1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 450 N STREET 3 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 7 APRIL 30, 2019 8 9 10 ITEM K 11 OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS; 12 ITEM K1 13 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 REPORTED BY: Jillian M. Sumner 28 CSR NO. 13619 1 1 P R E S E N T 2 3 For the Board of Honorable Malia S. Cohen Equalization: Chair 4 Honorable Antonio Vazquez 5 Vice Chair 6 Honorable Ted Gaines First District 7 Honorable Mike Schaefer 8 Fourth District 9 Yvette Stowers Appearing for Betty T. 10 Yee, State Controller (per Government Code 11 Section 7.9) 12 For the Board of Brenda Fleming 13 Equalization Staff: Executive Director 14 Henry Nanjo Chief Counsel 15 Board Proceedings 16 Lisa Thompson Taxpayers' Rights Advocate 17 Mike Harris 18 Acting Chief State-Assessed Properties 19 Division 20 Toya Davis Clerk 21 Board Proceedings 22 ---oOo--- 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 450 N STREET 2 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 3 APRIL 30, 2019 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. DAVIS: Our next items are Item K 1-4, 6 Other Administrative Matters. 7 The first item is Item K1, the Executive 8 Director's Report by Ms. Fleming. 9 This item does not require a vote. 10 Thank you, Ms. Fleming. 11 MS. FLEMING: Good morning, Chair Cohen and 12 Honorable Members. 13 I'm Brenda Fleming, the Executive Director. 14 This month's report provides updates on some 15 of our operational priorities. A copy has been 16 provided for your reference, and the handout 17 material. And we're going to bring this up on the 18 screen also. 19 And as promised in previous discussions and 20 meetings, a time line has been included. 21 Members, I'll give you a moment to pull that 22 up. You should have the materials before you, 23 Members. So I'll proceed once she's pulling it up. 24 Members, this is a document that really is a 25 listing of all the operational priorities. Again, 26 including a timeframe with a little bit of 27 description on each. 28 I won't speak to each item in specific 3 1 detail, but allow me to highlight some of the 2 following items. 3 Members, the Board has a number of very 4 important duties. One of which is to set the unitary 5 values of state-assessed properties for the 2019 lien 6 date. 7 For reference for those listening, this is 8 on Item 1 on our list. 9 This item is scheduled for the May 29th 10 Board Meeting to assist you, Members, with the value 11 setting. The State-Assessed Properties Division 12 later, at this point, by Mr. Mike Harris, will, over 13 the next few weeks, spend some time with you to 14 provide the necessary value-setting material and 15 training. 16 You'll receive more detail starting this 17 week. We'll start to push out more of that detail to 18 make sure you are fully prepared to engage in the 19 discussions and participate in that value-setting 20 role and responsibility. 21 Members, continuing to your -- the timeline, 22 Item No. 2 deals with a Web site compliance. 23 Assembly Bill 434 is the State Web accessibility 24 legislation. It was passed in 2017. 25 In summary, this law requires each agency to 26 post on their Web site a signed certification that 27 the agency's Web site is in compliance with specified 28 accessibility standards. And that work must be done 4 1 by July 1, 2019. 2 The BOE Web site will be updated to comply 3 with this requirement. Staff are making every effort 4 to make all of our material compliant by July 1st. 5 Any material that cannot be made compliant 6 by this date will be temporarily removed from the Web 7 site until it's remediated. And it will be 8 remidiated timely, shortly thereafter. 9 Any noncompliant material will be made 10 available in other formats. So if someone needs the 11 information that's not -- well, the compliance 12 activities are ensuing, we can make that available 13 hard copy or electronic as requested. 14 Staff are informing the county assessors, 15 the state assessees, and the public to help minimize 16 any impact during this conversion. We'll keep you 17 informed of the progress. 18 And, again, Members, this is going on in all 19 the state agencies. So we're all in the same active 20 project at this point. 21 Members, if I can draw your attention to the 22 third item, which is our 2017-2018 annual report. 23 The report is being drafted and is on schedule to be 24 published by August 1st, 2019. 25 Copies will be provided for your preview 26 prior to its release, of course. Give you an 27 opportunity to get some exposure to it. 28 Moving on to the fourth item on the list, 5 1 our Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Hearing is proposed for 2 the August 27, 2019 Board Meeting. 3 Ms. Lisa Thompson, our Taxpayer Rights 4 Advocate, will provide more detail over the next 5 month or so in preparation for this important 6 meeting. And we typically have it in the August 7 timeframe. 8 Moving on to No. 6. I'm pleased to report 9 on the completion of a new IT system for Legal Entity 10 Ownership Program, commonly referred to as LEOP. 11 The system streamlines processing of filings 12 that allow for easier tracking and access to the LEOP 13 information. The new system is currently being 14 evaluated by staff who are providing feedback on 15 fixes and improvements, etc. 16 Moving on, Members, to No. 8, the 17 County-Assessed Properties Division, staff are 18 developing guidance on affordable housing in 19 preparation for pending legislation, which is Senate 20 Bill 196. 21 This bill is included on Mr. Durham's weekly 22 legislative update report. We'll have more 23 discussions about this in upcoming meetings. 24 I'm sure you agree that the issue of 25 affordable housing is an important item for our 26 state. 27 If I may, Members, move to No. 9, the 28 County-Assessed Properties Division. Staff are also 6 1 reviewing the impact of the potential law changes 2 from the Certificated Aircraft Bill, which is 3 Senate Bill 791. 4 Their review will determine their need for 5 regulation, forms and guidance. If passed, the 6 operative date for this bill will be January 1st, 7 2020. 8 If you will allow me, Members, I'd like to 9 pause to thank the staff and the management team for 10 all the work that they're doing. These are the 11 operational priorities. So it's very -- there's -- 12 obviously it's significant additional 13 responsibilities, but these are the ones that we just 14 wanted to highlight for this month. 15 And, again, I just want to thank them for 16 their good work, and their engagement in activities. 17 And I appreciate your support of their ability to do 18 that work for us. Which is very much appreciated as 19 you all are hearing from the county assessors and 20 from the state assessees, etc. 21 If I may, Members, I'll move to the next 22 slide. And moving onto No. 10, which is our BOE 23 Strategic Plan. 24 Members, our last strategic plan was 25 developed to cover the 2015 to 2020 timeframe. As a 26 result, obviously of AB 102, a new strategy is needed 27 to help us rebuild and modernize our agency. 28 The management team is engaged in the 7 1 strategic planning process. And we're in the initial 2 stages. This plan that we're proposing will cover 3 the 2019 to 2022 timeframe. And it is entitled, as 4 you've heard me refer to before, "Rebuilding and 5 Modernizing for our Future." 6 It contains four goals at this phase of its 7 development. 8 Goal one, Members, is to invest in our 9 employees. And you've heard me say over the last few 10 months how important and how valued our state 11 resources are. 12 Goal two is to restore our agency 13 infrastructure. 14 Goal three is expanding our customer 15 service. 16 Goal four is improving operational 17 efficiencies. 18 And, Members, what we'll do is drill down 19 this information. Of course you'll get copies of it 20 as we're developing it. And then we'll start to 21 focus, over the next few weeks, over the additional 22 elements, which is providing the guiding principles, 23 giving more strategic objectives. And as that 24 information is developed, we'll continue to keep you 25 informed. 26 Our intent, Members, is to have the 27 strategic plan finalized by October 2019. 28 If I could draw your attention to No. 12, 8 1 which is the Office Relocation Project. 2 With respect to this Office Relocation 3 Project, there's no new information to report this 4 month. 5 As you know, we have been in constant 6 communication with the Department of Finance and the 7 Department of General Services. And right now we're 8 pending a response from the Department of Finance. 9 And we'll follow up again this week, and, of course, 10 keep you updated of any significant changes. 11 If I can draw you to No. 13, which is our HR 12 delegation. We continue to work towards restoring 13 our HR delegation. This effort is still in progress. 14 There's nothing significant to report at this time 15 this month. 16 No. 14, which we've talked about over the 17 last few months also, is our recruitments. And they 18 are actively in progress and ongoing. And at this 19 point, we report the progress is favorable. 20 Finally, Members, our opposition to ACA 2 21 and AB 576 continue. And as you know on AB 576, we 22 heard that at the Assembly Rev. and Tax Committee on 23 the April 22nd, it is scheduled to be taken up at the 24 May 1st Assembly Appropriations Committee. 25 Mr. Durham will continue to actively monitor 26 that, and keep us informed of any updates or 27 transitions. 28 That concludes this month's report. Being 9 1 sensitive to timing, because we do have Ms. Leslie 2 Davis, our guest, who wants to present to us also. 3 MS. COHEN: I have a couple questions about 4 your presentation. 5 One in particular has to do with HR 6 delegation. You said it's in progress; no 7 significant updates to report this month. 8 When you say "no significant," does that 9 mean that there's insignificant updates? Is there 10 some movement? 11 MS. FLEMING: Yeah. So not as much 12 movement, as we didn't get as much traction this 13 month. Honestly, my office has been a little busy on 14 a couple of other items. And so we just have not 15 had -- for the tasks that are listed for us to move 16 through, we just haven't gotten as much traction in 17 getting those done. 18 So we'll commit to now -- 19 MS. COHEN: Which items has your office been 20 focused on? 21 MS. FLEMING: Recently, the majority of the 22 time has been focused on our recruitments, No. 1. 23 And then secondly, of course, engaging in the 24 hearings. 25 MS. COHEN: I didn't -- I didn't see that on 26 here. How is recruitment going? 27 MS. FLEMING: Recruitments is on the list. 28 It's No. 14. 10 1 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 2 MS. FLEMING: And, again, there were -- 3 MS. COHEN: You just said -- 4 MS. FLEMING: We're definitely making 5 progress and ongoing. 6 MS. COHEN: -- making progress and 7 ongoing. 