Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks – now a candidate for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors – has been claiming a $7,000 annual property tax exemption on the home he owns in an unincorporated area – even though he doesn’t live there, as required by state tax laws.
Parks is registered to vote at 4132 Don Ibarra Place in the City of Los Angeles, and state law allows individuals to register to vote only where they live. This address is in the 8th Council District, which he represents.However, Parks claims his $7,000 annual property tax exemption at 5561 Onacrest Drive, located in unincorporated Los Angeles County. Ironically, Parks is claiming a homeowners’ exemption for a principal residence outside the city he was elected to represent.
Parks has not been registered to vote at this address since May 2002, when he registered to vote in the City of Los Angeles, and changed his membership from the American Independent Party to the Democratic Party [in preparation for his first campaign for City Council], according to documents available through the Registrar of Voters.
So, Bernard Parks owes his constituents an explanation: Why didn’t he pay his fair share of property taxes that fund a wide range of essential services including law enforcement, public safety, K-12 education, community colleges, state colleges and universities, highway maintenance, and health care for uninsured children?
Does he really live in the City Council District he was elected to represent, or does he live in a home in an unincorporated area outside of Los Angeles?
Bernard Parks has an obligation to pay back taxes and penalties for the years in which he claimed a homeowner’s exemption on his Onacrest property despite not living there.
The California Constitution provides a $7,000 reduction in the taxable value for a qualifying owner-occupied home. The home must have been the principal place of residence of the owner on the lien date, January 1st. To claim the exemption the homeowner must make a timely filing of a simple form with the county assessor. A partial 80% exemption may be granted for homeowners who file a late affidavit and claim for exemption with the assessor between February 16th and December 10th.
Homeowners' exemption claimants are responsible for notifying the assessor when they are no longer eligible for the exemption. December 10th is the last day to terminate the homeowners' exemption without penalty; the assessor should receive notice of ineligibility by that date.
The State Elections Code gives weight to considering the residence on which a homeowner’s exemption is claimed as a person’s residence for registration and elections purposes.
Elections Code Section 2031 reads as follows:
“If a person has more than one residence and that person maintains a homeowner's property tax exemption on the dwelling of one of the residences pursuant to Section 218 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the residence subject to the homeowner's property tax exemption is that person's domicile.
However, this presumption shall not apply in the event any other residence is listed as the person's current residence address on any driver's license, identification card or vehicle registration issued to that person by, and on file with, the Department of Motor Vehicles.”
“If a person has more than one residence and that person claims a renter's tax credit for one of the residences pursuant to Section 17053.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the residence subject to the renter's tax credit is that person's domicile.
However, this presumption shall not apply in the event any other residence is listed as the person's current residence address on any driver's license, identification card, or vehicle registration issued to that person by, and on file with, the Department of Motor Vehicles. This section shall not be applicable to state or federal elected officials.”
Bernard Parks has supported tax increases here and there as a member of the City Council, but he doesn’t pay his own… at least, not his fair share, like average taxpayers.
Bernard Parks is NOT who we thought he was.
-Bernard Parks 2006 Homeowners Exemption (PDF)
-Bernard Parks 2007 Homeowners Exemption (PDF)
