Property tax: documentary transfer tax: exemptions: nonprofit corporations chartered under tribal or federal law.

The bill now amends Sections 214.03 and 11930.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code in addition to Section 108, expanding from a single technical fix to a multi-section tribal land tax policy bill.

Property used for conservation or open-space purposes can now qualify for a property tax exemption if owned and operated by a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law, not just a federally recognized Indian tribe or its wholly owned subsidiary. This applies for tax lien dates from 2026-27 through 2031-32.

The definition of 'tribal land return transaction' (exempt from documentary transfer tax) is expanded to include transfers of land to a corporation chartered under tribal law, in addition to federally recognized tribes and their wholly owned subsidiaries. This exemption sunsets January 1, 2031.

The bill creates new tax expenditures by expanding both the property tax exemption (Section 214.03) and the documentary transfer tax exemption (Section 11930.5). The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes.'

New Section 3 amends AB 1485 to require the Board of Equalization to publish an annual report starting March 1, 2028, summarizing acreage exempted, number of qualifying land return transactions, total dollar value of transferred land, and total documentary transfer taxes exempted. Reports must include baseline measurements from the year prior to the effective date.

New Section 4 adds tax expenditure accountability language (goals, performance indicators, data collection) specific to the amendments made by this bill, referencing the reporting requirements in amended Section 3 of AB 1485.

The property tax exemption under Section 214.03 applies only for tax lien dates from 2026-27 through 2031-32 and the section sunsets January 1, 2033. The documentary transfer tax exemption sunsets January 1, 2031.

A state mandate reimbursement provision was added, requiring the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts if the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill contains state-mandated costs.

The original nonsubstantive change to Section 108 (changing 'board' to 'State Board' and 'which' to 'that') is retained but moved to the end of the bill as a final section.

The bill text was reformatted from a printed legislative document style (with line numbers, page headers like '96' and 'AB 2167', and two-column layout) into a web page format with navigation elements, search tools, and version tracking links. No changes to the substantive legal language were made.

In both Section 214.03 (property tax exemption for conservation land) and Section 11930.5 (documentary transfer tax exemption for tribal land return transactions), the eligible entity 'a corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law' is changed to 'a nonprofit corporation chartered pursuant to tribal law,' limiting the exemption to nonprofit entities only.

The amendment to Section 108 of the Revenue and Taxation Code (definition of 'state-assessed property'), previously described as nonsubstantive, is removed from the bill entirely.

The fiscal committee vote changes from 'no' to 'yes' and the state-mandated local program designation changes from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now triggers fiscal analysis and potential state reimbursement obligations for local agencies.