8 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 9 MS. COHEN: So -- 10 MS. FLEMING: And a lot of those -- I'm 11 sorry, Chair Cohen. 12 A lot of those are -- we're at the point 13 we're making offers. And so that's part of a 14 confidential process. And so we're just careful -- 15 MS. COHEN: I'm not asking about the offers. 16 How many vacancies do you have? 17 MS. FLEMING: Currently there's about 47 18 vacancies. 19 MS. COHEN: Okay. And how many offers are 20 you making? Is it 47? 21 MS. FLEMING: Not quite 47. 22 MS. COHEN: Okay. How many? 23 MS. FLEMING: I don't have that number in 24 front of me, ma'am. 25 MS. COHEN: Okay. And can you -- can you 26 bring some more specificity around the office 27 relocation project? 28 MS. FLEMING: Yeah. At this point, we have 11 1 been in communications with the Department of 2 Finance. And the discussion has been around -- the 3 AB 102 legislation has shared with us the need to 4 create the firewall between the elected Board Members 5 and staff. 6 And so in that presentation to them, there 7 were two items that we raised. One, just the 8 consistency of having Board Members in the downtown 9 location. But also the collocation of our Board 10 Members with the staff. And especially with the 11 layout that's being proposed, we thought was 12 inconsistent with the law. 13 So that information has been presented to 14 the Department of Finance. Department of Finance, of 15 course, has a role to weigh in on leases. Department 16 of Finance has agreed to allow us to proceed with 17 leasing for the District Office. And that activity 18 is in progress. 19 But as it relates to the Sacramento office 20 locations, they are weighing in -- according to the 21 law, weighing in with their authority to decide if we 22 can proceed with leases for the Board Members to keep 23 you in the downtown location. And we're just pending 24 their response. 25 MS. COHEN: How are things going for the 26 District Office in San Diego? 27 MS. FLEMING: There is definitely lots of -- 28 there was activity going on. The office has 12 1 recently -- my office has been working with 2 Mr. Schaefer's office to do some recent site surveys. 3 There was an initial site survey that was identified, 4 but I think the offices maybe found it not quite 5 satisfactory. 6 So we're proceeding to look at some more 7 temporary, originally some hotel-like space. Which 8 we think we might have a solution that might work. 9 In my conversations with the office, I think we might 10 have a solution. 11 MS. COHEN: Mr. Schaefer, from your 12 perspective, how have things been going? 13 MR. SCHAEFER: Oh, I think they're going 14 well. Our Director's making a lot of progress. And 15 my Chief of Staff has put a lot of time into it. 16 MS. COHEN: Excellent. 17 MR. SCHAEFER: And they're very 18 accommodating to us in San Diego now. 19 MS. COHEN: Excellent. I'm really happy to 20 hear that. Thank you very much. 21 MS. FLEMING: We do have some tasks left to 22 do, ma'am. But -- 23 MS. COHEN: Do you have time lines 24 associated with those tasks? I believe in time lines 25 with tasks. 26 MS. FLEMING: I appreciate that. 27 I don't have that information in front of 28 me. They were just some recent site surveys. But 13 1 I'm happy to present that information to the Board, 2 and to Mr. Schaefer's office. 3 MS. COHEN: Okay. I want to go back to a 4 couple more points. 5 Member training, what -- what is -- what's 6 on tap for us? 7 MS. FLEMING: So there was a schedule that 8 we published earlier, and I'll be happy to provide 9 that again. 10 And what we're looking at is some categories 11 of training that deal with specifically the tax 12 programs. There's definitely just, in the property 13 tax programs, a number of topics that we'd like to 14 cover for you. 15 In addition, there's some administrative 16 training that we'd like to cover. So it allows us to 17 go through travel expense claims, and just a lot of 18 the administrative activities, your HR processes, so 19 that we're -- the Board is fully informed about, you 20 know, what the state processes are. 21 So we've been working with our staff to 22 prepare the material. Some of the training is going 23 to be starting, in fact, between this week and next 24 week for some of your offices. Specifically, for 25 example, for the value -- valuation setting process. 26 And, again, we'll do more with HR, with 27 travel expense claims, and with other aspects of the 28 tax administration activities. 14 1 MS. COHEN: Okay. Thank you. 2 MS. FLEMING: And so we'll work with the 3 individual offices based on the Members' availability 4 and your schedules to make sure that that's covered. 5 We just want to make sure that we're fully 6 supporting you to be able to fully be aware of all 7 the issues, and to serve successfully in your roles. 8 MS. COHEN: All right. And then I want to 9 go back to Item 10 about the State Board of 10 Equalization Strategic Planning. 11 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 12 MS. COHEN: This is very important to 13 Member Vazquez. He's been talking about this since 14 January. 15 Member Vazquez, how are -- from your 16 perspective, I don't want to -- one, see how things 17 are going from your perspective; and, two, offer you 18 an opportunity to ask the Executive Director any 19 questions that you may have about this plan. 20 MR. VAZQUEZ: Well, I mean, if you're asking 21 me, I think it's moving slow. But I don't think 22 it's -- no fault of staff. 23 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 24 MR. VAZQUEZ: I think our problem is that, 25 you know, since we've came into office, something 26 like nine, maybe ten weeks now, it seems like we're 27 playing defense. We haven't had the opportunity to 28 really play offense yet. 15 1 And I'm hoping after tomorrow things will 2 slow down a little bit after this hearing, and we can 3 get back on track. Because I've had some 4 conversation with staff, and I think they're ready to 5 roll. It's just that -- I think we've been having to 6 use them for their time to probably do things that 7 really I didn't plan on doing right at the start. 8 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 9 MS. FLEMING: Indeed. Thank you. 10 MS. STOWERS: Madam Chair. 11 MS. COHEN: Yes, ma'am. 12 MS. STOWERS: I actually have a couple of 13 comments as well. 14 Thank you, Executive Director, for providing 15 this report. 16 Item 13 and 14, HR delegation and 17 recruitments. 18 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 19 MS. STOWERS: Clarification. These items, 20 although very important to the Board -- 21 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 22 MS. STOWERS: -- are they -- I don't believe 23 that -- especially recruitment and hiring -- are 24 within our preview. We do not hire, recruit civil 25 service staff. 26 MS. FLEMING: So to the degree -- so there's 27 two categories. Madam Deputy Controller, the two 28 categories is there's the recruitments that occur 16 1 within the operational side of the agency. So tax 2 program administrative staff. 3 So -- but also in fairness to the Board, the 4 Board also, each of the Equalization District Members 5 has four civil service positions. So to the extent 6 that any of those positions are vacant, and their 7 individual offices, they do engage with that level of 8 recruitment. 9 So we do separate. So clearly, Board 10 Members, you have direct authority to focus on the 11 recruitments in your Equalization Districts in your 12 office, your office staff. But there is a separation 13 by AB 102 to separate the operational activities. 14 So any of the staff that work for the 15 agency, for my staff, those recruitments are handled 16 by my management team. 17 MS. STOWERS: Okay. So as far as the 18 vacancies for -- for operational, I think you said 19 you think it was 47. 20 MS. FLEMING: About 47. And that includes 21 actually a few of them for the Board Members. That's 22 the total for the agency. 23 MS. STOWERS: I'm just curious, kind of 24 reflecting back a year or two or three years ago, the 25 vacancy for BOE 1.0 was a major issue. And -- 26 MS. COHEN: Just for clarification for those 27 of us that weren't around for BOE 1.0 -- 28 MS. STOWERS: Prior to AB 102, when the 17 1 Board of Equalization consisted of property tax, 2 sales tax, special taxes and fees. 3 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 4 MS. STOWERS: That is -- 5 MS. FLEMING: Approximately 4,800 staff. 6 MS. STOWERS: -- 4,800 staff. And that was 7 what we consider as BOE 1.0, pre AB 102. 8 And so there was an issue with vacancies. 9 And our stakeholders, Legislators was asking for a 10 vacancy report. 11 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 12 MS. STOWERS: Are we still required to 13 submit a vacancy report now that we are BOE 2.0? BOE 14 focusing on the constitutional functions. 15 MS. FLEMING: So at this point, we are not. 16 That language was in AB 97, which is the Budget Act 17 of 2017. 18 The Budget Act of 2018, that information was 19 not included. So we still, obviously, as a 20 management tool, I get monthly updates on vacancies. 21 But we're no longer required in the Budget Act. That 22 is one of the provisions that was removed. 23 And so in talking to Finance, they're 24 comfortable with, as long as you're managing it, 25 we're fine. 26 MS. STOWERS: Okay. Perfect. That's good. 27 I'm glad that Finance is happy. 28 My other question deals with the BOE 18 1 Strategic Plan. A couple of things. 2 I believe you identified four goals. I was 3 trying to write them down, but I didn't get them all. 4 So I would appreciate if you could restate those 5 goals. 6 And then I just kind of need some 7 clarification. Are you looking -- are you 8 considering this to be a strategic plan for 9 operational needs? 10 And then clarification to Board Member 11 Vazquez, are you seeing -- if this is operational 12 needs, are you also seeing this to be a strategic 13 plan for you-all's elected official needs, and what 14 you guys want to pursue? 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: My primary focus is the Board 16 itself. Because all four of us being new, and 17 including yourself at least with us, is to get a 18 better understanding where there's commonality and 19 consensus among the Board. 20 But we obviously can't do that privately. 21 We have to do it out in public. So that's why I was 22 pushing for us to -- whether we call this a retreat 23 or we call it just a separate meeting, or an 24 additional meeting to our Board Meeting or an 25 extension, I just would like to see us move forward 26 on that as soon as possible. So then we can 27 start really -- since this is a whole new area, you 28 know, the whole property tax issue, we can dive into 19 1 a little bit. 2 I've had some real good conversations with 3 several of the assessors throughout the state. Not 4 only in my district, but in other districts. And 5 they're ready to roll up their sleeves and 6 participate with us. And I think we can do a lot to 7 assist them. 8 But I don't want to get ahead of that. I 9 want us to, at least on our end of it, at least be on 10 the same page. So when I speak to them and try to 11 commit to them on addressing some of their issues, 12 I'm speaking on behalf of whatever our consensus is 13 from this Board. 