NR# 2-G
Date: January 6, 2000
Customer and Taxpayer Services Division

Dean Andal Names New Chairman of State Board of Equalization

The Board of Equalization (BOE) announced today that former State Assemblyman Dean Andal, was elected Chairman of the BOE for the year 2000. Andal, who represents BOE District Two, was elected to the BOE in November 1994.

Prior to his election to the BOE, Andal served in the California State Assembly representing the 17th District. During his final term he was elected by his colleagues as the Chief Budget Negotiator for the Republican Caucus.

The Second BOE District, which includes the Central Valley, the Central Coast, and the Inland Empire, has been Andal's home for over 28 years. Andal attended San Joaquin Delta College and attained a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the University of California at San Diego in 1983.

As Chairman of the BOE, Andal, a Republican, will also sit as a voting member of the three-person Franchise Tax Board.

Claude Parrish, the Third District BOE representative from Torrance and a Republican, was elected Vice-Chair. Parrish has been a Board Member since 1998. Prior to his election to the BOE, Parrish served as Los Angeles County Insurance Commissioner and currently serves as Chair of the BOE Customer Services and Administrative Efficiency Committee.

The BOE is overseen by a five-member elected Board. Four members are elected directly from legislatively defined districts and serve four year terms. The fifth member, the State Controller, is elected at-large and serves in an ex officio capacity.

The BOE acts in a judicial capacity as the appellate body for appeals from various business tax assessments, Franchise Tax Board actions, and utility assessments. In its administrative capacity, the BOE issues guidelines on state taxes in the form of rules and regulations. Further, it sets the property values of utilities for tax purposes, sets the tax rate under various tax laws, and guides and evaluates the assessment practices of the state's 58 county assessors.

The BOE is responsible for the administration of the state's sales and use, fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and other taxes, and for the collection of fees that fund specific state programs. More than one million businesses are registered with the agency.