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BOE delays vote on LEOP informational hearing; will return with detailed plan in November
Summary
Board members agreed Oct. 21 to defer a vote on scheduling a public informational hearing about the Legal Entity Ownership Program (LEOP) until the November meeting, when staff will present a proposed agenda and list of speakers for board review. CalTax warned that the board should avoid stepping into legislative policymaking.
The Board of Equalization agreed Oct. 21 not to schedule a December informational hearing on the Legal Entity Ownership Program (LEOP) today. Instead Vice Chair Lieber will bring a proposed public agenda and list of speakers to the board’s November meeting for a vote on whether to hold a December 16 hearing.
Vice Chair Lieber said the hearing would be brief and intended to explain how the BOE’s LEOP function operates, report on the success of the office’s examinations and demystify processes for constituents who ask whether businesses are paying their fair share of property tax. “This is a request to hold a brief hearing … to review some of the successes of the LEOP program,” Vice Chair Lieber said.
Several board members expressed concern the board must not stray into making or advocating legislation that would alter Proposition 13 or state law. Chairman Gaines and others said an informational hearing must stay within the BOE’s administrative oversight role. Chief Counsel Richard Moon advised that informational hearings about administration and interpretation of current law are within the board’s constitutional duties, but the board cannot conduct policy-making that belongs to the Legislature.
J.C. Lee of the California Taxpayers Association (CalTax) told the board the agenda’s draft language raised legislative issues — for example, a proposed rebuttable presumption — that would exceed the BOE’s authority and could politicize tax administration. He urged the board to focus agency resources on other administrative priorities if funding is limited.
Rather than vote today, the board instructed staff to return in November with a detailed, public “taste test” agenda that identifies topics and speakers for the proposed December hearing. Members said that public agenda will be considered in a public meeting and can be approved or rejected at that time.
Why it matters: LEOP examinations can affect when and how property is reassessed after changes in ownership by entities and may influence revenue distributions to local governments. The board’s decision to require a November briefing reflects sensitivity about the BOE’s scope and to ensure hearings remain administrative rather than legislative.
Next steps: Vice Chair Lieber will present a proposed agenda and list of speakers at the November meeting; the board will vote then whether to schedule a December informational hearing on LEOP.
