated by the Legislature,
permanently allow the transfer of funds, for the $10,000 Annual Credits,
from the Aeronautics
Account to the GF, including any funds that public
entities owning the airports accumulated over a five-year period;
b)
Suspend the Annual Credits for FY 2003-04; and
c) Permanently require
the California Transportation Commission (CTC), in awarding any aviation
grants to eligible airports, including AIP Matching and A&D Grants, to
give the highest priority to security projects at GA airports with less
than 80,000 annual operations.
Currently, no bill exists that
would revise the distribution of airport funds from existing law, if
SB 1048 restores them by amending the Budget Act of 2003.
Budget Trailer
Bills: AB 7X is
the California Fiscal Recovery Act, which permits the issuance of bonds to
finance the accumulated budget deficit and enacts a temporary change to
the local and state sales taxes necessary to service the debt on the
bond. AB 1766
authorizes county auditors, upon receipt of sales tax information from
the Director of Finance, to reimburse cities and counties for their
reduction in sales and use tax revenue pursuant to the sales and use tax
rate suspension in AB 7X.
Prior to the passage of the Budget Act of 2003, most county
property tax funds were allocated to schools. The Budget Act of 2003 provides
for the re-distribution of property tax funds to cities, counties and
schools.
AB 296
(Mullin) “Schools: Aircraft
Noise” was amended to establish an advisory group, led by the
Department of Education, to evaluate the impact of aircraft noise on
public schools within the 65 CNEL noise contour, and report to the
Legislature by July 1, 2004.
The Division of Aeronautics, the Federal Aviation
Administration, and school districts with schools located within an
airport’s 65 CNEL noise contour would participate in the group.
AB 332 (Mullin)
“Airports: Land Use
Commissions (ALUCs)” would:
a) Make school districts and community college districts subject to
airport land use law; b) Require local agencies to be guided by the
Airport Land Use Planning Handbook and federal aviation regulations prior
to issuing a permit for renovation of an existing building, or new
construction, but would not limit the authority of local agencies to
overrule an ALUC; and c) Require the local agency governing body to submit
specific findings of the proposed overrule to the ALUC and the Division
for review and comment 45 days before the public hearing, and require the
ALUC and Division to submit those comments to the local agency governing
body within 30 days of receipt of the findings, for inclusion in the
public record.
AB 920 (Nakano) “Real Estate
Disclosures: Local
Government”: AB 2776,
Chapter 496 of the Statutes of 2002, established a city or county
disclosure requirement for real property in the vicinity of an airport
influence area, effective January 1, 2004. AB 920 would provide, after
January 1, 2005, unless a city or county adopts a different or additional
disclosure form, that an “Airport Influence Area” disclosure, or if there
is no current airport influence map, a written disclosure of an airport
within two statute miles, would satisfy the requirement for disclosure of
airports in transfers of real property. AB 920 would require business
consultants preparing a Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement to include an
“Airport in Vicinity” statement in its report.
AB 1717 “Omnibus
Transportation Bill” would:
a) Repeal two obsolete requirements: 1) Implement a "smart cockpit
instrument display", and 2) Channelization of airport applications for
federal capital improvement projects through the Department; b) Replace
Capital Improvement "Program" with "Plan"; and c) Allow the Department to
use nonfederal funds for the California Aviation System Plan's Policy and
Capital Improvement Plan Elements.
SB 593 (Ackerman): “Property Taxation: State
Assessment: Commercial Air Carrier Personal
Property”: Existing
law imposes taxes on commercial air carriers’ personal property in each
county; the carrier is defined as “a person that operates an aircraft for
any commercial purpose for compensation”. This bill would require, beginning
in the 2005-06 Fiscal Year and each year thereafter, the Board of
Equalization to assess the commercial air carriers’ personal property on a
statewide basis, and allocate the revenues to the tax rate area(s) in the
counties in which the property is located. The Senate Committee on
Appropriations’ staff analysis of SB 593 stated: Approximately $100
million is currently collected on the assessment of commercial aircraft
(for local property tax purposes).
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