14 MS. STOWERS: Thank you for that 15 clarification. 16 Ms. Fleming, could you restate your four 17 goals again? 18 MS. FLEMING: Sure. It'd be my pleasure to. 19 And I will, of course, provide this information to 20 you also. 21 So goal one, invest in our employees. 22 Goal two, restore our agency infrastructure. 23 Goal three, expand our customer service. 24 And goal four, improve our operational 25 efficiencies. 26 MS. STOWERS: Thank you. I appreciate that. 27 So with those four goals, I imagine that 28 this body will be talking about how those four goals 20 1 fit into the elected Board Members' strategic plan. 2 I just needed -- I was trying -- I was having a hard 3 time connecting the dots. 4 MR. VAZQUEZ: No problem. 5 MS. STOWERS: So thank you. If we want to 6 talk about it again later, at least I can start 7 thinking about it. 8 Thank you. 9 Thank you, Madam Chair. 10 MS. COHEN: Of course. 11 So in -- just as a follow up for this Board, 12 the strategic plan, what -- where do we go from here 13 when May rolls around, and we have the May meeting? 14 I mean, I guess I'm looking for something 15 that has a little bit more -- more depth, more meat 16 to it. 17 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 18 MS. COHEN: These are still very high-level 19 plans and ideas that haven't been fully fleshed out 20 yet. So could you guide me along with your thinking? 21 MS. FLEMING: Absolutely. Thank you for 22 your question, ma'am. 23 So we're at the point where we're in the 24 first phase of the development phase. Which is 25 really to identify what the frame is. 26 So when we have discussions about our needs 27 post AB 102, it -- it left us with gaps. And we've 28 talked about that over the last few months. 21 1 And so my analogy is like an earthquake. 2 The earth is pretty shaken, you know, buildings have 3 toppled, etc. Just as an analogy. 4 And so our focus, and I think you've heard 5 me describe this in prior meetings about rebuilding 6 and re-modernizing. 7 So in the loss, in the gaps that were, you 8 know, the outcomes of AB 102, we need to first 9 identify those as our top priorities in order to just 10 get a solid foundation rebuilt or reestablished. 11 And so that, in this case, is just going 12 through and really looking at restoring our agency 13 infrastructure. When one focuses on that agency 14 infrastructure, we cannot do that without investing 15 in our employees. 16 And so as we've talked about over the last 17 few months is really focusing on our recruitments and 18 our hiring, and all the things that come with making 19 us whole. Training; a number of things are there. 20 We have -- just as an example, under 21 investing in our employees, we have, as you've heard 22 us say before, we lost a significant number of people 23 through retirement recently. And that drain for us 24 was huge. 25 And so we're finding out through the 26 recruitments, even though we're able to fill 27 vacancies, the vacancies are being filled by staff 28 that don't -- I mean, the gap between the newer staff 22 1 coming in, and the learning curve to get them to 2 where we want to be, requires us to really, you know, 3 revisit our training program, and how we invest and 4 support them in terms of succession planning, 5 mentoring. 6 So that's just a simple example of some of 7 the things that we need to do in terms of investing 8 in those employees and restoring the agency 9 infrastructure. 10 Our agency infrastructure deals with things 11 like we have systems that perhaps have not been 12 viewed and touched, and processees that haven't been 13 revisited in quite some time. 14 And so in some cases, to the degree that, 15 you know, there is -- those are appropriate, we want 16 to look at some process re-engineering, and just 17 revisit how we do things. Including, for example, we 18 look at our Board Proceedings process. Which you're 19 actively engaged in. 20 A lot of the process that we use is normal 21 according to, you know, parliamentary procedures, 22 etc. But there's a lot of what happens in our agenda 23 and our history that really is -- probably some of 24 the residuals are coming over from when we had sales 25 and use tax. So one of the things that we want to 26 look at is just reviewing those kinds of processes. 27 MS. COHEN: So you said phase one was to 28 develop the frame. What is phase two? 23 1 MS. FLEMING: So phase two, then, as I 2 mentioned earlier, is those additional elements 3 looking at the guiding principles, and then drilling 4 down on the strategic objectives. 5 MS. COHEN: And when -- when does that work 6 happen? 7 MS. FLEMING: So -- and that's the phase 8 we're in now. So we've got the four. And so over 9 the next couple of months, so for May and June, we'll 10 be continuing to drill down on that focus. 11 Our overall objective, ma'am, is to try to 12 have this ready to go by the October 2019 13 timeframe. 14 MS. COHEN: When you say "ready to go," you 15 mean -- 16 MS. FLEMING: Have it -- 17 MS. COHEN: -- have a -- have a public 18 meeting? 19 MS. FLEMING: So for our strategic plan, 20 historically, what happens is, in the BOE 1.0, we 21 would go through the strategic planning process 22 internally, what's within the agency. 23 MS. COHEN: Which is what you're currently 24 going through right now. 25 MS. FLEMING: Exactly. So that's the 26 traditional, normal process. 27 And then following that process, we would 28 come back when we've got it in a more finalized 24 1 state. Right now it's just in drafts and outlines, 2 etc., as we're working through the process. And we 3 want to get more of our staff involved in the process 4 also. 5 We would typically, then, bring that back to 6 the Board to present. So that you have exposure to 7 it. So you'll see draft copies of it, get an 8 opportunity to review it. 9 Again, what's different for us now, 10 honestly, under AB 102, is the fact that we've got 11 the legislation sort of -- you know, again, has that 12 firewall. So this is more on the operational end. 13 But there should be, to the point I think 14 the Deputy Controller was raising as a question, 15 there still should be that connection to the 16 strategic discussion that I think Mr. Vazquez is 17 teeing up, so that you have nexus. 18 So when we talk about restoring our agency 19 infrastructure, and we're looking at those processes 20 and systems, clearly that process, many of those 21 processes and systems are going to be tax-program 22 related, and how we deliver those functions and 23 services to county assessors and state assessees. So 24 we want to make sure there's a nexus so you can see 25 the connection to what we're doing. 26 And then that platform really allows you, as 27 you as Equalization District Members are working your 28 district, it gives you that basis to then launch the 25 1 more statewide-focused activities, like affordable 2 housing, you know, etc., etc. Maybe the larger 3 items. 4 But then when you're exposing and getting 5 involved in those statewide initiatives, we are able, 6 then, to be able to sustain the work that would come 7 out of that process. 8 MS. COHEN: How many phases does your 9 strategic planning process have? 10 MS. FLEMING: I don't have a specific number 11 of phases. But clearly would be the planning phase, 12 adding the detail, which we'll be dealing with over 13 the next few months, the review and editing process, 14 our normal clearance process to make sure 15 grammatically, sentence structure refinement is in 16 process, and then going through the draft of the 17 publications, and then review and publishing. 18 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. In years past what has 19 happened? I mean, you've -- I've read your -- the 20 previous Board's, I guess the most recent strategic 21 plan. And it's actually a very solid plan. 22 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 23 MS. COHEN: Do you envision deviating from 24 that plan or incorporating it? I'm just -- I just 25 want to know what's going to be the difference? 26 MS. FLEMING: Right. Right. 27 The significant difference is it will be 28 smaller, clearly. Because that plan was the 2015 to 26 1 2020 plan, I think is the dates on that one. 2 And in that plan it also had elements that 3 were sales and use tax oriented. 4 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 5 MS. FLEMING: But just to note, Members, 6 that plan, if you review the title, is Strategic 7 Management Plan. 8 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 9 MS. FLEMING: And the challenge there was 10 because there was -- and Ms. Stowers may have some 11 comment in history on this as a part of sitting on 12 the dais, the -- there was -- we didn't get Board 13 approval on the last version of it. 14 MS. COHEN: You said -- I'm sorry. You said 15 you did not? 16 MS. FLEMING: We did not get Board -- it was 17 not fully adopted by the Board. And we can follow up 18 on that conversation at perhaps a later time. 19 But as a result of that, we, operationally, 20 still needed to have a strategic plan. And so 21 consistent with that summer model, we really start to 22 focus on that plan as something that we use as a part 23 of our day to day, you know, guide, if you will. 24 And so this time it's -- the law sort of 25 separates it. The last strategic plan was, with 26 intent, renamed the Strategic Management Plan 27 compared to the BOE Strategy. 28 MS. COHEN: Okay. 27 1 One last question, and it relates to 2 Mr. Vazquez's office and his interest on the 3 strategic plan process. 4 Where does -- where -- where does your work 5 interface with his work or our work? 6 MS. FLEMING: Exactly. 7 MS. COHEN: Where -- where in the phases? 8 Is it in October? Is it in the editing process? I'm 9 just trying to visualize. 10 MS. FLEMING: Sure. Yeah. No, it's a good 11 question. Thank you. 12 So as we get -- I'd like to get it more 13 finalized for you. I mean, we're in the early stages 14 of drafting the phases. And there's a little bit of 15 a bookmark I'd like to put there. Because when we 16 had the prior year strategic plan, the management 17 team, the leadership team that was involved with that 18 had more experience with it. 19 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 20 MS. FLEMING: So, again, we've lost a lot of 21 people. And so we're making sure that we've got an 22 opportunity to do some succession planning and 23 involving some of the staff that have never been 24 involved in it before. So I'd like to get them 25 involved in it just as a bookmark, and welcome their 26 feedback. Because that's our going-forward 27 generation. 