BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1090 (Governance and Finance Committee)
          As Amended  June 15, 2012
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :35-0  
           
           LOCAL GOVERNMENT    9-0         APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Smyth, Alejo, Bradford,   |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey,          |
          |     |Campos, Davis, Gordon,    |     |Blumenfield, Bradford,    |
          |     |Hueso, Knight, Norby      |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
          |     |                          |     |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto,   |
          |     |                          |     |Hall, Hill, Lara,         |
          |     |                          |     |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio, Wagner           |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Enacts the Local Government Omnibus Act of 2012, which 
          proposes twelve technical, noncontroversial changes to state 
          laws affecting local agencies' powers and duties. Specifically, 
           this bill  :   

          1)Makes the following changes regarding the annual reports of 
            school districts' financial transactions:

             a)   Requires the State Controller to publish the annual 
               reports of the financial transactions of each school 
               district on the Controller's Internet Web site; and,

             b)   Authorizes the Controller to prescribe the time, manner, 
               and format in which the Superintendent of Public 
               Instruction is required to provide data and other matters 
               required by the Controller pursuant to existing law.

          2)Revises the boundary descriptions for the Counties of Fresno 
            and Merced.

          3)Clarifies that the copies of the complete text of a charter 
            proposal or of any amended or repealed section ratified by the 
            voters of a city, or city and county, submitted to the county 
            recorder are recorded, and that the copies submitted to the 
            city archives are filed.








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          4)Requires the legislative body of a general law city to submit 
            a sidewalk installation charge to the voters and receive a 
            two-thirds vote to approve the charge prior to imposing it, 
            thereby conforming these provisions to existing law.
           
           5)Makes technical, nonsubstantive changes to provisions of the 
            Williamson Act as they relate to solar-use easements.  

          6)Includes within the definition of "abuse of office or 
            position" specified crimes related to bribery or corruption of 
            any executive officer in this state.

          7)Authorizes a local agency that has imposed an assessment 
            pursuant to the Benefit Assessment Act of 1982 to bring an 
            action in superior court to determine the validity of the 
            assessment, as specified. 

          8)Requires a city or county's update of the land use element to 
            include, if a city, an identification of each island or fringe 
            community within the city's sphere of influence that is a 
            disadvantaged unincorporated community, or, if a county, an 
            identification of each legacy community within the boundaries 
            of the county that is a disadvantaged unincorporated 
            community.  

          9)Eliminates the requirement, pursuant to the Subdivision Map 
            Act, that a city engineer, or city or county surveyor, provide 
            the expiration date of his or her registration number or 
            license for specified maps. 

          10)Makes the following changes regarding fees and charges 
            related to water, sanitation, storm drainage, or sewerage 
            services and facilities:

             a)   Deletes the 60-day delinquency and notice requirements 
               related to charges for water, sanitation, storm drainage, 
               or sewerage services and facilities, and instead authorizes 
               the amount of unpaid charges to be secured at any time by 
               filing a specified certificate in the office of the county 
               recorder.  The amount required to be paid, with interest 
               and a penalty, would constitute a lien on all real property 
               owned by the person or afterwards acquired by him or her 
               before the lien expires;








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             b)   Requires the transfer, conveyance, or attachment of real 
               property for fees related to water, sanitation, storm 
               drainage, or sewerage services and facilities in a sewer 
               district to occur during the year prior to the date on 
               which the first installment of property taxes that evidence 
               the charges appears on the tax roll, in order to preclude 
               the local public entity's lien from attaching to the real 
               property of the bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for 
               value;  and,

             c)   Requires the transfer, conveyance, or attachment of real 
               property related to charges for water, sanitation, storm 
               drainage, or sewerage services and facilities in a water 
               district to occur during the year prior to the date on 
               which the first installment of real property taxes that 
               evidence the charges appears on the tax roll, in order for 
               the water district's lien to not attach to the real 
               property of the bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for 
               value. 

          11)Makes the following changes to Property and Business 
            Improvement District (PBID) Law of 1994:

             a)   Sets forth procedures to apply to a city council that 
               propose to conduct a single proceeding to levy both a new 
               or increased property assessment and a new or increased 
               business assessment, as specified;

             b)   Specifies that, if the improvements and activities in a 
               PBID management district plan proposed for each year of 
               operation are the same, this requirement may be satisfied 
               if the management plan includes a description of the first 
               year's proposed improvements and activities and a statement 
               that the same improvements and activities are proposed for 
               subsequent years;

             c)   Provides that if the total annual amount proposed to be 
               expended in each year of operation of a PBID is not 
               significantly different, the amount proposed to be expended 
               in the initial year and a statement that a similar amount 
               applies to subsequent years may satisfy this requirement. 
               This bill would also authorize this amount to be based upon 
               the assessment rate if the assessment is levied on 








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               businesses;

             d)   Corrects an erroneous reference within the PBID Law of 
               1994; and,

             e)   Provides, upon the expiration without renewal of a PBID, 
               for the refund of any specified remaining revenues to the 
               owners of property or businesses then located and operating 
               within the district in which assessments were levied, as 
               specified.

