The 2026-27 Budget: CDTFA’s Cannabis and Tobacco Programs

Feb 23, 2026 - Money returned to the General Fund can be spent on a much wider array of programs than those supported by the Cannabis Tax Fund. Consequently, shifting enforcement costs from the Cannabis Tax Fund to the General Fund is inefficient.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5132

Review of the California Competes Tax Credit

Oct 31, 2017 - We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states to attract major employers that sell to customers around the country and the world.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3709

California’s First Film Tax Credit Program

Sep 29, 2016 - If a project was allocated a film tax credit during the initial allocation period, it was roughly 5  percent more likely to be made —at all, anywhere —than the projects that did not win the lottery and were initially placed onto a waitlist.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3502

Taxation of Sugary Drinks

Nov 26, 2018 - Volume ‑based taxes are the simplest sugary drink taxes, as they depend only on information that is commonly tracked and relatively easy to verify. Sugar ‑based or tiered taxes are more complex, as they require taxpayers and tax administrators to track drinks ’ sugar content.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3903

Understanding Your Property Tax Bill - The 1 Percent Tax—Where Does Your Money Go? [Video]

This animation summarizes the major steps county auditors take to distribute this money.
https://lao.ca.gov/Videos/Player?playlistId=96&videoId=144

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - (To raise the same amount of money under the state ’s current taxable wage base of $7,000, the standard tax rate would need to be 5  percent, well above the state ’s current tax rate of 3.5  percent.)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943

The 2019-20 May Revision: Sales Tax Exemptions for Diapers and Menstrual Products

May 12, 2019 - Of that, 3.94  percent raises money for the state ’s General Fund, and 2.06  percent raises money the state provides to counties for various local programs. Local governments ’ portion of the sales tax ranges from 1.25  percent to 4.5  percent.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4040

Understanding Your Property Tax Bill - Calculating Your 1 Percent Tax [Video]

Understanding Your Property Tax Bill - Calculating Your 1 Percent Tax [Video] Search LAO Videos Understanding Your Property Tax Bill December 9, 2015 As a companion to LAO 's California Economy and Taxes blog series on property tax, these animations 1)  walk  through the basic steps of calculating a property owner ’s 1 percent  tax and 2)  summarize  the major steps county auditors take to distribute this money.
https://lao.ca.gov/Videos/Player?playlistId=96

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Other Provisions

Oct 16, 2025 - Proposition  2 (2014) requires the state to spend a specified amount of money (determined through a budgetary formula) each year towards eligible liabilities. It has been state policy to satisfy this requirement through the state ’s General Fund contributions to prefund retiree health benefits and annual supplemental pension payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5081

The 2017-18 Budget: The Board of Equalization

Mar 7, 2017 - The administration requests $5.8  million for enforcement in 2017-18, but the vast majority of this money —$5.1  million —is limited-term. In light of the limited budgetary discretion allowed by Proposition 56, there is little reason to commit to revisiting this funding at a fixed point in time.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3609