28 But once we've got that final -- a little 28 1 bit more finalized detail, and it's crafted where we 2 can actually get a -- a -- a copy of it so that it's 3 cohesive, then at that point then we can start to 4 have conversations and share that information with 5 you. 6 Because it's going to play, as I mentioned 7 earlier, I think it'll play an important fundamental 8 foundational level for you so that, you know, as 9 you're talking about the statewide issues, how to 10 best move forward with that. 11 MS. COHEN: Okay. 12 The other items that were on this -- on 13 your -- on your operational priorities, county 14 assessor to flight aircraft, that Senate Bill 791, 15 we're going to talk about that -- 16 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. 17 MS. COHEN: -- as we move forward. We're 18 also talking about community land trusts a little bit 19 later. 20 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. 21 MS. COHEN: The county assessment surveys, I 22 think we're also going to cover that. 23 I want to go back to the Taxpayer Rights 24 Advocate hearing and taxpayer education. 25 So from what I understand is that the -- 26 there's a hearing that's going to be proposed for 27 August 27th according to your notes, right? 28 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. 29 1 MS. COHEN: And I was wondering, is there 2 any work that needs to be done as we lead up and get 3 into this hearing August 27th? 4 Perhaps you could provide a little context 5 around that. 6 MS. FLEMING: I can. I'm going to look -- I 7 think Ms. Thompson is here with me. And she's 8 driving that, and can maybe give a little bit of 9 history on what happens at those annual meetings. 10 MS. COHEN: Oh, great. Thank you. 11 Hello, Ms. Thompson. 12 MS. THOMPSON: Hello. 13 So in advance of the August meeting, what 14 the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office has to do is 15 basically develop material and work with forms and 16 publication of CDTFA, to print the material and 17 publish it, so we can notify taxpayers basically of 18 the hearing and their opportunity to come and present 19 before the Board. 20 What happens is once the material is 21 printed, then the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office 22 works with the mail room to distribute it to 23 different local agencies. All 58 county assessors 24 receive it. Fifty-eight tax collectors receive it. 25 We also send it to the clerks of the Board so the 26 Appeals Boards may have it. And then they post it in 27 public areas. 28 We also publish the material, or post it to 30 1 our Web site, so that taxpayers are aware of that. 2 And so that's kind of a large part of it. 3 And then obviously update our Web site to 4 describe the upcoming hearing, so that we're aware of 5 how they can present the material and coordination -- 6 MS. COHEN: Ms. Thompson, may I ask a 7 question? 8 MS. THOMPSON: Uh-huh. 9 MS. COHEN: In previous years -- you've 10 obviously done this many times before, had these 11 types of hearings; is that correct? 12 MS. THOMPSON: They're held annually 13 according to the Bill of Rights, yes. 14 MS. COHEN: That's what I thought. 15 Have you ever gathered any feedback from 16 these hearings? I'm just thinking of how we can 17 incorporate some of the feedback to improve the 18 hearings so that everyone is getting something out of 19 it. 20 Oftentimes -- sometimes we come into these 21 meetings, we paint a very rosy picture. I'm looking 22 to continue to increase our efficiency as an 23 organization and ensure that we're producing 24 documents that are continued to be helpful. 25 Things change, technologies change, people's 26 moods and attitudes change. And I'm just wondering 27 how, if at all, the -- we can -- additional things 28 that we can make to this hearing, if you have any 31 1 suggestions. 2 MS. THOMPSON: Sure. 3 So what happens at the hearing is -- so 4 speakers may come and present on different topics. 5 And oftentimes they have already been working with 6 the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office. 7 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 8 MS. THOMPSON: Some are not. Which then we 9 would advise them to do so. 10 But following the hearing, what we do is we 11 kind of post information to our Web site to describe 12 the actions that were taken in response to the 13 speakers. And so there are pages that are there and 14 describe where the video is for the Board Meeting. 15 So for the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Hearing, 16 it's actually part of the Board Meeting. And so we 17 link to the YouTube video where somebody can look at 18 that and read it. 19 Also to the minutes, if a speaker presents 20 material -- written material to Board Proceedings at 21 the time of the meeting, then that actually is posted 22 to the minutes. So any documentation that somebody 23 submitted would be there. So that's available to the 24 public. 25 And one example of something that was 26 presented to the Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office was 27 actually the -- kind of the assessment appeal process 28 that has been ongoing. So we describe on our Web 32 1 site one of the responses is to the action was that 2 the Property Tax Department engaged in an interested 3 parties process. So -- 4 MS. STOWERS: Madam Chair. 5 MS. COHEN: Yes, Ms. Stowers. 6 MS. STOWERS: Thank you. 7 Ms. Thompson, clarification. 8 When someone does present an issue when 9 doing this annual hearing, by statute are you not 10 required to respond in writing by a particular 11 deadline? 12 MS. THOMPSON: There is no requirement. 13 MS. STOWERS: There is no requirement for 14 property tax? 15 MS. THOMPSON: No. And technically with 16 Bill of Rights for property taxes, that hearing 17 actually is to discuss items that are in the most 18 recent taxpayer annual Bill of Rights. However, we 19 have kind of included any comments a speaker might 20 have on something that they've been working with our 21 office on as well, even though it is not in our 22 annual report. 23 MS. STOWERS: That's very interesting. 24 Madam Chair, I think -- I think I want to 25 dig a little further on this. Because I think it's 26 really important, as you were eluding to, that when a 27 taxpayer takes time to present their issue, whether 28 it's by statute or by policy, we should be providing 33 1 them with a response in writing to their concern. 2 And the Board should be able to have the opportunity 3 to see that response. And then it should be followed 4 up with some action if action is required. 5 MS. THOMPSON: Yeah. 6 MS. STOWERS: So I'm a little disturbed. 7 I know another board, by statute, they are 8 required to respond. So this is -- this is very, 9 extremely concerning. 10 MS. THOMPSON: So let me go ahead and 11 clarify -- 12 MS. COHEN: Ms. Stowers, what do you 13 propose? 14 MS. STOWERS: I will -- I will champion this 15 for myself if you guys are okay with it. Let me read 16 the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as it relates to property 17 tax and reflect, review some of the prior taxpayer 18 rights reports that I know you do prepare, and see 19 where there are gaps. And then present to you all my 20 findings and some recommendations. 21 Because we really, really, really, really 22 should be actively responding to any concern that a 23 taxpayer may have. 24 MS. THOMPSON: So if I could -- may add some 25 information. 26 MS. COHEN: Of course. 27 MS. THOMPSON: So the question was whether, 28 you know, it required a response by the TRA, and it 34 1 does not. But what does occur after this meeting is 2 we do work with presenters. So letters are drafted 3 specifically to them. They are not posted to the Web 4 site -- to the presenter. 5 And then we have followed up in several 6 occasions, actually, with a memo from the Taxpayer 7 Rights Advocate to each of the Board Members kind of 8 identifying the resolution to that. 9 So we do write letters to the taxpayers kind 10 of outlining what was -- what the action was taken. 11 But it's not required. But we do do that. 12 MS. STOWERS: Thank you for that 13 clarification. I just want to make sure. I really 14 would like to investigate. I just want to make sure 15 that no one is overlooked. 16 MS. THOMPSON: Mm-hm. 17 MS. STOWERS: If someone presented an issue 18 to us, we really should know that action was taken. 19 MS. FLEMING: And if I may -- 20 MS. STOWERS: I really think that even the 21 responses to that taxpayer -- 22 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 23 MS. STOWERS: -- should be posted to our Web 24 site so that anyone can look at it and know what the 25 response was. Because that's the way of educating 26 the public. 27 MS. COHEN: Thank you. 28 Ms. Fleming, I think you -- 35 1 MS. FLEMING: I just wanted to thank you, 2 Ms. Thompson, for offering that comment. 3 I just want to, for the record, we're not -- 4 and Ms. Thompson's office is not remiss in any way, 5 shape or form in the duty to make sure that we're 6 engaging the taxpayer. 7 So the bodywork that's on her desk is pretty 8 extensive. And so we're not remised by statute. It 9 doesn't necessarily require it. But she is actively 10 involved. 11 And on a regular basis she and her staff are 12 actively involved in communicating with taxpayers, 13 responding to taxpayers, and even sharing that 14 information internally. 15 So to the extent that there's a taxpayer 16 that has an issue, she does work with the management 17 team to examine what improvements should we -- should 18 we take a look at as a result of it. 19 So I just wanted to acknowledge the work 20 that's being done in her office. 21 MS. COHEN: Great. And I think that what 22 Ms. Stowers is proposing or suggesting is 23 actually -- sounds like it's in line. We just need 24 to codify it and publicize it. It sounds like the 25 work is already being done. 26 MS. FLEMING: Exactly. 27 MS. COHEN: The acknowledgments are being 28 done. So it should be fairly simple -- 36 1 MS. STOWERS: It should be simple, yeah. 2 MS. COHEN: -- in ensuring that we do that. 3 And just so I can echo what I'm hearing is 4 that basically whether it's in the statute or a 5 policy of this body, that when someone has a concern 6 or a complaint or anything, that we are showing 7 written response. 8 MS. STOWERS: Yes. 9 MS. COHEN: And that, in itself, would also 10 educate. And FAQs almost. People would be able go 11 back and see questions that they -- that they maybe 12 themselves have that may be similar to that of a 13 previous taxpayer. 14 Ms. Thompson, is that something that's 15 reasonable that would be able to be -- accommodation 16 that would be able to be made? 17 MS. THOMPSON: Given that we are responding, 18 I think that's certainly doable. But we do like to 19 have a summary, kind of, on the Web site. Just brief 20 summaries of what actions that were taken to simplify 21 it for the taxpayers. 22 MS. COHEN: Who writes the summaries? The 23 tax -- is it a joint effort, or is it just your 24 perspective that's presented? 