The Energy Commission adopted the 2016 Building Energy Efficiency Standards Nonresidential Lighting Alteration Language on November 12, 2015. Comments received at the adoption hearing included concerns over how to document existing conditions for purposes of verification and enforcement. The lighting alteration subchapters of the Nonresidential Compliance Manual are under development and staff would like stakeholder input on documentation requirements for existing conditions. On February 16, California ...

California’s building efficiency standards have been updated, with changes that will become mandatory in January 2017. This seminar will cover what’s new in Title 24 for both residential and non-residential buildings, from high performance walls and attics to lighting and lighting controls. The session will also review challenges that have resulted in implementing the 2103 standards, strategies for addressing them, and solutions to these challenges that may be included in the recent revisions. With ...

March 2: BOMA California Board Meeting TBA, Oakland   June 8: BOMA California Board Meeting 1:30-4:00p.m, CalChamber, Sacramento   June 26-28: BOMA International Annual Conference Washington, D.C.   October 21: California Board Meeting Fairmont Hotel Newport Beach  Read More →

Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) bill to address the “change of ownership” issue passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a 6-0 vote.  Senate Bill 259 would correct an outdated interpretation of property change of ownership that has been the long running debate around commercial property and Proposition 13.  Business and taxpayer groups (including commercial real estate groups) were joined by the League of Cities in supporting the measure. SB 259 would alter the definition ...

Click here to read Senator Patricia Bates’ (R-Laguna Niguel) op/ed on SB 259:  “SB 259 would provide that a change in ownership occurs when 90 percent of a legal entity’s ownership interests transfer in a single transaction. Bates’ bill is supported by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Business Roundtable and the California Business Properties Association. A similar bill authored by former Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) ...

Senator Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) has introduced SB 820 which seeks to make permanent the California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act (CLRRA), which encourages clean-up of hazardous waste and revitalization of blighted properties in California.   This bill is has been tagged as a legislative priority by the California Association of Local Economic Development (CALED) and is also supported by CBPA.  Senator Hertzberg notes thatBrownfields remain a significant problem nationwide. These properties ...

Our friends at the CalChamber have a review of the significant ballot measure that are shaping up for 2016.  Two measure of concern to the commercial real estate industry have already made the ballot, a CBPA Supported School Bond measure and a CBPA opposed proposal to require statewide voter approval for revenue bonds exceeding $2B. Additionally, we are closely watching several measures that are out for signature including a significant Property Tax surcharge on all properties assessed at more than ...

The property tax initiative noted above is referred to as the “Collis” initiative after one of its primary proponents.  The measure would create a sliding scale property tax surcharge on all properties (commercial and residential) assessed at more than $3 million.  The increased taxes are dedicated to fund “poverty reduction programs.”  So far, the initiative has collected about 25% of the signatures it needs to qualify and has until March 21, 2016, to collected the required 585,407 signatures ...

 In addition to the ballot measure battles, the intra-party politics of 2016 are starting to get complicated.  Here is a piece by the Bee’s Dan Walters that surveys the battles between moderate Democrats and some of the party’s core constituencies.  Click here to read.  Read More →

The state Constitution requires the Governors to submit a budget proposal for the next fiscal each year by January 10, but this year the budget was released three days early. So, the annual budget battle begins.  However, this year the state is planning on a second surplus year in a row – which may make the battles even more intense, as members of the majority party fight to lock-in  a share of that new revenue for new and existing programs while the Governor tries to tuck some money away to ...