California Proposition 1A is a bond measure to put $9.95 billion dollars into the construction of the California High-Speed Rail. The plan proposes the building of a statewide intercity train that will travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in as little as 2.5 hours. 1A proposes The California High Speed Rail as a transportation alternative that is fast, better for the environment, and will cut down on congestion. However, there is concern over whether or not this pricey project is the best use of the state’s limited budget.

Learn More About Proposition 1A

Read Proposition 1A

Another transportation bill that will be on the ballot November 4th for residents of Los Angeles County is Measure R. This measure proposes increased spending on transportation improvements in Los Angeles encompassing traffic signal repair, road work, and various MTA projects including Subway to the Sea. These improvements will be funded by increasing in sales tax half a cent.

The MTA’s Measure R Information Page

Read Measure R

1. To be eligible for the rebate: (a) I must be a Southern California Edison customer on a residential, GS-1 or GS-2 rate, and (b) the service(s) I have completed must (i) qualify for the rebate, (ii) be performed at a single-family residential dwelling, or (iii) at a business less than 200kW, fully constructed and occupied, within SCE’s service area. I understand I must complete and submit an Application for each service at each address where a qualifying service has been performed. For small business customers, the program is limited to the building owner or the entity responsible for purchasing and maintaining the air conditioning. Tenants who wish to participate must have the building owner’s permission.
2. The A/C Tune-Up Program term is April 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008, yet may end sooner if allocated funds are depleted. Any service(s) performed prior to April 1, 2008 or after July 31, 2008 will not qualify for a rebate. Limit two (2) rebates per residential service account.
3. Funds are limited. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The A/C Tune-Up Program may be modified or terminated without prior notice. In the event that rebate amounts change, the service date will be used to determine eligibility and the Application postmark date will be used to determine rebate amount, if any.
4. A signed and dated Application, and a copy of the contractor’s invoice, must be sent to Southern California Edison A/C-Tune-Up, PO Box 800, Rosemead, CA 91770 and postmarked no later than August 31, 2008 to be considered eligible for a rebate. After SCE receives a submitted Application, determines that it is complete and accurate and approves it for payment, a bill credit (Policy Adjustment) will appear on the customers’ SCE monthly bill statement within six to eight weeks at the address on record for the service account. SCE reserves the right to select any Application for verification, or reject any incomplete Application(s). If an Application is selected for verification, additional time may be required before the bill credit (Policy Adjustment) is applied.
5. I will allow, if requested, SCE’s and/or the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) representative(s) reasonable access to my home or business to verify completion of the qualifying service I have purchased, prior to payment of a rebate. I understand that a rebate will not be paid if I refuse to participate in any required verification. I understand that if I refuse to participate in or fail any required verification after receiving a rebate, I may be required to repay to SCE the amount of any rebate received. The verification of service must be scheduled within 30 days of customer contact by SCE. I understand that SCE may contact the qualifying service provider to verify service performed and may provide my name and/or address to complete this verification.
6. The qualifying service(s) must be performed by a company licensed and able to perform air conditioning maintenance services as evidenced by a valid California C-20 contractor’s license. License status can be confirmed at www.clsb.ca.gov. I understand that I cannot receive a rebate for the same product from more than one California investor-owned utility or third party energy efficiency program offering rebates, financing or other incentives funded with CPUC Public Goods Charge funds.
7. I agree that the selection of qualifying service(s), selection of licensed contractor(s) and purchase of the qualifying service(s) referenced in this Application are my sole responsibility, and the provider of these services is not an agent or representative of SCE.
8. I understand that SCE makes no representations regarding contractors, materials or workmanship. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT SCE MAKES NO WARRANTY WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, USE, OR APPLICATION OF THE PRODUCTS.
9. I agree that SCE has no liability whatsoever concerning (1) the quality, safety and/or installation of the service(s), including their fitness for any purpose, (2) the estimated energy savings of the services, (3) the workmanship of any third parties, or (4) any other matter with respect to the 2008 A/C Tune-Up Program. I waive any and all claims against SCE, its parent companies, affiliates companies, directors, officers, employees, or agents, arising out of activities conducted by or on behalf of SCE in connection with my Application for any rebate(s) under the 2008 A/C Tune-Up Program. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, none of such parties shall be liable hereunder for any type of damages, whether direct, or indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary, reliance, punitive or special damages, including damages for loss of use, regardless of the form of action, whether in contract, indemnity, warranty, strict liability or tort, including negligence of any kind.
10. I am responsible for meeting all 2008 A/C Tune-Up Program requirements and complying with my state/county/city governments, property owner and/or homeowners association requirements (if any) in my area regarding local conditions, restrictions, codes, ordinances, rules, and regulations concerning this service(s).
11. SCE is not responsible for items lost or destroyed in the mail/transit.
12. You certify that the information you have provided is true and correct, and that the service(s) for which you are requesting a rebate meet(s) the requirements in this application.
This program is funded by California utility ratepayers and administered by SCE under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. Funding for this program is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis until allocated funds are exhausted, or July 31, 2008, whichever comes first. This program may be modified or terminated without prior notice.

After thousands of REALTORS® called their legislators in opposition to the bill and thousands more lobbied against the bill in person last week at Legislative Day, the bill’s author amended AB 2678 to remove the point-of-sale requirement. The bill was further amended at C.A.R.’s request, to ensure that energy audits or improvements are not required as a condition of sale. With these changes, C.A.R. SUPPORTS AB 2678.