25 MS. THOMPSON: I wrote them with the 26 assistance of my staff. 27 MS. COHEN: Okay. 28 MS. THOMPSON: It's kind of -- it concludes 37 1 kind of our actions to it. So there is some 2 closure. 3 MS. COHEN: Okay. 4 So thank you, Ms. Thompson. I don't have -- 5 do you have a question for her? 6 MR. GAINES: Question for clarification. 7 MS. COHEN: Sure. 8 MR. GAINES: I appreciate what Ms. Stowers 9 is proposing. 10 So it sounds like we want something that's 11 more robust. That in the event the taxpayers are 12 going to our Taxpayer Rights Advocate, when that 13 happens, we would like to share that via our Web 14 site, you know, protecting privacy and things. 15 MS. STOWERS: Exactly. 16 MR. GAINES: But you could give a summary. 17 And I think you're describing that. But I think what 18 we're looking at is something that will be more 19 robust, and that would happen on maybe a more regular 20 basis. 21 MS. STOWERS: Yes. 22 MR. GAINES: Just so that we're active, 23 we're engaged, and we're looking out for the interest 24 of our constituents. 25 And so I appreciate what you're doing. And 26 I guess I'd also want to make sure that you have 27 proper staffing for handling this, too. Because I 28 know -- 38 1 MS. COHEN: That goes back to HR. 2 MR. GAINES: Yeah. I know we have the 3 vacancy issue that needs to be addressed. So as we 4 expect more from our team, I want to make sure we 5 have the right people in place, too. So thank you. 6 I've got some other questions, too -- 7 MS. COHEN: Is it related to -- 8 MR. GAINES: -- beyond this. Not related to 9 this. 10 MS. COHEN: But related to the strategic 11 plan? 12 MR. GAINES: Yes. 13 MS. COHEN: Okay. 14 MS. STOWERS: Before we go -- I wanted to 15 kind of -- one more question on TRA. 16 MS. COHEN: Yes. 17 MS. STOWERS: As far as your annual 18 meeting -- and forgive me if it's redundant -- you 19 talked about how you do your outreach. When it comes 20 to outreaching to individual taxpayers -- 21 MS. THOMPSON: Mm-hm. 22 MS. STOWERS: And, I'm sorry, I cannot 23 remember if I asked you to include some type of an 24 announcement on your e-mail communication to 25 taxpayers who are reaching out to you. 26 If someone has reached out to you for an 27 issue, and now you're responding via e-mail, do you 28 have something in there saying, "By the way, our 39 1 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting is scheduled 2 for August 19th, 2019. Please click here for more 3 information"? 4 MS. THOMPSON: Yeah. So we -- currently we 5 added a response, in response to your, kind of, 6 discussion at that prior meeting, directing them kind 7 of having a Web site location for TRA. So they have 8 it for future reference. 9 But, yes, once we have confirmation that the 10 August hearing has been approved for that date, we 11 can certainly add that. We can include that and then 12 refine it once the posters are actually developed. 13 Because then we can announce it. 14 MS. STOWERS: I would appreciate if you do 15 that. Because past experience has shown me that a 16 lot of the individual taxpayers who are not 17 represented by a CPA or attorney, they really do not 18 know about these meetings. And the best way to 19 educate them is to -- when they're communicating with 20 you directly. 21 MS. THOMPSON: Right. Exactly. 22 And then just having the fliers available at 23 the local agencies. I know they post a poster as 24 well as have fliers available on counters. So the 25 timing is right around the roll close, and just 26 before tax bills are chosen. 27 MS. STOWERS: Okay. All right. 28 Thank you, Ms. Thompson. 40 1 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. 2 MS. COHEN: Thank you, Ms. Thompson. I want 3 to -- 4 Oh, Mr. Schaefer. 5 MR. SCHAEFER: Ms. Thompson, I have no 6 personal knowledge whether you have two, twenty, or 7 two hundred inquiries coming in on any given month. 8 It might be nice if you did a little one-page memo to 9 the Members of the Board saying, "This month we 10 received 37 inquiries," or three, or whatever it is. 11 And how many are pending, and how many are closed 12 out, so we just have sort of a birds-eye view of 13 what's going on there. 14 MS. THOMPSON: Mm-hm. I'll take that into 15 consideration and talk with the Executive Director 16 about some periodic updates that can be provided to 17 her as well as the Board Members. 18 MS. COHEN: That's actually a good -- good 19 idea. Because it just helps kind of quantify -- 20 MS. FLEMING: Right. 21 MS. COHEN: -- the work of the TRA, the work 22 that you're doing. And it also helps paint a picture 23 for this body as a policymaking entity that we are 24 being responsive to the taxpayers' needs. It doesn't 25 make sense to produce something that they don't use, 26 or it's not a valuable tool for them. 27 Do you have any -- any recollection in your 28 mind about -- we've just finished the first quarter 41 1 of this year -- about how many questions taxpayers 2 have come to you on? Is it in the hundreds; is it in 3 the thousands? Is it just ten? 4 MS. THOMPSON: No, it's not -- it is not in 5 the thousands. 6 So our annual report that was published 7 showed that we had 300 new cases. So in that case -- 8 MS. COHEN: Where was your -- where was your 9 annual report published? I'm sorry, I -- 10 MS. THOMPSON: February -- 11 MS. COHEN: Where? 12 MS. THOMPSON: Oh, excuse me. Where. 13 MS. COHEN: Where is it published? 14 MS. THOMPSON: We have it posted to the 15 Board's Web site. 16 MS. COHEN: Okay. Thank you. 17 MS. THOMPSON: And, I'm sorry, it is either 18 dated the end of January, possible early February. 19 MS. COHEN: Okay. 20 MS. STOWERS: Of this year? 21 MS. THOMPSON: Of this year. 22 MS. STOWERS: Did we receive hard copies? 23 MS. COHEN: These are questions that I'm 24 asking. I don't know. 25 MS. FLEMING: We'll follow up to make sure 26 you have hard copies. 27 MS. THOMPSON: We'll follow up to make sure 28 you have that. It was on the February agenda. 42 1 MS. COHEN: I know it was on the -- on the 2 agenda. 3 MS. THOMPSON: On the February Board 4 Meeting, that's where that was updated. So that is 5 kind of the quantity at least for cases -- 6 MS. COHEN: Thank you. 7 MS. THOMPSON: -- for the year. 8 Obviously those cases involve, you know, 9 several phone calls maybe, or everyone analyzing a 10 web inquiry, and then coordinating with different 11 local agencies if that issue is regarding an 12 assessor's office, tax collectors. So we track 13 basically kind of the constituents that we assist. 14 That's how the tracking is done. 15 MS. COHEN: That's great to know. 16 I'm going to pivot to Mr. Gaines. 17 I think he doesn't have a question for you, 18 Ms. Thompson. 19 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. 20 MS. COHEN: So you're free to go. Thank 21 you. 22 MS. THOMPSON: Thanks. 23 MS. FLEMING: Thank you, Lisa. 24 MR. GAINES: Great. 25 Thank you very much, Chair. 26 I just would like to -- I want to thank 27 Executive Director Fleming for presenting this in 28 terms of your update on operational priorities. 43 1 Because it provides a lot of clarity in my mind. It 2 shows the priority numerically, but also the time 3 line for completion. And so I find that very 4 helpful. 5 I also appreciate the Board's questions just 6 digging in and getting -- 7 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 8 MR. GAINES: -- more clarity. 9 I'd like to focus on this office relocation 10 project. Because it threw a bone of contention in my 11 mind, because I -- you know, we get elected, and we 12 want to do right by our constituents. And we realize 13 that we're in offices that are too big. And we want 14 to get into the smaller space, and make sure that 15 we're satisfying the needs of our constituents, and 16 being fiscally careful with those tax dollars. 17 And I appreciate the Department of Finance 18 for giving us the flexibility in working on our 19 district offices. 20 And that is ongoing for my Lancaster office. 21 And we're scaling down, and that is wonderful. 22 MS. FLEMING: It's in process. 23 MR. GAINES: Thank you. Yeah. 24 But in terms of the offices that we have 25 here, I'm just frustrated. Because I've got an 26 opportunity to move into about one-third the space -- 27 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 28 MR. GAINES: -- that I'm currently 44 1 occupying. Which would save, you know, tens of 2 thousands of dollars for taxpayers as they rack up 3 each month. And yet we're very slow to act. 4 The proximity to the Capitol I see as 5 critical. 6 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 7 MR. GAINES: We've got to stay in touch with 8 the Legislature. They need to know what we're doing. 9 We need to be transparent. We need to be in 10 communication. And that is so important. 11 And then when we've dug into AB 102 and saw 12 potential conflict -- 13 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 14 MR. GAINES: -- with the Natomas move, there 15 are real issues there. We cannot be nested next to 16 rank and file staff per AB 102. And I think we're 17 setting ourselves up for defeat if we moved in that 18 direction. 19 And so I know there's been issues about 20 security. But those have been addressed based on 21 some of the sites that I've been looking at. There 22 is security -- 23 MS. FLEMING: Yes, sir. 24 MR. GAINES: -- available in these buildings 25 that are within proximity to the Capitol. 26 MS. FLEMING: That's correct. 27 MR. GAINES: And so -- and that can save 28 actually hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for 45 1 the taxpayers. 2 So I just want to emphasize -- 3 MS. FLEMING: Thank you for that. 4 MR. GAINES: -- how important that it is. 5 And to the degree that you can continue pushing that 6 forward for all of us and working with the Department 7 of Finance so that we can move forward, that would be 8 very helpful. 9 I'd like to move now, if I could, to the HR 10 delegation. And, you know, it's my understanding as 11 a result of AB 102, the delegation was seeded to 12 CDTFA in reference to administration. And so my hope 13 is that we're going down this path, and that soon 14 we'll get that delegation back. 15 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 16 MR. GAINES: I know there's been issues with 17 ordering subscriptions for our HR authority. Which 18 my understanding is it was going through CDTFA, and 19 then through CalHR and really slowing the process 20 up -- 21 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 22 MR. GAINES: -- to the point where we just 23 were not getting movement. 24 We had our meeting with Secretary Batjer. 25 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 26 MR. GAINES: And that showed improvement. 27 And I'm very encouraged by that. 28 And I guess I'd like to -- this is a little 46 1 update. Are we -- do we still have the momentum 2 moving forward and filling our vacancies -- 3 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 4 MR. GAINES: -- as a result of that meeting 5 with Secretary Batjer? 