Property Tax Exemptions and Capital Leases

Two part question: 1) It's been a LONG time since I've had to deal with Capital vs. Operating Leases, but I have a colleague who owns property, is considering leasing it and is looking at different ways of structuring the lease. I have dealt with capital leases as the entity acquiring the property but not from the other side. How is the lease accounted for by the actual owner of the property? Does it differ depending on how the lessee would be accounting for it? 2) Other question is related to how my colleague can qualify for a welfare exemption on the property taxes related to the property. The owner of the property is a 501c(3) and is looking to lease the property to another 501c(3). The property is in Alameda County and the Assessor's office there has not been helpful. My experience has been that if the owner of the property is a non-profit, the exemption is automatic; but this is apparently not the case. We are looking for an expert who can have a brief conversation with the property owner about their options to eliminate the tax payment on the property.