Neutered California tax board forces quick transition

(AP) — Off and on for nearly a century, California lawmakers pondered breaking up an obscure elected board that now collects a third of the state's revenue — more than $60 billion a year in sales, alcohol, tobacco and other taxes.

Brager praised a move he said will put lawyers with expertise in tax law in charge of tax appeals, rather than politicians unfamiliar with California's intricate tax code.

The judges will be selected through the state's traditional civil service hiring process and report to a director appointed by Brown, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Brown's Department of Finance.

The changes were prompted by a scathing Finance Department evaluation earlier this year that portrayed a rogue agency in which some board members inappropriately used state employees to work on promotional activities and failed to report accurate financial information to the Legislature and the administration.

The evaluation alleged board member Jerome Horton reassigned public employees to work for him, opened a call center in his district without other members' consent and held outreach events unrelated to the board's mission.