BILL NUMBER: SB 1329 CHAPTERED 09/12/02 CHAPTER 500 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 12, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Chesbro JANUARY 30, 2002 An act to amend Section 76224 of the Government Code, to amend Section 96.6 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and to amend Section 22710 of the Vehicle Code, relating to counties, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1329, Chesbro. County funds. (1) Existing law requires deposits of specified surcharges into certain funds for courthouse and criminal justice facilities construction established in Merced County for 30 years. This bill would similarly require deposit of those surcharges in Sonoma County. (2) The Community Redevelopment Law authorizes the establishment of redevelopment agencies in communities in order to address the effects of blight, as defined, in those communities. Existing law also authorizes a redevelopment plan adopted pursuant to that law to provide for an allocation to the relevant redevelopment agency of a portion of those ad valorem property tax revenues derived with respect to a redevelopment project. Existing property tax law also establishes certain parameters with respect to the subtraction of a redevelopment agency's share of ad valorem property tax revenues from those revenues otherwise allocated to other local jurisdictions within a redevelopment project area. This bill would clarify the process by which incremental property tax revenues to be allocated to a redevelopment agency are withdrawn from those revenue shares allocated to other local jurisdictions in a redevelopment project area in the County of Stanislaus. This bill also would deem to be correct any apportionment of property tax revenues made for any fiscal year prior to the effective date of the bill that is inconsistent with the clarifications made by this bill. (3) Existing law allows a county to establish a service authority for the abatement of abandoned vehicles. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish guidelines for abandoned vehicle abatement programs that include, among other guidelines, a requirement that each service authority that receives moneys from the Abandoned Vehicle Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, report annually to the Controller. This bill would authorize the Controller, notwithstanding these reporting requirements, to allocate to the County of Humboldt abandoned vehicle abatement funds for calendar years 2000 and 2001. By liberalizing the conditions under which the Controller may allocate funds from the Abandoned Vehicle Trust Fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 76224 of the Government Code is amended to read: 76224. Deposits to the Courthouse Construction Fund established in Merced or Sonoma County pursuant to Section 76100 and the Criminal Justice Facilities Construction Fund established in Merced or Sonoma County pursuant to Section 76101 shall continue through and including the 30th year after the initial year in which the surcharge is collected or the 30th year after any borrowings are made for any construction under those sections, whichever comes later. SEC. 2. Section 96.6 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read: 96.6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of this chapter, the apportionment of property tax revenues required by Article 1 (commencing with Section 95) to Article 4 (commencing with Section 98), inclusive, shall not involve the subtraction of the redevelopment increment, calculated pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 33670 of the Health and Safety Code, from any jurisdiction that is not within the boundaries of a redevelopment project area. For each fiscal year, if, in performing the calculations set forth in subdivision (a) and in subdivision (b) of Section 33670 of the Health and Safety Code, the auditor determines that there is redevelopment increment to be allocated to a redevelopment agency, the auditor shall withdraw that redevelopment increment determined pursuant to Section 33670 of the Health and Safety Code from those ad valorem property tax revenue allocations to be made to each jurisdiction within the boundaries of the relevant redevelopment project area. Each of those jurisdiction's share of that redevelopment increment shall be computed on the basis of the factors or rates which are developed pursuant to Section 96.5. In order to determine each jurisdiction's share of that redevelopment increment, the factors or rates for all tax rate areas that are part of a redevelopment project shall be applied to the current assessed value of the taxable property within the redevelopment project area, less the assessed valuation on the assessment roll last equalized prior to the effective date of the ordinance establishing the redevelopment project. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a county from making the allocation and payment of funds as provided for by subdivision (b) of Section 33670 of the Health and Safety Code prior to the apportionment of property tax revenues to any jurisdiction. (b) The amendment of subdivision (a) made by the act adding this subdivision does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law. However, any apportionment of property tax revenues made prior to the effective date of the act adding this subdivision that is inconsistent with the provisions of subdivision (a), as amended by the act adding this subdivision, shall be deemed correct. (c) (1) For the 2001-02 fiscal year, and each succeeding fiscal year thereafter, if the auditor of the County of Stanislaus determines that the withdrawal of the redevelopment increment from jurisdictions within the boundaries of the relevant redevelopment project area, on a project area basis as outlined in subdivision (a), results in jurisdictions receiving larger allocations of taxes than they otherwise would have received in the absence of redevelopment, the auditor may then determine if there is a redevelopment increment on a tax rate area basis and make withdrawals of the redevelopment increment from jurisdictions on a tax rate area basis to ensure that tax allocations to jurisdictions in the relevant redevelopment project are consistent with constitutional provisions and court rulings requiring that tax allocations to jurisdictions may never be more than they otherwise would have received without redevelopment. (2) Any apportionment of property tax revenues made prior to January 1, 2003, that is inconsistent with this subdivision shall be deemed correct. SEC. 3. Section 22710 of the Vehicle Code, as amended by Chapter 175 of the Statutes of 2001, is amended to read: 22710. (a) A