SACRAMENTO BUDGET UPDATE

A budget deal has been struck to “solve” the $27 billion budget deficit and at the time of this alert the Senate had approved the budget and the Assembly was in debate. Although we could claim victory on several tactical issues, our celebrations are reserved. Due to the lack of major structural reforms that we believe are necessary for long-term financial stability, very “rosy” financial assumptions, and the continuing decline of the state’s economy, we worry that we may see more budget negations needed before the end of the year. Click here for a summary of the budget deal.
 

CA SPLIT ROLL ATTEMPT OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

A new group calling itself the “Close the Proposition 13 Loophole Committee” has been registered with the Secretary of State’s Office. This action, taken by the San Francisco Tax Assessor, is the first step to running a statewide proposition to create a “Split Roll Property Tax,” which would remove current protections from business properties and allow them to be taxed at a higher rate and/or be assessed differently than residential properties.
 

INDUSTRY MEETINGS SET IN CA TO COMBAT SPLIT ROLL

Rex Hime from CBPA is once again leading the charge against split roll and is now travelling the state to meet with commercial real estate executives to educate them about the threat and to raise money to fund the oncoming battle. The meetings being jointly arranged by ICSC, NAIOP, BOMA, and IREM, are being held in San Jose on August 6, Orange County on August 20, and San Diego on September 1, with the first meeting already held in San Francisco on July 23. If you are interested in attending, or if you would like to coordinate a meeting in your region, email Matthew Hargrove.
 

WATER FIXTURE CONSERVATION BILL FIXED

After months of negotiations with the bill’s author, SB 407 (Padilla; D-Pacoima) has been amended to address several issues of concern to the retail real estate industry. The bill initially had a year 2014 mandate of a time-of-sale requirement that all non-residential buildings be retrofitted with “water savings” fixtures. Although our industry is very supportive of water conservation, the bill would have caused significant cost and feasibility issues, and unnecessarily complicated real estate transactions. The bill now allows until 2019 for owners to replace indoor faucets, showerheads, and toilets to meet the 1992 building code standard for water flow.
 

INDUSTRY BACKED BILL TO FUND WATER FIXTURES UPGRADES

AB 474 (Blumenfield; D-Van Nuys) will help property owners fund water efficiency retrofits through a voluntary financing program. The bill authorizes the use of contractual assessments to finance the installation of water efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other real property. By supporting the bill, we hope this funding mechanism can help property owners meet the potential retrofit requirements mandated by many local governments and in case SB 407 becomes law. Above and beyond meeting the minimum water efficiency requirements, many in our industry believe that such a funding mechanism will encourage upgrades to more water efficient fixtures and technologies.
 

MANDATORY SUBMETERING FIX

Over our industry’s objections in 2007, AB 1103 (Saldana; D-San Diego) was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger. The law mandates that beginning in 2010 all non-residential buildings be energy benchmarked when triggered by any major financial event (i.e. if you refinance your building, you will need to put it through the Energy Star database). However, the law presents significant challenges for multi-tenant commercial buildings due to privacy issues and limited access to master metered information. The fix suggested by our industry, is contained in AB 531, a bill carried by the author of the original measure. Prospects for the bill look very good.
 

MANDATORY COMMERCIAL RECYCLING REGULATIONS

California is well on its way to adopting mandatory commercial recycling. The Legislature is in a race with the regulatory agencies to see who can come up with the mandate first. It is questionable whether or not the regulatory agencies actually have the authority to enact such a mandate, but regardless as a part of implementing the Mandatory Commercial Recycling measure outlined in the Climate Change Scoping Plan for the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), the CA Integrated Waste Management Board is soliciting stakeholder input on a range of issues and conceptual regulatory language related to topics such as thresholds, exemptions, implementation, enforcement and costs. 

This will impact your business. You are encouraged to attend or provide us with feedback on the proposals:

August 6, 2009
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
21865 E. Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, California

GREENHOUSE GAS CEQA GUIDELINES UNDERWAY

The Natural Resources Agency received recommended amendments to the CEQA Guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Public hearings on the proposed guideline amendments are scheduled for August 18, 2009 in Sacramento and on August 20, 2009 in Los Angeles. Written comments will be accepted until 5:00pm on August 20, 2009. Click here for more information on how to participate.
 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE PROGRAM

On Tuesday, August 4, you are invited to learn about the current status of recent plans to locate an NFL team in the Los Angeles area and the huge investment in real estate needed to make this a reality. The Southern California Alliance Program, hosted by ICSC, will be discussing the intricacies of bringing an NFL football team back to the Los Angeles area, as well as the planning, design and development of a state of the art football/commercial/entertainment/retail destination complex. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, from 11:00am – 2:00pm at the Pacific Palms Conference Resort in The City of Industry. Click here for more information.
 

BOMA CALIFORNIA 2009 CALENDAR

NOVEMBER 2009

November 5—
BOMA CA BOARD MEETING & ELECTION OF 2010 OFFICERS
Meritage Hotel, Napa, CA
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

 November 5-6—
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE STRATEGIC ISSUES CONFERENCE
Meritage Hotel, Napa, CA