1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 5901 GREEN VALLEY CIRCLE 3 CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 7 8 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 9 APRIL 26, 2016 10 11 12 13 14 15 ITEM F 16 PUBLIC HEARINGS 17 ITEM F3 18 PROPERTY TAXPAYERS' BILL OF RIGHTS HEARINGS 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 REPORTED BY: Kathleen Skidgel 28 CSR NO. 9039 1 1 P R E S E N T 2 3 For the Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma, CPA 4 Chairwoman 5 Diane L. Harkey Vice Chair 6 Jerome E. Horton 7 Member 8 Sen. George Runner (Ret.) Member 9 Yvette Stowers 10 Appearing for Betty T. Yee, State Controller 11 (per Government Code Section 7.9) 12 Joann Richmond 13 Chief Board Proceedings 14 Division For Board of 15 Equalization Staff: Todd Gilman Taxpayers' Rights 16 Advocate 17 18 ---oOo--- 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 INDEX OF SPEAKERS 2 SPEAKER PAGE 3 Alvin Christman 6 4 5 ---oOo--- 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 1 5901 GREEN VALLEY CIRCLE 2 CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA 3 APRIL 26, 2016 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. MA: So that was the -- 6 MR. GILMAN: That was for business taxes. 7 MS. MA: -- Business Taxpayers' Bill of 8 Rights Hearing. 9 MR. GILMAN: Right. 10 MS. MA: And now we're going to hear the 11 Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights -- 12 MR. GILMAN: Right. 13 MS. MA: Item F3. Hold on. I think -- 14 hold on. I think Ms. Richmond -- 15 MR. RUNNER: We're transitioning. 16 MS. MA: -- has to announce it. 17 MS. RICHMOND: So our next item on the 18 agenda is Item F3, Property Taxpayers' Bill of 19 Rights Hearing. 20 MS. MA: Okay. Are there any taxpayers who 21 wish to come forward? 22 MS. RICHMOND: I believe we do have one. 23 MS. MA: All right. Property taxes. If 24 you can fill out a -- 25 MS. RICHMOND: He wasn't sure he wanted to 26 speak. 27 MS. MA: Oh, okay. 28 MR. CHRISTMAN: No, I just have a 4 1 question. 2 MR. GILMAN: Can I read into the record 3 what the hearings are about? 4 MS. MA: Yes. 5 Okay. Hold on. Just give everyone a 6 second to exit. 7 MR. GILMAN: Sorry about this. 8 MS. MA: That's okay. 9 Okay. Mr. Gilman. 10 MR. GILMAN: Okay. Good afternoon, 11 Chairwoman Ma and Members of the Board. Todd 12 Gilman, Taxpayers' Rights Advocate with the State 13 Board of Equalization. 14 This is the Property Taxes Taxpayer Bill of 15 Rights Hearing for Culver City, Tuesday, April 26, 16 2016, where individuals have the opportunity to 17 present their ideas, concerns and recommendations 18 regarding legislation, the quality of agency 19 services, and other issues related to the Board's 20 administration of its tax programs, including state 21 and county property tax programs and any issues 22 identified in the Taxpayers' Rights Advocate's 23 2014-2015 Annual Report. 24 So we have a speaker. And, sir, I don't 25 know if I -- I've received your name, but -- 26 MR. CHRISTMAN: Yeah. 27 MS. RICHMOND: Neither have we. 28 MR. GILMAN: Okay. Okay then. 5 1 MS. RICHMOND: He just decided that he 2 would speak. 3 MR. GILMAN: Okay. 4 MS. MA: Okay. Perhaps you can introduce 5 yourself for the record. 6 ---oOo--- 7 ALVIN CHRISTMAN 8 ---oOo--- 9 MR. CHRISTMAN: Yes. I'm Alvin Christman. 10 I live in Venice. 11 MS. MA: Okay. 12 MR. CHRISTMAN: And I'm concerned about my 13 property tax appeal, which is on May 17th in Marina 14 Del Rey. It's in Marina Del Rey. It's a 15 single-family dwelling that was constructed in 1990. 16 And now I've received back taxes for four years 17 regarding that construction. 18 They said they only went back four years 19 because that's all they're allowed to go back. I 20 said, "Well, whose fault is that?" And they said, 21 "Well, it's ours. But we're still allowed to go 22 back four years." 23 So I had to pay these tax -- 24 Is it on? 25 MS. MA: It's on. 26 MR. CHRISTMAN: So that's my concern, will 27 be on May 17th. 28 I thought I would come here just to get 6 1 some idea of what it would be like to face an 2 appeals board. That's all. 3 MR. GILMAN: Well, it's good practice. 4 So -- 5 MR. CHRISTMAN: Yeah. 6 MS. MA: I used to sit on the Assessment 7 Appeals Board in San Francisco, and it's not as 8 scary, I think, as our Board here. 9 MR. CHRISTMAN: Well, I mean, I didn't know 10 if I have to bring a lawyer. Do I have to bring a 11 lawyer? 12 MR. GILMAN: No, you don't. 13 MS. MA: No, you don't need to. 14 MR. GILMAN: We will work with the 15 taxpayer. We're talking about escape assessments is 16 what we're obviously talking about. 17 But I don't know who you're working with in 18 the LA County Assessor's Office, but we work with 19 Assessment Appeals Boards, the Clerks of the Boards 20 as well. I have a really skilled, trained person 21 that we can sit down with -- you can sit down 22 with -- and we can talk to you -- 23 MR. CHRISTMAN: Oh. 24 MR. GILMAN: -- about your property tax 25 issues. 26 MR. CHRISTMAN: That's just great. 27 MR. GILMAN: Okay? All right. 28 MR. CHRISTMAN: Today? 7 1 MR. GILMAN: Certainly. We can do it 2 today. 3 MR. CHRISTMAN: Oh, sure. 4 MS. MA: As soon as Mr. Gilman's done with 5 his hearing. 6 MR. GILMAN: Well, unless there's anybody 7 else that would like to come up and speak at the 8 Property Taxes Taxpayer Bill of Rights Hearings, we 9 have no written submissions. 10 MS. MA: No? Okay. 11 MR. GILMAN: That will conclude our hearing 12 for April 26, 2016. 13 MS. MA: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Gilman. 14 MR. GILMAN: Thank you. 15 MS. MA: Thank you for coming today. 16 ---oOo--- 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, Hearing Reporter for 8 the California State Board of Equalization certify 9 that on April 26, 2016 I recorded verbatim, in 10 shorthand, to the best of my ability, the 11 proceedings in the above-entitled hearing; that I 12 transcribed the shorthand writing into typewriting; 13 and that the preceding pages 1 through 8 constitute 14 a complete and accurate transcription of the 15 shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: May 2, 2016 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, CSR #9039 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 9