service authority for the abatement of abandoned vehicles may be established, and a one dollar ($1) vehicle registration fee imposed, in any county if the board of supervisors of the county, by a two-thirds vote, and a majority of the cities having a majority of the incorporated population within the county have adopted resolutions providing for the establishment of the authority and imposition of the fee. The membership of the authority shall be determined by concurrence of the board of supervisors and a majority vote of the majority of the cities within the county having a majority of the incorporated population. (b) The authority may contract and may undertake any act convenient or necessary to carry out any law relating to the authority. The authority shall be staffed by existing personnel of the city, county, or county transportation commission. (c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a service authority may adopt an ordinance establishing procedures for the abatement, removal, and disposal, as public nuisances, of any abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof from private or public property; and for the recovery, pursuant to Section 25845 or 38773.5 of the Government Code, or assumption by the service authority, of costs of administration and that removal and disposal. The actual removal and disposal of vehicles shall be undertaken by an entity that may be a county or city or the department, pursuant to contract with the service authority as provided in this section. (2) The money received by an authority pursuant to Section 9250.7 and this section shall be used only for the abatement, removal, and disposal as public nuisances of any abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof from private or public property. (d) (1) An abandoned vehicle abatement program and plan of a service authority shall be implemented only with the approval of the county and a majority of the cities having a majority of the incorporated population. (2) The department shall provide guidelines for abandoned vehicle abatement programs. An authority's abandoned vehicle abatement plan and program shall be consistent with those guidelines, and shall provide for, but not be limited to, an estimate of the number of abandoned vehicles, a disposal and enforcement strategy including contractual agreements, and appropriate fiscal controls. The department's guidelines provided pursuant to this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, requiring each service authority receiving funds from the Abandoned Vehicle Trust Fund to report to the Controller on an annual basis pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 9250.7, in a manner prescribed by the department, and pursuant to an approved abandoned vehicle abatement program. The report shall be submitted to the Controller not later than 90 calendar days following the end of the previous quarter. (3) After a plan has been approved pursuant to paragraph (1), the service authority shall, not later than August 1 of the year in which the plan was approved, submit it to the department for review, and the department shall, not later than October 1 of that same year, either approve the plan as submitted or make recommendations for revision. After the plan has received the department's approval as being consistent with the department's guidelines, the service authority shall, not later than January 1 of the following year, submit it to the Controller. (4) Except as provided in subdivision (e), the Controller shall make no allocations for a calendar year to a service authority for which an approved plan was not received on or before January 1 of that year, or when a county has failed to provide its annual report as required in paragraph (2). (5) No governmental agency shall receive any funds from a service authority for the abatement of abandoned vehicles pursuant to an approved abandoned vehicle abatement program unless the governmental agency has submitted an annual report to the service authority stating the manner in which the funds were expended, and the number of vehicles abated. The governmental agency shall receive that percentage of the total funds collected by the service authority that is equal to its share of the formula calculated pursuant to paragraph (6). (6) Each service authority shall calculate a formula for apportioning funds to each governmental agency that receives funds from the service authority and submit that formula to the Controller with the annual report required pursuant to paragraph (2). The formula shall apportion 50 percent of the funds received by the service authority to a governmental agency based on the percentage of vehicles abated by that governmental agency of the total number of abandoned vehicles abated by all member agencies, and 50 percent based on population and geographic area, as determined by the service authority. When the formula is first submitted to the Controller, and each time the formula is revised thereafter, the service authority shall include a detailed explanation of how the service authority determined the apportionment between per capita abatements and service area. (7) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the Controller may allocate to the service authority in the County of Humboldt the net amount of the abandoned vehicle abatement funds received from the fee imposed by that authority, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 9250.7, for calendar years 2000 and 2001. (e) Any plan that has been submitted to the Controller pursuant to subdivision (d) may be revised pursuant to the procedure prescribed in that subdivision, including compliance with any dates described therein for submission to the department and the Controller, respectively, in the year in which the revisions are proposed. Compliance with that procedure shall only be required if the revisions are substantial. A service authority that is newly formed and has not complied with subdivision (d) may so comply after the dates specified in subdivision (d) by submitting an approved plan on or before those dates in the year in which the plan is submitted. (f) For purposes of this section, "abandoned vehicle abatement" means the removal of a vehicle from public or private property by towing or any other means after the vehicle has been marked as abandoned by an official of a governmental agency that is a member of the service authority. (g) A service authority shall cease to exist on the date that all revenues received by the authority pursuant to this section and Section 9250.7 have been expended. SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of unique circumstances in Humboldt, Sonoma, and Stanislaus Counties.