“The way the law is (currently) written…, it’s not explicit for landlords to declare smoke-free housing units without being sued,” he said. “We’re trying to make the law a little more clear, a little more explicit.”

The bill, scheduled to be heard would allow landlords to ban smoking on all or a portion of their property, including in any building on the site.

Tenants could continue to smoke inside their homes until their pre-smoking ban rental agreements expired. A violation would be considered a breach of the agreement and could lead to eviction.

The bill includes several findings about the health effects of tobacco use, including the fact that an estimated 38,000 Americans die each year because of breathing second-hand smoke.

“We need to recognize the rights of nonsmokers,” said Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat. “We share the same walls, the same ventilation units.”

Debra Carlton, a spokeswoman for the California Apartment Association, a landlords’ group that supports the bill, says apartment owners can face lawsuits no matter which way they go on the smoking issue.

“Smoking has become a source of conflict between smokers and nonsmokers,” she said. “Some owners who have set nonsmoking standards are challenged by smokers who claim they have a right to smoke on their own property.

“At the same time, owners who don’t set nonsmoking standards have been sued by tenants.”

Padilla’s bill takes a middle-of-the-road approach that some health groups think doesn’t go far enough. Some advocates for the poor, however, think it goes too far.

It could result in month-to-month renters, many of whom are poor, having as little as 60 days to quit smoking or find new places to live, said Cindi Alvidrez, a legislative assistant with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which lobbies on behalf of the poor.

“What we don’t want to see happen is having low-income families evicted and losing their rent-control protections when other means to prevent or quit smoking haven’t been addressed,” she said.

Bill Phelps, a spokesman for the Altria Group, owner of Philip Morris USA, said the nation’s largest tobacco company has not taken a position on the bill.

California already bans smoking in enclosed workplaces, including restaurants and bars, and near the entrances to state buildings and around children’s playgrounds.

A bill signed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bars smoking in motor vehicles carrying children.

By STEVE LAWRENCE Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 04/27/2008 09:38:18 AM PDT

Read about the proposition that passed and how this could affect you.

Of course, where there is a potential gain, there is a potential tax and the question arises whether gain resulting from a sale of TDRs can be deferred by exchanging TDRs for a fee interest in real property under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031. More precisely, are TDRs “like-kind” to a fee interest in real property? In PLR 200805012, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) addressed that question squarely. The IRS noted that “[t]he types of property rights and interests that constitute interests in real property . . . for purposes of §1031 are broad” and that “[w]hether property constitutes real or personal property generally is determined under state or local law.” The IRS went on to analyze the two issues commonly addressed in a real property like-kind analysis: (i) the nature of the rights represented by the TDRs (e.g., whether TDRs constitute an interest in real property), and (ii) the duration of the rights obtained under the TDRs.

In determining whether the TDRs constituted an interest in real property, the IRS noted that certain tax statutes in the state in which the TDRs were located treated TDRs as real property. “Although it is unclear whether development rights are treated as interests in real property for all purposes” of state law, it was clear that sections of state’s tax statute and regulations “treat development rights as an interest in real property.” Moreover, a local administrative agency had held that a transfer of development rights was subject to State gains tax as a transfer of real property. The IRS also noted that, similar to a deed, the transfer of development rights was subject to transfer taxes imposed by both the city and state in which the TDRs were located. Accordingly, the IRS found that the TDRs in question constituted an interest in real property under the state’s laws.

The IRS then considered the duration of the rights obtained under the TDRs, because an interest in real property must be of sufficient duration to be considered like-kind to a perpetual fee interest in real property. The IRS found that “various sections of the local ordinances cited by taxpayer provide that development rights are as-of-right and not discretionary, meaning that they exist permanently rather than at the discretion of a city agency or other decision-making authority. As such, these rights appear to be analogous to perpetual rights.”

As a final matter, the IRS considered whether the taxpayer’s use of the TDRs to benefit a property already owned by the taxpayer presented a problem in the exchange. Citing Revenue Ruling 68-394,1968-2 C.B.338, a case in which a taxpayer acquired a tenant’s leasehold interest on property he already owned as replacement property for certain other property that was condemned, the IRS concluded that “it is not material that the property acquired by the taxpayer as the replacement property is on property already owned by that taxpayer so long as it is acquired in an arm’s length transaction.”

Given the IRS’s analysis above, it would appear that a taxpayer could sell development rights for other like-kind real property just as easily as the taxpayer might purchase development rights as replacement property. (See, e.g., PLR 8141112 in which taxpayer sold agricultural land development rights to State as relinquished property.) Thus, in certain instances, residual development rights should be considered for exchange in the event that the taxpayer does not plan to use them in the future. Of course, any such transaction should be considered only after careful consideration of local laws governing TDRs in the jurisdiction in which the taxpayer owns investment property. A taxpayer may not rely upon a private letter ruling, so caution is warranted and competent tax advice should be obtained in connection with any such transaction.

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*None of the legal references or editorial materials contained in The IRC §1031 Tax Handbook are intended to be relied upon in a particular case as tax or legal advice. API makes no representation concerning the completeness of the cases, rulings and regulations cited in connection with a particular topic. Resolution of a specific tax question will likely require reference to other more comprehensive and regularly updated legal reference sources.