(a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a public retirement system, which has invested assets in real property and improvements thereon for business or residential purposes for the production of income, shall pay annually to the city or county, in whose jurisdiction the real property is located and has been removed from the secured roll, a fee for general governmental services equal to the difference between the amount that would have accrued as real property secured taxes and the amount of possessory interest unsecured taxes paid for that property. The governing bodies of local entities may adopt ordinances and regulations authorizing retirement systems to invest assets in real property subject to the foregoing requirements.
(2) This subdivision shall not apply to any retirement system which is established by a local governmental entity if that entity is presently authorized by statute or ordinance to invest retirement assets in real property.
(3) This subdivision shall not apply to property owned by any state public retirement system.
(b) (1) Whenever a state public retirement system, which has invested assets in real property and improvements thereon for business or residential purposes for the production of income, leases the property, the lease shall provide, pursuant to Section 107.6 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, that the lessee’s possessory interest may be subject to property taxation and that the party in whom the possessory interest is vested may be subject to the payment of property taxes levied on that interest. The lease shall be valued in accordance with Section 21 of Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section was in effect on January 1, 2015, for the valuation of taxable possessory interests.
(2) Except as provided in this subdivision, the property shall be assessed and its taxes computed and collected in the same manner as privately owned property. The lessee’s possessory interest shall be placed on the unsecured roll and the tax on the possessory interest shall be subject to the collection procedures for unsecured property taxes.
(3) An investment by a state public retirement system in a legal entity that invests assets in real property and improvements thereon shall not constitute an investment by the state public retirement system of assets in real property and improvements thereon. For purposes of this paragraph, “legal entity” includes, but is not limited to, partnership, joint venture, corporation, trust, or association. When a state public retirement system invests in a legal entity, the state public retirement system shall be deemed to be a person for the purpose of determining a change in ownership under Section 64 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, fees charged pursuant to this section and collected prior to July 1, 1992, shall be deemed valid and not refundable under any circumstance. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, fees, interest and penalties, if any, asserted to be due pursuant to this section that were not charged or collected prior to July 1, 1992, shall be deemed invalid and not collectable under any circumstance.
(5) This subdivision shall apply to the assessment, computation, and collection of taxes for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 1992, and each fiscal year thereafter. For the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, in the case where a lessee’s possessory interest existed for less than the full fiscal year for which the tax was levied, the amount of tax shall be prorated in accordance with the number of months for which the lessee’s interest existed.
(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 454, Sec. 1. (SB 803) Effective January 1, 2016.)