COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Counsel

DATE:

May 6, 2004

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 8, 2004

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

County Counsel

SUBJECT:

Correction of Property Tax Roll: APN 015-232-270, 499 Point San Bruno Blvd., South San Francisco (Genetech, Inc.)

Recommendation

Approve a change to the 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 tax rolls to reflect implementation of the decision of the San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board with respect to the above-referenced parcel owned by Genentech, Inc. ("Genentech"), and located at 499 Point San Bruno Blvd., in South San Francisco.

Background

Genentech owns the property identified above, as well as several other properties in South San Francisco. Genentech's South San Francisco properties were the subject of an extensive hearing before the San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board (the "AAB") which related to the company's property tax liabilities for the 1992 and 1993 tax years (the "1992-1993 Decision").

In its decision, the AAB determined the value of Genetech's property, including the above-referenced parcel, and made a number of legal and factual findings relevant to the future assessment of the properties (e.g., the classification of certain types of property, the assessability of certain expenditures, and the economic life of various classes of assets).

Discussion

The Assessor has applied the 1992-1993 Decision to Genetech's property for the 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 tax years, and determined that the property tax rolls should be corrected with respect to some of Genetech's parcels. Most of the corrections resulted in tax refunds below the fifty thousand-dollar threshold requiring action by this Board.

However, with respect to the 499 Point San Bruno parcel, the Assessor has determined that, pursuant to the 1992-1993 Decision, the assessed value should be reduced by $6,453,886; $6,536,234; $6,613,982; $6,755,566; and $7,366,300, respectively, for the 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 tax years. These corrections would result in a $64,616.30 property tax refund to Genentech in 1994, a $65,440.76 refund in 1995, a $66,218.98 refund in 1996, a $69,386.40 refund in 1997, and a $75,504.56 in 1998 (for a total refund for these five years of $341,167).

Vision Alignment

The implementation of this proposal will further commitments and assist in achieving goals set forth in the County's Shared Vision 2010 report. Specifically, this proposal implements the commitment of providing "responsive, effective, and collaborative government." Similarly, the instant proposal will help the County to achieve the goals of ensuring that "[g]overnment decisions are based on careful consideration of future impact."

Fiscal Impact

The fiscal impact of this action is estimated to be a $64,616.30 tax dollar decrease in the 1994 roll, a $65,440.76 tax dollar decrease in the 1995 roll, a $66,218.98 decrease in the 1996 roll, a $69,386.40 decrease in the 1997 roll, and a $75,504.56 decrease in the 1998 roll (for a total decrease of $341,167 over these five years). The County's General Fund share of these decreases is approximately 14% of these amounts (i.e., a total of $47,763.38 over these five years).