(a) No person shall perform the duties or exercise the authority of an appraiser for property tax purposes as an employee of the state, any county or city and county, unless he or she is the holder of a valid appraiser’s or advanced appraiser’s certificate issued by the State Board of Equalization.

(b) The board shall provide for the examination of applicants for these certificates and may contract with the State Personnel Board to give the examinations. Examinations shall be prepared by the board with the advice and assistance of a committee of five assessors selected by the California Assessors’ Association for this purpose. No certificate shall be issued to any person who has not attained a passing grade in the examination and demonstrated to the board that he or she is competent to perform the work of an appraiser as that competency is defined in regulations duly adopted by the board. However, any applicant for a certificate who is denied the same shall have a right to a review of that denial in accordance with the State Administrative Procedure Act contained in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(c) Passage of a civil service or merit system examination for appraiser given by the state, or any county or city and county, shall suffice to meet the requirements of this section. The scope of the examination shall be approved by the State Board of Equalization.

(d) No employee of the state, or any county or city and county shall perform the duties or exercise the authority of an auditor or an auditor-appraiser under Section 469 or Section 15624 of the Government Code, unless he or she holds a degree with a specialization in accounting from a recognized institution of higher education, or is a licensed accountant in the State of California, or has passed the state, or a county, or city and county, or city civil service or merit system examination regularly given for the position of accountant or auditor by the testing body, or holds the office of assessor.

(e) Except for persons holding the office of assessor, this section does not apply to elected officials.

(f) No charge shall be made to counties or to applicants for examinations and certifications under this section or for training conducted by the board under Section 671.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 201, Sec. 10. (SB 1462) Effective January 1, 2015.)