Article 14. Pleasure Riding Tax of California Government Code >> Division 2. >> Title 5. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 14.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Pleasure Riding Tax Law."

The Legislature finds and declares that the owners of pleasure riding animals receive special benefit from the use of public areas designated for use by such animals. It is the purpose of this article to provide for the acquisition and development of further public areas, including public riding and hiking trails, by a tax on those persons who receive special benefit from such public areas.

Pursuant to the provisions of this article, a county or regional park district may levy a countywide or districtwide tax, respectively, on horses, mules, or other animals used substantially for pleasure riding or trail use, not to exceed ten dollars ($10) per animal per year, for the privilege of access to and use of public areas designated for use by such animals.

For the purposes of this article, the following animals shall be deemed not to be used substantially for pleasure riding or trail use and shall be exempt from the pleasure riding tax, except that any stock animal so exempted shall be subject to the provisions of Section 53946:
  (a) Any head of stock ridden or used by the owner, his family or his employee primarily in the carrying on of a business or ranch operation;
  (b) Any head of stock used by the owner for rental use entirely upon private lands under the jurisdiction of the owner;
  (c) Any head of stock used by the owner for rental use primarily upon a parcel of land belonging to the federal government if the taxing agency does not use the proceeds of a tax under this article for improvements within that parcel of land; and
  (d) Any other class of animal specifically exempted by the taxing agency.

Revenue derived from a tax imposed under this article shall be deposited in a special fund in the county treasury or district treasury. Such fund may be expended only to defray the reasonable expense of collecting such tax and for the maintenance, acquisition and construction of trails for horseback riders and hikers, but moneys in the fund may be used as local matching moneys for any federal or state grant for such purposes or for matching funds in the acquisition and development of a federal or state trails project.

As a method of collecting a tax imposed under this article, the taxing agency may make payment of the tax a condition precedent to utilization of riders and hikers' trails by any stock animal except that evidence of payment of such tax in any other county or district shall fulfill such condition.

The taxing agency shall provide to the owner of such animal a record of payment, on durable material, for each animal for which a tax is paid under this article.