BILL ANALYSIS AB 2795 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2795 (Local Government Committee) As Amended May 27, 2010 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(May 6, 2010) |SENATE: |33-0 |(June 17, | | | | | | |2010) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: L. GOV. SUMMARY : Makes several minor, non-controversial changes to the laws affecting local government organization and reorganization. The Senate amendments : 1)Allow a local agency formation commission (LAFCO) executive officer to call a meeting of the independent special district selection committee when the executive officer anticipates that a vacancy for a special district seat on the LAFCO will occur within 90 days. 2)Extend, from 15 days to 30 days, the amount of time that local officials can renegotiate a property tax transfer agreement if the LAFCO modifies the proposed boundary change. 3)Make other minor technical changes to provisions contained in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act). EXISTING LAW establishes the procedures for the organization and reorganization of cities, counties, and special districts. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: 1)Defined "divestiture of power" to mean the termination of the power and authority to provide particular functions or classes of services within all or part of the jurisdictional boundaries of a special district. 2)Defined "Executive Officer" to mean the "executive officer or designee as authorized by the commission" for the purposes of AB 2795 Page 2 clarifying the Executive Officer's role in the special district selection process. 3)Clarified that a LAFCO may initiate proposals through action of adopting a resolution. 4)Clarified existing law to bring consistency to the process for conducting elections by a board of supervisors or city council. 5)Made conforming changes to existing law to bring consistency to election terms after incorporation. 6)Provided additional time for a local agency that is negotiating a property tax exchange as part of a proposal or reorganization by allowing that local agency to notify the LAFCO, the county auditor, and the other affected local agencies of its desire to extend the negotiating period to 90 days. 7)Corrected several obsolete and incorrect references contained in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : As statutes go into effect, local officials and others often discover problems or inconsistencies in the language of the law and approach the Legislature to correct them. These minor problems do not warrant separate bills, particularly since, according to the Legislative Analyst, in 2001-02 the average cost to produce a single bill was $17,890. The Assembly Local Government Committee has found that it is expeditious and relatively inexpensive to respond to multiple minor, non-controversial requests on related issues by combining them into an annual "omnibus bill." Since AB 720 (Local Government Committee), Chapter 388, Statutes of 2001, which was a clean-up bill for AB 2838 (Hertzberg), Chapter 761, Statutes of 2000, the major rewrite of the laws governing local agency organization and reorganization, the Committee has focused its omnibus bill efforts on LAFCO-related issues, most recently with AB 1582 (Local Government Committee), Chapter 155, Statutes of 2009. The Committee has carried on this practice this year by addressing a number of minor, but still necessary, changes in this bill. The bill reflects the concerns of LAFCOs and others who have brought proposals and issues to the Committee. All AB 2795 Page 3 proposals have been thoroughly vetted by a large number of stakeholders. Any proposal that provokes any controversy or opposition is rejected for inclusion. Support arguments: This bill provides an efficient and cost-effective way to make a number of minor technical and non-controversial changes to law, rather than introducing a bill for each change. Opposition arguments: None at this time. Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN: 0004906