Cal. Const., art. XIII, § 19 · Article XIII. TAXATION
Cal. Const., art. XIII, § 19
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
The Board shall annually assess (1) pipelines, flumes, canals, ditches, and aqueducts lying within 2 or more counties and (2) property, except franchises, owned or used by regulated railway, telegraph, or telephone companies, car companies operating on railways in the State, and companies transmitting or selling gas or electricity. This property shall be subject to taxation to the same extent and in the same manner as other property.
No other tax or license charge may be imposed on these companies which differs from that imposed on mercantile, manufacturing, and other business corporations. This restriction does not release a utility company from payments agreed on or required by law for a special privilege or franchise granted by a government body.
The Legislature may authorize Board assessment of property owned or used by other public utilities.
The Board may delegate to a local assessor the duty to assess a property used but not owned by a state assessee on which the taxes are to be paid by a local assessee.
Notes and commentary — not constitutional text
History
Sec. 19 added Nov. 5, 1974, by Prop. 8. Res.Ch. 70, 1974.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CONS§ionNum=SEC.%2019.&article=XIII
- Text hash
- sha256 ae7fb6870075a79c11f1633e2fa8aa3111eb1b4a0495458a38b4c81cea49efa9
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Cal. Const., art. XIII, § 19. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Government Code
Revenue and Taxation Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.