6 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 7 MR. GAINES: And has that momentum slowed 8 down, or is it about the same pace? Where are we? 9 MS. FLEMING: It's definitely favorable. 10 And thank you for those meetings, and those 11 discussions. 12 So in terms of the recruitments, the 13 standard, you know, straight refill recruitments, 14 it's a favorable report. 15 So, again, those conversations have been 16 helpful. They've opened up, they've prioritized a 17 number of the vacancies for us. 18 And so, again, you know, my acknowledgment 19 to CDTFA's management team for helping us 20 tremendously in that area. 21 MR. GAINES: Great. 22 MS. FLEMING: But just to separate, the 23 ability for CDTFA as a service provider for us. So 24 we prepare our packages, we submit those packages, 25 recruitment packages to CDTFA. 26 So that part of the process has been 27 expedited as a result of, you know, recent 28 discussions. 47 1 The delegation that we've lost, the 2 delegation, that authority actually resides with 3 CalHR. 4 And so actually even in our direct 5 conversations with CalHR directly, we are -- there's 6 definitely traction, and it's moving forward. 7 Where the process is slowed is what we have 8 to do to actually -- there's -- there's a lot -- as a 9 part of the bureaucratic process, there's quite a bit 10 of documentation, you know, history, you know, data 11 that we have to provide to help us substantiate the 12 fact that we're following all the rules. And so 13 where we have slowed over this last 30 days or so 14 because of hearings, etc., where we've slowed is just 15 putting together that next set of package material 16 that we have to go back and provide to CalHR. 17 And the conversations with CDTFA, they went 18 through the same thing. So we see the formula; we 19 see the steps. We see what information needs to be 20 provided. And we really just have to -- part of the 21 package is really to show that you've got a track 22 record of doing all the things where there were 23 violations that you've acknowledged, the training is 24 in place, management forms are in place, you know, 25 tracking documents, HR documents. So there's a 26 wealth of information that has to be completed and 27 submitted as part of that process. 28 But in talking to the leadership of Cal HR, 48 1 they've sat down at the table and said, "Let's sit 2 down with you. We're more than willing to help." 3 One of the things that's going to occur when 4 we talked earlier about the training plan that's 5 attached to this is the training on HR. And so that 6 is, too, one of the things that we had violation 7 before is we weren't consistently making sure that 8 our management team understood, including Member 9 offices, that we really understood, here are the 10 steps of the recruitment process, here's the 11 documentation, you know, probe reports, etc. So 12 there's that wealth of information. 13 So CalHR has agreed, "Whatever we can do to 14 help with some of that training." So some of the 15 administrative training that I referred to earlier, 16 that's where some of that will be included. 17 So you're really just -- honestly, we have 18 to produce evidence that we understand the rules, 19 we're following the rules, and show enough of the 20 documentation that substantiates it. 21 So, again, CDTFA got theirs back. It took 22 about a year. And so we're gonna use that same 23 process. 24 So progress-wise, that's a much more 25 favorable discussion than we have had in prior years. 26 But, again, this last month, we just -- I 27 confess, we lost a little traction just due to other 28 priorities shifting. So we'll resume that 49 1 promptly. 2 MR. GAINES: Great. 3 I know that we -- we're trying to also plan 4 for the future with the split roll initiative on the 5 ballot. We don't know how that's going to turn out. 6 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 7 MR. GAINES: But I think we need to be, at a 8 minimum, prepared, in a sense. That we've got to be 9 fully staffed up. You know, we've got to fill our 10 vacancies at a minimum, right? 11 MS. FLEMING: Yes. You are absolutely 12 right. 13 MR. GAINES: So I appreciate what you're 14 doing to try to speed that up. And I think we need 15 to make sure we continue to communicate to the 16 administration -- 17 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 18 MR. GAINES: -- the importance of that. 19 And then I know, you know, speaking to the 20 county assessors, the challenges that they're trying 21 to prepare for also. 22 I've met with 9 of my 30 county assessors. 23 And, in unison, they're saying that we're going to 24 have a huge challenge in the event that split roll 25 passes, and we're looking at payrolls increasing by 26 30 percent. 27 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 28 MR. GAINES: Just the staff that, because it 50 1 would engage a lot more assessment of property, 2 commercial property. And then on top of that there 3 could be challenges by the property owner on those 4 assessments. 5 So things could turn into a quagmire very 6 quickly. And I just want to make sure that we're 7 prepared. And, regardless -- actually, regardless of 8 what happens to split roll, that we're fully staffed 9 within that time line. So that in the event it 10 happens, we're in a better position to help our 11 county assessors. 12 MS. FLEMING: Duly noted. And we -- I 13 concur with you. We've had a number of discussions 14 on split roll, as Mr. Yeung and his staff and the 15 county assess teams are preparing. 16 And so I, within the last month or so, had 17 Mr. Yeung start to outline. And you're looking at 18 the operative date of split roll and working 19 backwards to identify, you know, the range of -- 20 categorically, the range of functions, work 21 documents, materials, regulations, etc., that we need 22 to be prepared for that. 23 To just say that his eyes rolled back in his 24 head would be an understatement. But we absolutely, 25 you know -- directly being involved in, we absolutely 26 understand the magnitude of what that change means. 27 And so we are actually considering what that approach 28 is going to be. 51 1 We do have an opportunity -- and I'm not 2 prepared to get into the details at this point. 3 Because we need to fully vet this. But looking at, 4 as a part of legislation, what we've done 5 historically with the sales and use tax programs is 6 when legislation is moving forward, it's a way, when 7 the legislation's introduced and working through the 8 process, to ask for -- to identify what your resource 9 needs are, both in terms of personal services, and 10 staff, money for equipment, or just money for 11 contracting. 12 And so we're having that conversation to 13 give us an opportunity to identify what our needs 14 would be. And going back and making sure the 15 Legislature is aware of that. 16 There's a couple ways that it can be done. 17 It can work through the process, but it also can be 18 done when the legislation takes effect. Then you 19 have 10 days afterwards to make sure that you're 20 working with the Legislature to give them -- 21 MS. COHEN: So let me interject here. And 22 this might be an opportunity. We should probably put 23 this item on this legislative priority list. Just 24 because it will have such an impact on not just BOE 25 as an agency, but also our county assessors. 26 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 27 MS. COHEN: And what's interesting, or at 28 least just flagged something for me, is that what you 52 1 described is almost a legislative process. This is 2 an initiative that's going to the ballot no matter 3 what. 4 So we need to start -- to figure out what 5 that implementation strategy is going to be. 6 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 7 MS. COHEN: To caveat what my colleague, 8 Mr. Gaines, said, I mean, one of the things I heard 9 from a lot of my roll assessors is that there is -- 10 many people rely on BOE staff to help them with the 11 analysis -- 12 MS. FLEMING: Exactly. 13 MS. COHEN: -- of their property 14 assessments. Which is fantastic when it's working, 15 right? But it's scary when it's not. 16 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 17 MS. COHEN: And here I hear that, you know, 18 we know that you're understaffed, right? And we're 19 in the process of getting staffed up. 20 We know that assessors, they're also -- I've 21 heard from several that they're also understaffed. 22 Even the large counties in the urban settings. I'm 23 thinking about San Francisco County. 24 I spoke with Mr. Vazquez' assessor in Los 25 Angeles County. Huge counties. 26 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 27 MS. COHEN: They're also very nervous about 28 what this impending legislation would look like. 53 1 So we -- if you would take a recommendation 2 from the Board -- 3 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. 4 MS. COHEN: -- ma'am, we should put this 5 legislation also on the -- on the priority list. 6 Now looking through this as an operational 7 priority, I think that operationally, I'd love to 8 hear a little bit more about what Mr. Yeung and his 9 entire team, what they're thinking about -- 10 MS. FLEMING: Absolutely. 11 MS. COHEN: -- what they're assessing. If 12 this is something that you could begin to come back 13 and report back, that would be very helpful. 14 Also being mindful that this body is also 15 going to be calling a series of hearings with 16 assessors -- 17 MS. FLEMING: Right. 18 MS. COHEN: -- to talk about what this 19 impact of this legislation -- again, we're talking 20 about the split roll legislation -- what that will 21 actually mean, what it would look like, how it would 22 manifest. So if you accept that -- 23 MS. FLEMING: Absolutely. My pleasure. 24 MS. COHEN: -- I appreciate that. 25 MS. FLEMING: That's part of why we're 26 preparing it with the intent of we want to be 27 thoughtful about, you know, making sure that we give 28 you quality information. 54 1 But we are absolutely -- it's on our radar. 2 Absolutely. It's -- it's going to be significant. 3 And to your point in talking to the county 4 assessors, Ms. Davis is here to present today. She 5 may also have some comments on it. 6 But it is a priority for us. And it's going 7 to be big, and a significant -- a significant amount 8 of work. 9 MS. COHEN: Mr. Gaines. 10 MR. GAINES: Yeah. Thank you, Chair Cohen. 11 I wanted to just get back on the salary and 12 benefits issue. Because when I toured the property 13 division, there was an issue. And I know we're in a 14 competitive employment market, right? 15 As a small business owner, I'm always making 16 sure we've got good benefits and salary for my staff 17 and my business, so I don't lose it to a competitor. 18 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 19 MR. GAINES: But that's what's happening at 20 the BOE. And I think we're doing a great job 21 training new staff. And what I'm hearing is they're 22 being hired away by county assessors. 