Colusa County officials are still reeling from learning that their process for apportoning and allocating property taxes from the PG&E power plant in Maxwell doesn’t jive with state statutes.
While the Board of Supervisors is expected to decide just how the county is to absorb the $1.7 million hit to the general fund when they approve the budget on Sept. 27, they still hope that the state legislature could once again look at changing the allocation methodology so that tax revenue from such facilities remain in the “Tax Rate Area” to provide funding for agencies and jurisdictions most impacted by the construction of such facilities.
Chief Executive Officer Wendy Tyler said such legislation had been proposed by then Sen. Tom Torklason (2000-2008) at the time the PG&E plant was under construction, but it had never been signed into law, even though another county may also have apportioned revenue similarly, which was accepted by previous State Controllers.
“In practice, since the Colusa PG&E generating station came online in 2010, we have been allocating the unitary taxes among the county, schools, and non-enterprise special districts within the Tax Rate Area where the generating station is located,” Tyler said. “The (State Controller’s Office) has determined that we should have been allocating these taxes among the county, all schools, and non-enterprise special districts within the county that historically receive unitary tax, not just those in the Tax Rate Area.”
Colusa County Supervisor Gary Evans said he also recalled that the Board of Equalization had, during the time of the station’s construction, assured the county that the tax revenue from the plant would remain in the county and be shared only with schools and districts in the Tax Rate Area (basically the community of Maxwell), which are most impacted.
While the county does not dispute the State Controller’s recent findings, officials said they did find it odd that with the allocation methodology required by the SCO and supported by the state taxation code, revenues are to be shared in a manner in which schools and non-enterprise special districts (such as fire departments and cemeteries) closest to the PG&E station receive far less revenue than the ones farthest away.
As an example, the 2021-22 allocation gave Maxwell School District $172,486, while Pierce Joint Unified School District received $437,145. Similarly, Maxwell Fire received $18,280 under the state’s methodology, while Arbuckle Fire received $70,852.
While none of the tax revenue generated by the PG&E plant will leave Colusa County, the impact of the audit will mean the County’s general fund will be reduced by $1.7 million annually going forward, Tyler said.
The Board of Supervisors at their Aug. 30 meeting concurred that the county should continue to explore whether there is sufficient lobbying power to seek a legislative fix to the allocation methodology in the future. ■