BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 504|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 504
Author: Williams (D)
Amended: 7/6/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/29/11
AYES: Wolk, Huff, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hancock, Hernandez,
Kehoe,
La Malfa, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/26/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : School districts: County of Santa Barbara:
special taxes
SOURCE : Santa Barbara School Districts
DIGEST : This bill allows any school district in the
County of Santa Barbara consolidating with another to
continue its parcel tax, and levy another within its former
boundaries.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution states that taxes
levied by local governments are either general taxes,
subject to majority approval of its voters, or special
taxes, subject to two-thirds vote (Article XIII A, XIII B,
and XIII C). Proposition 13 (1978) required a two-thirds
vote of each house of the Legislature for state tax
increases, and two-thirds vote of local voters for local
special taxes. Proposition 62 (1986) prohibited local
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agencies from imposing general taxes without majority
approval of local voters, and a two-thirds vote for special
taxes. Proposition 218 (1996) extended those vote
thresholds to charter cities, and limited local agencies'
powers to levy new assessments, fees, and taxes. Local
agencies generally propose to increase taxes by adopting an
ordinance or a resolution at a public hearing. The
Constitution further bars school districts from imposing
general taxes, but allows school districts, community
college districts, and county offices of education to issue
bonded indebtedness for school facilities with 55 percent
percent approval (Proposition 39, 2000).
Current law additionally allows school districts and
community college districts to levy qualified special taxes
that are uniform as applied to all taxpayers with
two-thirds vote of the electorate; however, school
districts may exempt persons over the age of 65 or those
receiving Supplemental Security Income from the tax.
County offices of education have no direct taxing
authority, but receive a share of the property tax, and
counties may fund programs delivered by the education
offices. The district may implement these taxes, for as
long as it wants, spend the proceeds for any purpose, and
apply any tax rate it chooses. To date, local agencies
have only assessed parcel taxes under this section.
Existing law is silent regarding previously assessed parcel
taxes when school districts reorganize or merge, and does
not currently allow a jurisdiction to apply a tax to a part
of itself.
This bill provides that any qualified special tax imposed
by a district that reorganizes may continue to be imposed,
provided that the revenues derived remain segregated on a
geographical basis conforming to the school district's
prior boundaries.
This bill also allows the Santa Barbara Unified School
District to impose a special tax that is a parcel tax
within the boundaries of the former Santa Barbara
Elementary School District upon approval by the required
vote of the voters within the boundaries of the former
district. This bill specifies that the proceeds of any tax
levied within the borders of the former Santa Barbara
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Unified School District be segregated and solely spent on
programs within the district.
Background
Santa Barbara County Schools . The Santa Barbara County
High School District serves students from grades 7 through
12 in the Cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara in Santa
Barbara County, where elementary school students are served
by the Cold Spring, Goleta Union, Hope, Montecito Union,
and Santa Barbara Elementary School Districts. The Santa
Barbara County High School District and the Santa Barbara
Elementary School Districts have the same governing board
and a single administration, but exist as separate
districts. Due to recent cuts, the Board of Education that
governs both approved a resolution to reorganize as a
unified district and submitted a petition for approval to
the County Committee. The other elementary school
districts have requested to be excluded from the
reorganization. The districts estimate that the proposal
results in $6 million in additional state funding, largely
derived from boosting the combined districts' revenue
limit, thereby removing the elementary school district's
status as a "basic aid" district, meaning that its existing
local property tax revenues are sufficient to meet
Constitutional funding requirements.
In 2008, voters in the high school district approved a $23
parcel tax to pay for services within its boundaries, and
voters within the elementary school district enacted
another $27 parcel tax. However, current law does not
expressly authorize them to continue to impose the taxes if
the districts consolidate. The Districts want to clarify
the law to state that they can continue to impose the tax
after the reorganization.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/11)
Santa Barbara School Districts (source)
Bill Cirone, Santa Barbara County Superintendent
Cold Spring Elementary School District
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Goleta Union School District
Helene Schneider, Santa Barbara City Mayor
Hope School District
Janet Wolf, Santa Barbara County Supervisor
Margaret Connell, Goleta Mayor
Montecito Union School District
Robert Geis, County Auditor-Controller
Salud Carbajal, Santa Barbara County Supervisor
Santa Barbara Education Foundation
Santa Barbara Teachers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, this bill
is clarifying, district legislation that allows Santa
Barbara School Districts to maintain existing parcel tax
revenue allotments once their elementary and high school
districts unify. Santa Barbara School Districts (SBSD) is
one of a handful of districts statewide comprised of a
non-coterminous elementary and high school district, the
Santa Barbara Elementary School District and the Santa
Barbara High School District. With the exception that
their funding remains separate, the smaller elementary
district and the surrounding high school district are
jointly governed by a single board of education and a
common administration. In 2008, Santa Barbara voters
overwhelmingly approved Measure H and Measure I. Measure H
is a parcel tax assessed for the Santa Barbara High School
District and Measure I is a parcel tax assessed for the
Elementary School District. SBSD is moving forward with a
plan to unify their elementary and high school district
because they will receive additional state revenue.
Without clarifying legislation, unification of these
districts could result in the nullification of their local,
voter-approved parcel taxes.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/26/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
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Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Cedillo, Davis, Gorell, Jones
AGB:kc 7/6/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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