§ 1268.350.Rate of Interest Payable For Calendar Quarter

Every other interest provision in this article points back to this section for the actual number. Rather than fixing a flat statutory percentage, the Legislature tied eminent domain interest to a rate that already exists for another purpose: the apportionment rate the State Controller calculates as the Surplus Money Investment Fund's earnings rate for each calendar quarter.

The mechanics are simple once you see the reference point. For any calendar quarter, or part of one, in which interest is due, the applicable rate is the apportionment rate from the immediately preceding quarter -- so the rate used is always known in advance rather than depending on a figure not yet calculated for the current period.

Because that number isn't intuitive or widely published, the statute requires each district office of the Department of Transportation to quote the current apportionment rate to anyone who asks, giving parties and their counsel an easy way to confirm the figure without digging through Controller's Office records.