(

a) An assessor or any person employed by the office of the county assessor shall not make decisions with regard to changes in ownership unless he or she is the holder of a valid assessment analyst certificate issued by the board. (

b) An assessor or any person employed by the office of the county assessor shall not make decisions with regard to property tax exemptions, except for homeowners’ exemption claims, unless he or she is the holder of a valid assessment analyst certificate issued by the board. (

c) The board shall provide for the examination of applicants for an assessment analyst certificate and may contract with the Department of Human Resources 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.

A certificate shall not be issued to any assessor or person employed by the office of the county assessor who has not attained a passing grade in the examination and demonstrated to the board that he or she is competent to make change in ownership or exemption decisions, or both, as that competency is defined in regulations duly adopted by the board. However, any applicant for a certificate who is denied a certificate pursuant to this

section shall have a right to a review of that denial in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with

Section 11500) of Part of Division of Title of the Government Code). (

d) This

section does not apply to an assessor or any person employed by the office of the county assessor holding a valid appraiser’s or advanced appraiser’s certificate issued by the board. (

e) The board shall not impose any charge upon a county or city and county or an applicant for an examination or certification under this

section or for training conducted by the board under

Section 675.