Article 1. General Provisions of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 1. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.

The board shall annually value and assess all of the taxable property within the state that is to be assessed by it pursuant to Section 19 of Article XIII of the Constitution and any legislative authorization thereunder.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 721 or any other provision of law to the contrary, commencing with the lien date for the 2003-04 fiscal year, the board shall annually assess every electric generation facility with a generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more that is owned or operated by an electrical corporation, as defined in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 218 of the Public Utilities Code.
  (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), "electric generation facility" does not include a qualifying small power production facility or a qualifying cogeneration facility within the meaning of Sections 201 and 210 of Title II of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. Secs. 796(17), (18) and 824a-3), and the regulations adopted for those sections under that act by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (18 C.F.R. 292.101-292.602).
  (b) This section shall be construed to supersede any regulation, in existence as of the effective date of this section, that is contrary to this section.

State-assessed property shall be assessed at its fair market value or full value as of 12:01 a.m. on the first day of January. The board shall annually prepare an assessment roll of the assessments made by it for transmittal to county auditors and city auditors as hereinafter provided in this chapter.

(a) Real property assessed by the board pursuant to Section 19 of Article XIII of the California Constitution on January 1, which thereafter becomes subject to local assessment, shall not be assessed locally during the remainder of the assessment year, except as provided in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 75) of Part 0.5 of Division 1.
  (b) Personal property that becomes subject to board assessment after January 1, and real property that becomes subject to board assessment on or after January 1, and on or before the following January 1, shall not be state assessed until the assessment year commencing on the latter January 1.

The board may use the principle of unit valuation in valuing properties of an assessee that are operated as a unit in a primary function of the assessee. When so valued, those properties are known as "unitary property." Property of an assessee not valued through the use of the principle of unit valuation are known as "nonunitary property." When valuing nonunitary property, the board shall consider current market value information of comparable properties provided by the assessor just prior to the reappraisal by the board of that property.

Operating nonunitary properties are those that the assessee and its regulatory agency consider to be operating as a unit, but the board considers not part of the unit in the primary function of the assessee. This section does not apply to state-assessed property of regulated railway companies. In the case of regulated railway companies, there shall be only two classifications of property for purposes of this code, unitary and nonunitary.

Whenever any act is required or allowed to be done on or before a date specified in this chapter and that day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the act may be performed timely during the next following business day.

The failure to receive any notice required to be given by the board or the failure of the board to complete any action by a date specified under this chapter, shall not affect the validity of an assessment or the validity of any taxes levied pursuant thereto. When any notice given by the board pursuant to this chapter provides for a time period of less than 10 days, the notice shall also be communicated by telephone on the day the notice is dated.