BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 827|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 827
Author: Yamada (D)
Amended: 7/7/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 3-2, 7/1/09
AYES: Wiggins, Kehoe, Wolk
NOES: Cox, Aanestad
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-32, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Records
SOURCE : Yolo County
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a county board of
supervisors to impose a fee, not to exceed estimated
reasonable costs as well as not to exceed $3 per document,
for the archiving of historical county records, including,
but not limited to, records pertaining to real property,
local agency meetings and actions, roads and other public
works, and other records of general public or historical
interest.
ANALYSIS : County boards of supervisors can levy
authorized fees or charges in amounts reasonably necessary
to recover the costs of providing products or services or
the cost of enforcing regulations (AB 151, Hannigan,
Chapter 295, Statutes of 1983). The fees or charges may
reflect the average cost of providing products or services
CONTINUED
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or enforcing regulations, plus limited indirect costs.
Despite generally deregulating county fees 25 years ago,
state law still sets a large number of fees, including
county recorders' fees.
This bill authorizes a county board of supervisors to
provide for the archiving of historical county records,
including records pertaining to real property, local agency
meetings and actions, roads and other public works, and
other records of general public or historical interest.
To fund a portion of the cost of these activities, this
bill authorizes a board of supervisors to adopt and impose
a fee of up to $3 on the recording of property-related
documents that refer to one or more previously recorded
documents, previously archived documents, or both. The fee
may not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing
the authorized archival services authorized with respect to
deeds, indentures, surveys, parcel and subdivision maps,
and other property-related documents.
The bill requires the board of supervisors to direct the
county recorder to deposit fee revenues into a special
fund. Proceeds from the fund shall be expended by the
board of supervisors only to defray the cost of providing
archival services in connection with property-related
documents, including:
1.Costs associated with indexing those documents.
2.Providing reasonable access to those documents and
assisting the public with regard to those documents.
3.Preserving those documents in a manner that ensures their
physical integrity, security, and longevity.
This bill requires that archival services provided by a
county recorder that receive proceeds from the special fund
must follow professional practices recommended by the
Society of American Archivists for the management, care,
and preservation of historical records.
Comments
With the passage of time, preventing the deterioration of
19th Century maps and other property records held in
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counties' archives requires increasingly costly measures,
including climate-controls, acid-free storage materials,
and the skills of professional archivists. The
preservation of these historical documents can play a role
in establishing the validity of many property-related
documents that are recorded today. For example,
century-old maps and deeds can help to establish the chain
of title for a recently purchased parcel of land. As
counties' General Funds are stretched to the limit, county
officials want the authority to fund a portion of their
archival costs with fees generated by individuals who use
their archival services. This bill lets counties pay for
some archival service by imposing a user fee on individuals
who record property-related documents that reference
previously recorded or archived documents, and who,
therefore, clearly benefit from counties' preservation of
archived property records.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/7/09)
Yolo County (source)
California Historical Records Advisory Board
California Historical Society
Friends of the Yolo County Archives
Society of California Archivists
Yolo County Historical Society
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/7/09)
California Association of Realtors
California Taxpayers Association
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
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Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Lieu, Logue,
Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
AGB:nl 7/7/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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