23 And I -- I don't blame the assessors if they 24 can bring over an employee, and that employee gets a 25 better, maybe, pay and benefit package, we have to -- 26 I think we've got to make sure that we are looking at 27 retaining. We're going through all this effort -- 28 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 55 1 MR. GAINES: -- in recruitment. We're 2 trying to fill these vacancies. 3 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 4 MR. GAINES: But in year or two or so, we've 5 got to make sure there's a pathway -- 6 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 7 MR. GAINES: -- for that employee, and 8 they -- they have an opportunity to want to stay at 9 the BOE. And if we're not competitive in the 10 marketplace, I'm concerned that we'll train great 11 people, and they'll go to county. So -- 12 MS. FLEMING: That's correct. 13 So I don't have much to report on at this 14 time. I would like to be prepared to provide more 15 information there. 16 But as you know, we talked before about the 17 strategy to work with the State Personnel Board. 18 MR. GAINES: Right. 19 MS. FLEMING: To look at the 20 classifications. 21 MR. GAINES: I know you're working on it. 22 MS. FLEMING: Yes. So it is -- it's a big 23 list. And just, candidly, it's a big lift. And 24 there's a lot involved in that, because it involves 25 labor and -- because the State Personnel Board. 26 MR. GAINES: Sure. 27 MS. FLEMING: So I want to be careful when 28 we start to talk about that aspect of labor, to be 56 1 careful how we approach that conversation. 2 MR. GAINES: Right. 3 MS. FLEMING: So if you would allow me to 4 get, you know, better prepared to have that 5 conversation, and then we can present it -- 6 MR. GAINES: Great. Wonderful. 7 MS. FLEMING: -- at another discussion. 8 MS. COHEN: Ms. Stowers. 9 MR. GAINES: Thank you. 10 MS. STOWERS: This is not really 11 appropriate, but -- 12 County assessors, stop taking our staff. 13 MS. FLEMING: Thank you for that. We 14 appreciate the support. It is a big issue for us. 15 MS. COHEN: Mr. Schaefer. 16 MR. SCHAEFER: Thank you, Madam Chair. 17 I've done a little better than Member Gaines 18 in getting around to see -- he's seen nine of his -- 19 MS. COHEN: Thirty. 20 MR. SCHAEFER: And I've seen three of my 21 five. 22 MS. FLEMING: Good percentage. 23 MR. SCHAEFER: But I have an empty office. 24 And I know that we're trying to find a tenant there. 25 My Chief of Staff was there this last week. It's 90 26 miles from my home in San Diego area. He reports, as 27 I've always seen, that we have two armed police 28 officers standing in front of our door, and one of 57 1 them has a rifle, and of them has a pistol. Because 2 they're doing all the cash counting upstairs. 3 I would think we could take my offices, 4 which are now not being used, and sell them to 5 somebody in marketing expensive diamonds or expensive 6 gold. I mean, there are a number of merchants in our 7 major cities that have to be in a very high security 8 area, because they're dealing with very expensive 9 things that are subject. 10 And I would think we could probably sell off 11 our little office square footage for more than we 12 paid for it, make a little money for the state. 13 And I know you're working to find some 14 solution there, too. 15 MS. FLEMING: Yes, sir. 16 MR. SCHAEFER: I noticed you mentioned 17 Marybel Batjer, our Secretary of Operations has met 18 with us. 19 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 20 MR. SCHAEFER: If she's meeting with us 21 sometime when I'm in town, I'd like to meet her. I 22 have not met this lady. I know who she is, of 23 course. But I knew, and I'm so old, as the oldest 24 constitutional officer, I was a friend of her father. 25 Her father who passed away about 15, 20 years ago. 26 Cameron Batjer was a most distinguished 27 member of the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada. 28 And I used to go to the Supreme Court Christmas party 58 1 in Reno, and would run into Justice Batjer. And I 2 hope to see his little girl and say hello to her. 3 I also want to clarify just how small we are 4 as to what? I hear it mentioned repeatedly that we 5 had 4,800 people. I've heard that we had three or 6 four hundred. But we did a count, and it was about 7 180 when we had a meeting with them locally here 8 recently. 9 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 10 MR. SCHAEFER: Is the real figures 4,800 and 11 180, that would mean we're at about four percent of 12 what we used to do. I'm just taking the figures that 13 I got from Ms. Stowers. 14 Did you mention we had 4,800 before the 15 boom? 16 MS. STOWERS: I think Ms. Fleming said 17 that. 18 MS. FLEMING: Yeah. So for the -- prior to 19 AB 102, prior to July 2017, there were approximately 20 4,800 employees statewide. And we also had offices 21 in Houston, New York and -- 22 MS. STOWERS: Chicago. 23 MS. FLEMING: -- Chicago. Thank you. 24 And so after the July 2017 legislation, 25 we're down to approximately 200 employees. Just 26 under 200 employees. 27 MR. SCHAEFER: Do we have any offices 28 outside of California? 59 1 MS. FLEMING: We do not, sir. Not for 2 property taxes. 3 MR. SCHAEFER: Not for property taxes. But 4 we used to be in Washington D.C.? 5 MS. FLEMING: No, not in Washington D.C. In 6 Houston, New York and Chicago. And of course states 7 up and down -- offices up and down the state of 8 California. 9 MS. COHEN: I just want to interject here a 10 little bit about the -- there's a discrepancy that's 11 one account on the numbers. Perhaps what we can do 12 is pivot back to what the budget -- what's the 13 budgeted number of accounts -- budgeted number of 14 positions for the State Board of Equalization? 15 MS. FLEMING: Budgeted positions at this 16 point, the number is 194, 195. I'd have to double 17 check the number. That's off the top of my head. 18 But 190, 195. It's actual budgeted number of 19 positions with our operational budget for the agency 20 being about 29 million. 21 MR. GAINES: I think what's interesting, if 22 I can just interject, too, is that we influence 23 through our advisories and working with our county 24 assessors, property taxes. 25 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 26 MR. GAINES: And, you know, you're talking 27 about 66 billion dollars in revenue that's coming in 28 to the state and local governments. So it's -- you 60 1 know, I know our numbers are small in terms of the 2 amount of staff. 3 MS. FLEMING: We're small, but we're mighty, 4 Mr. Gaines. 5 MR. GAINES: But we have a lot of impact. 6 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 7 MR. GAINES: And so I don't want that to be 8 forgotten. 9 MS. FLEMING: Exactly. And that is -- that 10 is something we absolutely understand and appreciate. 11 It's a significant yield. 12 MR. SCHAEFER: So we probably have the 13 biggest number of dollars per employee. 14 MS. FLEMING: Per capita. 15 MR. SCHAEFER: Yes. 16 I hear you mentioned the big problems we've 17 had in retirement. I'm not sure what you're talking 18 about. I'm 81; is there retirement for the Board? 19 MS. COHEN: So, Mr. Schaefer, is there any 20 other -- 21 MR. SCHAEFER: No, I have no further 22 comments. 23 Thank you, Madam Chair. 24 MS. COHEN: Okay. All right. Perfect. 25 So what I'd like to do as we begin to wrap 26 up this portion of the agenda is ask Ms. Fleming if 27 you could provide the Board for the next Board 28 Meeting -- 61 1 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 2 MS. COHEN: -- a strategic planning process 3 time line. Just for the Board to review. And the 4 input. This is, again, just for strategic planning. 5 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 6 MS. COHEN: The process time line so that 7 Mr. Vazquez would be able to just to review and share 8 some of his ideas. 9 Seeing that there are no other conversations 10 around this, this update on operational priorities is 11 actually very helpful, as you can imagine. As you 12 can see, it sparked a lot of conversation. So I'm 13 glad we're able to -- 14 MS. FLEMING: Thank you for that 15 opportunity. 16 MS. COHEN: -- do this and continue to move 17 forward. 18 One question in terms of just processes, how 19 are the priorities determined? How did you and your 20 staff determine what got on this list? 21 MS. FLEMING: Sometimes -- and this specific 22 list, these are the ones that are just sort of, at 23 this point, actively bubbled to the top. 24 MS. COHEN: Mm-hm. 25 MS. FLEMING: You know, as most 26 organizations do. There are some that are just 27 consuming significant resources, or the consequence 28 of them is significant. It's consuming, you know, 62 1 our time and attention. And so there's those. 2 Every now and then there are priorities that 3 bubble up because there's some urgency attached to 4 it. But we really try to look at, you know, what the 5 magnitude of its value is to the state of California, 6 the consequence if we fail to perform, etc. And, 7 again, how many staff it's consuming. 8 Sometimes it's deadline driven. For 9 example, so for the valuation process and value 10 setting coming up in May, it bubbles to the top. 11 If you look at that chart, and it doesn't 12 necessarily display -- I'm not sure how it displays 13 on your end. But the first few items there are 14 really driven based upon if you've got deadlines that 15 are pending. So you've got a May 29th deadline for 16 the first item. You've got a July 1st, 2019 17 deadline. So some of them are driven by just the 18 timeframe. 19 MS. COHEN: And on the first one, the first 20 operational priority, the state-assessed property 21 valuation process, we're going to be taking a vote, 22 is that correct, on the unitary values of the May 23 meeting? 24 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. 25 MS. COHEN: Is this some -- there's some way 26 we can get the information before we -- 27 MS. FLEMING: You will be, yes, ma'am. 28 MS. COHEN: -- we get there? Just so that I 63 1 and my colleagues will have an opportunity to dive 2 and drill down on what these unitary values are. 3 It's a very important meeting. One of the 4 key functions of our role. 5 MS. FLEMING: Yes. 6 MS. COHEN: And then, if I'm not mistaken, 7 according to this, the appeals process is going to be 8 from June to December. 9 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 10 MS. COHEN: Okay. That's actually going to 11 be incredibly important. 12 In terms of operational priorities, also the 13 budget, the Governor's May revise is going to be 14 coming out soon. 15 Do you have any indication or any discussion 16 for us on where exactly -- how -- excuse me -- how 17 our budget is looking, how these conversations are 18 going with -- particularly with the Governor's 19 office? 20 MS. FLEMING: So at this point, we are -- 21 it's been pretty quiet as it relates to our budget. 