LA County Supervisors Adopt Knabe-Championed Tax Ordinance

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance Tuesday requiring tax agents to register with the county and disclose all county campaign contributions.

Supervisor Don Knabe, who championed the measure, had held it for a week to see if state legislators would move forward on a similar bill, which remains in committee. Assembly Bill 1151 would require tax agents to register with the state, but it would not take effect until June 1, 2014, a year later than the county's deadline. The state bill would not require disclosure of campaign contributions but would allow the county to demand that disclosure.

On Nov. 13, the Board of Supervisors adopted a separate ordinance banning tax agents from making campaign contributions to the county assessor or candidates for that office.

Both new ordinances were sparked by the October 17 arrest of Assessor John Noguez in a corruption probe. Noguez is charged -- along with tax consultant Ramin Salari, principal assessor Mark McNeil and appraiser Scott Schenter -- with multiple felony counts in cases involving allegations that property tax agents slashed assessments for owners who gave money to Noguez's successful 2010 campaign for county assessor.