1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 5901 GREEN VALLEY CIRCLE 3 CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 7 8 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 9 FEBRUARY 22, 2017 10 11 12 13 ITEM P 14 OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 15 ITEM P1 16 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 17 4. TAXPAYERS' RIGHTS ADVOCATE'S 2015-16 PROPERTY 18 AND BUSINESS TAXES ANNUAL REPORT 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 REPORTED BY: Kathleen Skidgel 28 CSR NO. 9039 1 1 P R E S E N T 2 3 For the Board of Equalization: Fiona Ma, CPA 4 Chairwoman 5 Diane L. Harkey Vice Chair 6 Jerome E. Horton 7 Member 8 Sen. George Runner (Ret.) Member 9 Yvette Stowers 10 Appearing for Betty T. Yee, State Controller 11 (per Government Code Section 7.9) 12 Joann Richmond 13 Chief Board Proceedings 14 Division 15 For Board of 16 Equalization Staff: Todd Gilman Taxpayers' Rights 17 Advocate 18 ---oOo--- 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 5901 GREEN VALLEY CIRCLE 2 CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA 3 FEBRUARY 22, 2017 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. MA: Ms. Richmond. 6 MS. RICHMOND: Our next item is Item P, 7 Other Administrative Matters. Item P1 is the 8 Executive Director's Report. Item P1.4, Taxpayers' 9 Rights Advocate's 2015-16 Property and Business 10 Taxes Annual Report. 11 And we have no speakers. 12 MR. GILMAN: We have one speaker. 13 MS. HARKEY: One speaker. Tell us what 14 you've done. 15 MS. MA: Welcome, Mr. Gilman. 16 MR. GILMAN: Good afternoon, Madam 17 Chairwoman Ma and distinguished Members of the 18 Board. Todd Gilman Taxpayers' Rights Advocate with 19 the State Board of Equalization. 20 I'm pleased to present to you today the 21 Taxpayers' Rights Advocate 2015-2016 Annual Report 22 for Property and Business Taxes. 23 This year's fiscal report highlights the 24 advocate office's accomplishments, describes our 25 involvement in new projects to assist taxpayers, 26 identifies new issues we are working on to resolve 27 taxpayer issues, and provides examples of taxpayer's 28 cases, both on property tax and business taxes, at 3 1 the advocate's office, in assisting taxpayers and 2 feepayers in resolving their issues. 3 At this time I would like to recognize and 4 thank the advocate staff in my office for their 5 dedication and commitment to ensuring that 6 taxpayers' rights in California are protected -- 7 taxpayers and feepayers, that is -- during the 8 assessment and collection of taxpayers. 9 I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the 10 district staff, all our staff, that have worked with 11 me and my staff over the years, including this 12 report, in resolving taxpayer issues. We couldn't 13 do it without their support and help. 14 Also, I'd like to thank the staff, the 15 headquarters staff that assisted me in putting 16 together the annual report. I think it's one of our 17 best annual reports to date. 18 And that completes my presentation. If you 19 have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them 20 now. 21 MS. MA: Is this report on the website? 22 MR. GILMAN: It is. 23 MS. MA: Okay. 24 MR. GILMAN: It'll be posted once you 25 approve it. 26 MS. MA: Okay. 27 MR. GILMAN: It's in the lobby, but it'll 28 be posted. 4 1 MS. MA: Okay. So when will it be posted 2 in case some of us want to Tweet it out? 3 MS. HARKEY: In case some of us want to see 4 it. 5 MR. GILMAN: Yes, ma'am. 6 MS. MA: When will it be posted, after we 7 vote? 8 MR. GILMAN: My staff are probably 9 listening right now. So they're probably on it 10 right now -- 11 MS. MA: Okay. 12 MR. GILMAN: -- with the Webmaster, getting 13 it posted. But, for sure, it'll be posted tomorrow. 14 MS. HARKEY: They're advocates. 15 MR. GILMAN: They're diligent, I know that. 16 They're hard workers. 17 MS. MA: All right. 18 MS. HARKEY: I will -- I will testify to 19 the hard work because you resolved a lot of issues 20 in my district. You just really have. You always 21 get, you know, raving reviews and recommendations 22 from people that have worked with you. So I -- I 23 appreciate it. 24 When we go out in our districts and we hear 25 about you, or hear about your advocate -- and we 26 hear about, even our staff, that's -- that's a good 27 deal. 28 MR. GILMAN: Right. 5 1 MS. HARKEY: Because, you know, taxes are 2 taxes. 3 MR. GILMAN: Right. 4 MS. HARKEY: But I think if people feel 5 they're treated fairly, you know, it makes life a 6 lot easier. 7 MR. GILMAN: Right. 8 MS. HARKEY: So thank you so very much. 9 MR. GILMAN: And if I can make one comment. 10 You know, it's -- the vast majority of cases are 11 resolved by district staff, by headquarters staff, 12 by those that have the contact with taxpayers. 13 There's a very, very small percentage of cases that 14 come to us. And the cases that do come to us in 15 which we disagree, it's right around one percent. 16 So it's -- staff are working it out. 17 MS. HARKEY: Our staff does great, but I've 18 got good reports on you as well. 19 MR. GILMAN: Thank you. 20 MS. HARKEY: Thank you. 21 MS. MA: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Gilman. 22 ---oOo--- 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, Kathleen Skidgel, Hearing Reporter for 8 the California State Board of Equalization certify 9 that on February 22, 2017 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 6 constitute 14 a complete and accurate transcription of the 15 shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: July 17, 2017 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, CSR #9039 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 7