California Taxpayers Association members, tax agency leaders, and other tax policy experts convened March 6 in Sacramento for the association’s 99th Annual Meeting.
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, president of the California Assessors’ Association, kicked off the meeting with a discussion of how the recent fires in his county are impacting residents and property values, and what steps his office has taken to help fire victims navigate the property tax system.
The meeting then transitioned to “Breakfast With the Assessors,” a panel featuring Prang, San Diego County Assessor Jordan Marks, Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, Ventura County Assessor Keith Taylor, and moderators David Kline (CalTax vice president of communications and research) and Gina Rodriquez (principal of advocacy services practice for Ryan LLC). Tax relief for disaster victims was a focus of the discussion, and the assessors also offered their perspectives on high vacancy rates for commercial office buildings, whether assessors have sufficient funding for modernization efforts, and more.
CalTax President Robert Gutierrez was joined by CalTax Sales Tax Consultant Joan Armenta-Roberts and PwC Partner Jon Sperring to present the third annual David R. Doerr Medal for Excellence in Tax Policy to Dean Andal, a former lawmaker, State Board of Equalization member, and retired PwC partner. Armenta-Roberts and Sperring discussed their experiences as staffers for Andal, describing him as a taxpayer advocate with a deep sense of purpose and strong sense of humor.
Andal thanked CalTax for the award and spoke about working with Doerr on taxpayer-friendly reforms.
Other speakers at the event included Chris Micheli, founding partner of the lobbying firm of Snodgrass & Micheli; Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects for the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation; Marva Diaz, publisher of the California Target Book; Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek; Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis; Marcy Jo Mandel, counsel for McDermott Will & Emery; Jeffrey Vesely, a partner with Pillsbury Law; Jenica Wilkins with Ernst & Young LLP; Barry Weissman, a CalTax board member emeritus; CalMatters reporter Alexei Koseff; Politico reporter Dustin Gardiner; Deputy State Controller for Taxation Hasib Emran; Myriam Bouaziz, director of the Office of Tax Appeals; Nicolas Maduros, director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (who was appointed as secretary of the Government Operations Agency the previous week, but was still serving in his CDTFA post at the time of the meeting); Selvi Stanislaus, executive officer of the Franchise Tax Board; and Yvette Stowers, executive director of the State Board of Equalization.