22 MS. COHEN: Okay. 23 MS. FLEMING: And the way that we -- the 24 indicators for that is how often the committees, the 25 budget committees, the legislative process is 26 progressing. And, as you know, there's the policy 27 committees and then the budget committees. 28 Typically, the budget committee consultants 64 1 would contact us when -- if our items are going to be 2 taken up. 3 And if you noticed -- and I think Mr. Durham 4 has been providing these reports -- we have not been 5 scheduled. So we can take that as a good indicator. 6 Which means you're typically not on the chopping 7 block, if you will. 8 But in this case, we've not been -- we've 9 not been scheduled for any of the hearings. So there 10 are initial indicators are suggesting that we're not 11 anticipating any cuts to our current budget cover. 12 So it should look, in the 19-20 fiscal years, similar 13 to what it is currently, about 29 million. 14 MS. COHEN: Thank you very much. 15 MS. FLEMING: Thank you. 16 MS. COHEN: Is there any others -- 17 Yes, Ms. Stowers. 18 MS. STOWERS: Just real briefly. 19 So for the -- Mr. Chair -- Madam Chair, you 20 brought up the state value, assessed property values. 21 So in the past we have received one of two 22 binders of material. 23 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 24 MS. STOWERS: Huge. So I'm assuming that 25 we're gonna continue to receive that for all of the 26 eight industries that are subject to state assess. 27 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 28 So the process at this point is staff is 65 1 finishing up their initial appraisal activities. So 2 a lot of what happens in terms of that material is a 3 timing issue. So they've got to go through the 4 process to go to the appraisals and compile the 5 information. 6 Ms. Stowers is correct, the binder I looked 7 at yesterday, I want to say -- I don't know -- four 8 or five inches. I mean, it's a huge binder. Which 9 is your appraisal data report. And you will be 10 getting that information. Once I looked at the 11 information yesterday, there's still -- it's still 12 being compiled. 13 MS. STOWERS: Okay. 14 MS. FLEMING: So once that data set is 15 ready, and we're targeting about the -- tentatively, 16 between the middle or third week of May. 17 What you'll receive prior to that, to the 18 question the Chair rose, starting either this 19 afternoon or tomorrow, we're reaching out to your 20 offices to start to schedule your training sessions. 21 The meat of this is about a two-hour session 22 where staff will come down and they'll go through 23 what the process is specifically, identifying the 24 process and what your roles are, what your 25 responsibilities are. So we'll make sure that you're 26 fully prepared to engage. 27 Madam Chair, there will be some activities 28 we'll address with you in terms of how you facilitate 66 1 that conversation. We've learned over the years that 2 the best way to do this -- of course this is 3 something that we're obligated to do. So we want to 4 make sure that you're all successful in doing so. 5 There's a lot of information, but, 6 basically, it is a staff recommendation that we're 7 offering you. And you would be basically adopting 8 the values and voting on those values based upon 9 staff recommendation. 10 Because, again, they spent significant 11 amount of time working with those state assessees, 12 reviewing their information, having those 13 discussions. 14 And then, again, to the extent that that is 15 a successful and clean process and those values are 16 indicated, to the extent that somebody has a question 17 or wants to petition it, then we'll subsequently file 18 with an appeals process. 19 MS. COHEN: All right. 20 MS. FLEMING: But the quality and the intent 21 of the work that's being done is really -- I mean, 22 you want to be able to protect that process and that 23 information. So you'll be quite busy over the next 24 few weeks on that process. 25 MS. COHEN: Yes. 26 MS. STOWERS: Could you clarify the part -- 27 you have the appeal process June through December. 28 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 67 1 MS. STOWERS: For the record, can you kind 2 of clarify, when you say appeal's process, is that 3 involving the state-assessed staff reviewing the 4 assessees' disagreement with the value? And at what 5 point will this Board get involved in the appeal 6 process? 7 MS. FLEMING: Okay. Thank you for that good 8 question. 9 I'm going to have our Ph.D., Mr. Mike Harris 10 join us. 11 MR. HARRIS: So when you set the values in 12 the May Board Meeting, right after that, we will be 13 sending out the notice of unitary values to the 14 assessees. And within that notice, it'll be stated 15 that they have until July 20th to file an appeal. 16 Then one -- should they decide -- and 17 there's two types of appeals that they can file. 18 They can file on the value or on the allocation. 19 Predominantly, 99 percent of all our appeals are on 20 value. 21 Once they file -- and there's certain 22 requirements that they have to make, or they have to 23 prepare. They have to state exactly what they're 24 disagreeing with, and what their opinion of the value 25 is. 26 Once we have that, staff will develop a 27 response to that. And then we will schedule, 28 depending on whether it's a written opinion or 68 1 written appeal or oral, we'll schedule those. 2 Oral will go to an appeal's conference 3 before it's brought before you for decision. And 4 that appeal's conference, we try to flush out any 5 common ground, or see if we can come to a resolution 6 before it comes to the Board. 7 And so should it proceed to the Board, 8 you'll receive all our -- the staff's position, the 9 assessee's position. And it will be an oral hearing 10 where you will have the opportunity to challenge both 11 staff and the appellant. 12 MS. STOWERS: That's very helpful. 13 So that appeal conference sounds like staff 14 is working to resolve the issues at the lowest 15 possible level. 16 MR. HARRIS: That is always our aim. 17 MS. STOWERS: Perfect. 18 And then if we -- if you guys don't have an 19 agreement, then of course the assessee has an option, 20 the availability to come directly to the Board. 21 MR. HARRIS: Exactly. Now -- 22 MS. STOWERS: And -- and -- and they outline 23 why they feel that the assessed value and the 24 allocation is incorrect. 25 Are we still scheduling those particular 26 hearings in December? 27 MR. HARRIS: Gen -- yes. All the oral 28 hearings are scheduled for December with the 69 1 Controller being present. 2 MS. STOWERS: And for those where you have 3 your appeals conference and an agreement is reached, 4 this Board still has to approve that agreement? 5 MR. HARRIS: That is correct. 6 And also it could be that although we did 7 not come to an agreement at the appeals conference, 8 they may want to waive their opportunity for an oral 9 hearing and just go written. 10 In that case, you'll just receive a written 11 information. And you will still adopt, make a 12 decision on whose recommendation or opinion of value 13 you want to adopt. 14 MS. STOWERS: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Harris. 15 Thank you, Madam Chair. 16 MS. COHEN: Okay. It looks like we can move 17 on. 18 Thank you, Mr. Harris. 19 Ms. Fleming, is there anything that we have 20 not discussed? 21 MS. FLEMING: Again, I thank you for the 22 opportunity. And I hope this information in this 23 format was helpful to you in terms of the time line 24 that we've been discussing. 25 So if you're comfortable, and if the Board 26 so chooses, we can continue with this format in terms 27 of providing the information and updates. 28 Again, it's not intended to substitute for, 70 1 you know, any discussions that we're having on our 2 recurring updates. 3 And just wanting to -- fundamentally, it's 4 designed to keep you informed about what's going on. 5 So that as you are moving through your organizations, 6 you can have this body of information and talk to 7 assessors, etc., that, you know, you are aware of 8 these issues on our radar, and staff are focused on 9 it. 10 So I appreciate the opportunity. And that 11 concludes -- 12 MS. COHEN: Two things that I do want to 13 highlight is just to compliment your tech team for 14 the Web site compliance for AB 434. 15 MS. FLEMING: Thank you. 16 MS. COHEN: I know that's a really -- a 17 heavy lift. But looks like we're on target to be 18 compliant with the legislation by July 1st, 2019. 19 And if there's anything that's left off that 20 Web site, we are going to continually work; is that 21 correct? 22 MS. FLEMING: That is correct. 23 MS. COHEN: To get as much information as we 24 have onto that site. 25 MS. FLEMING: That is correct. 26 MS. COHEN: And then also the Legal Entity 27 Ownership Program. We talked about that. And modern 28 19 system. I think we'll talk -- that's an ongoing 71 1 conversation, again, as we continue to modernize our 2 IT entity. 3 I just want to do a time check. It's 11:36 4 at this point. We are going to -- Mr. Nanjo has 5 informed me that we have to take lunch breaks. And 6 so I just want you to know that at noon we will be 7 breaking for 45 minutes. 8 MR. NANJO: Yes, for 45 minutes. 9 MS. COHEN: For 45 minutes. 10 Yes. 11 MR. VAZQUEZ: Just a process question, I 12 guess. 13 In your comments, Ms. Stowers, when you 14 talked about the items -- or actually the 15 recommendation you were talking about bringing back 16 to us, were you thinking of bringing that back in an 17 L item? 18 MS. STOWERS: If you'd like. 19 MR. VAZQUEZ: I'm just -- 20 MS. STOWERS: I was going to speak with the 21 Executive Director, the TRA, and do some 22 investigation. Sure, I can bring it back as an L 23 item. 24 MS. COHEN: I think that that's actually -- 25 that's helpful for all of us. For all of us to be 26 able to manage and be a part of the conversation. 27 MS. STOWERS: Okay. I'll do my due 28 diligence. And I'm not going to commit to May. 72 1 MS. COHEN: Understand. 2 MS. STOWERS: But I will bring it back as an 3 L item soon. 4 MS. COHEN: Thank you. We appreciate that. 5 Ms. Fleming, does that conclude your 6 presentation? 7 MS. FLEMING: Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the 8 opportunity. That concludes this month's report. 9 MS. COHEN: All right. This is not an 10 action item, so we don't need to take action. 11 MS. FLEMING: That's correct. 12 MS. COHEN: Ms. Davis, could you please call 13 the next item? 14 MS. FLEMING: Thank you, Members. 15 MS. COHEN: Thank you. 16 ---oOo--- 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 73 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, Jillian Sumner, Hearing Reporter for 8 the California State Board of Equalization, certify 9 that on April 30, 2019 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 74 14 constitute a complete and accurate transcription of 15 the shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: July 2nd, 2019 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 JILLIAN SUMNER, CSR #13619 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 74