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Neil McCormick, CEO of CSDA, signed a joint letter with city and county counterparts, dated January 22, 2021, informing Governor Gavin Newsom and the leaders and members of the State Legislature of the consequences to essential local services if the impending April 10 deadline for local property tax payments were to be delayed by executive or legislative action. This joint letter was in response to efforts by business advocates to, among other things, temporarily delay the payment of property taxes via executive order.

Millions of families and businesses depend on essential services provided by special districts that rely on property tax revenue. A delay in receipt of these critical resources could jeopardize the reliable delivery of services, not to mention ongoing debt obligations that support the critical infrastructure that sustains our economy.

The joint statement by representatives of every type of local government urged the Governor to maintain local flexibility, whereby under current executive orders, county officials are able to consider waiving penalties on a case-by-case basis for specific hardships. Local government associations representing cities, counties, schools, tax collectors, and special districts were signatories of the letter, which can be viewed on CSDA’s Take Action Page.

In May of 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-61-20 related to delinquent property tax payment penalties and interest. This order followed up earlier statements by the Governor and counties regarding property tax relief. While they had earlier agreed to allow local jurisdictions to deal with genuine hardships on a case-by-case basis, there was not consensus on the flexibility of local tax collectors under existing statute. The May 2020 order addressed some of those issues.

The order waived certain statutes through May 6, 2021 that "… to the extent that it requires a tax collector to impose penalties, costs, or interest for the failure to pay taxes on property on the secured or unsecured roll, or to pay a supplemental bill, before the date and time such taxes became delinquent, and a tax collector shall cancel such penalties, costs, and interest provided all of the following conditions are satisfied:"

1. The property for which taxes in question is either a residential real property occupied by the taxpayer, or real property owned and operated by a taxpayer that qualifies as a small business;
2. The taxes owed on the property in question were not delinquent prior to March 4, 2020;
3. The taxpayer timely files a claim for relief in a form and manner prescribed by the tax collector; and
4. The taxpayer demonstrates to the satisfaction of the tax collector that the taxpayer has suffered economic hardship, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or government response to COVID-19.

The State’s existing agreement affords the ability to address hardships without devastating local services and infrastructure through a broad statewide deferral. CSDA will continue working with its city, county, and school counterparts to protect property tax funding for the essential services our members provide to communities throughout the California.