          12)Revises specified provisions of the Kings River Conservation 
            District Act as follows:

             a)   Requires the district board to adopt a resolution on or 
               before May 1, 2013, that divides the district into seven 
               electoral districts, as specified;

             b)   Sets forth the procedure by which the directors of the 
               board may be elected, and would require the board to review 
               the boundaries of the seven districts before November 1 of 
               the year following the year in which each decennial census 
               is taken;

             c)   Prohibits the board from making any changes to the 
               division of the district within the 180 days immediately 
               preceding a general district election;

             d)   Revises the definition of the term "general district 
               election" to mean the election required to be held in the 
               district on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 
               November in each even-numbered year;

             e)   Makes other conforming changes to the act; and,

             f)   Imposes a state-mandated local program by increasing the 
               duties of local officials.

          13)Provides that no reimbursement is required by the provisions 
            of this bill pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the 
            California Constitution because the only costs that may be 
            incurred by a local agency or school district are the result 
            of a program for which legislative authority was requested by 
            that local agency or school district. 








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           EXISTING LAW  : 
           
          1)Requires the Controller to compile and publish reports of the 
            financial transactions of each county, city, and special 
            district within this state, together with any other matter he 
            or she deems of public interest. 

          2)Requires the Controller to annually publish reports of the 
            financial transactions of each school district within this 
            state, together with any other matter he or she deems of 
            public interest.

          3)Sets forth the boundary descriptions of every county in the 
            state, including the Counties of Fresno and Merced.

          4)Requires three copies of the complete text of a charter 
            proposal or of any amended or repealed section ratified by the 
            voters of a city or city and county to be certified and 
            authenticated by the chairperson and the clerk of the 
            governing body and attested to by the city clerk, setting 
            forth the submission of the charter to the voters of the city 
            and its ratification by them.

          5)Authorizes the legislative body of a general law city to 
            impose a sidewalk installation charge, as specified, upon an 
            affirmative vote of a majority of all of the electors of the 
            city voting on the proposition at an election called for that 
            purpose.  The California Constitution conditions the 
            imposition of a special tax on a city, county, or special 
            district upon the approval of two-thirds of the voters of the 
            city, county, or special district voting on that tax.  
            Existing law implements this provision of the Constitution.

          6)Authorizes the parties to a Williamson Act contract, after 
            approval by the Department of Conservation, in consultation 
            with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to mutually agree 
            to rescind the contract entered into under the Williamson Act 
            in order to simultaneously enter into a solar-use easement 
            that would require that the land be used for solar 
            photovoltaic facilities for a term no less than 20 years, as 
            specified.

          7)Requires, commencing January 1, 2012, any contract executed or 








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            renewed between a local agency and an officer or employee of 
            the local agency to include a provision that requires an 
            officer or employee of a local agency who is convicted of a 
            crime involving an abuse of his or her office or position, as 
            defined, to fully reimburse the local agency for specified 
            payments made by that local agency to the officer or employee, 
            as specified. 

          8)Defines the term "abuse of office or position" to include, 
            among other things, a crime against public justice, including, 
            but not limited to, specified crimes related to bribery or 
            corruption of any judicial officer, juror, referee, 
            arbitrator, or umpire, or to any person who may be authorized 
            by law to hear or determine any question or controversy.

          9)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to make 
            available to the Controller, on an as-needed basis, data and 
            other matters required by the Controller pursuant to existing 
            law.

          10)Authorizes, pursuant to the Benefit Assessment Act of 1982, 
            local agencies to impose benefit assessments to finance the 
            maintenance and operation costs of drainage, flood control, 
            street lighting, and streets, roads, or highways, if that 
            local agency is authorized to provide those services.

          11)Requires each city or county, on or before the due date for 
            the next adoption of its housing element, to review and update 
            the land use element of its general plan to include, if a 
            city, an identification of each unincorporated island or 
            fringe community within the city's sphere of influence, or, if 
            a county, an identification of each legacy community within 
            the boundaries of the county.

          12)Requires, pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act, a certificate 
            or statement by the city engineer or surveyor, or county 
            surveyor, to accompany specified maps, and requires the 
            official to provide, among other things, his or her 
            registration or license number with the expiration date, as 
            specified.

          13)Authorizes various local public entities to prescribe fees or 
            other charges for services and facilities furnished by them in 
            connection with their water, sanitation, storm drainage, or 








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            sewerage system, as well as for the privilege of connecting to 
            these sanitation or sewerage facilities.  These charges, under 
            specified circumstances, may be collected on the tax roll in 
            the same manner as property taxes and the amount of the 
            charges constitutes a lien against the lot or parcel against 
            which the charge has been imposed, unless the real property 
            has been 
          transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or a 
            lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has been created 
            and attached prior to the date upon which the first 
            installment of the property taxes would become delinquent.

          14)Requires the charges for water, sanitation, storm drainage, 
            or sewerage system services and facilities to remain 
            delinquent for 60 days and the imposing entity to provide the 
            assessee with notice of the delinquency, in order for the 
            charges to constitute a lien against the lot or parcel of land 
            for which the service was provided.

          15)Provides procedures for the collection of unpaid charges by a 
            water district for water or other services.  These unpaid 
            charges become a lien on the parcel of land upon which the 
            water and other services were used, unless the real property 
            has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for 
            value, or a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has 
            been created and attached prior to the date of which the first 
            installment of taxes would become delinquent.

          16)Provides procedures to a city council that proposes to levy a 
            new or increased property assessment or a new or increased 
            business assessment.

          17)Requires, pursuant to the PBID Law, a management district 
            plan for a district to include, among other things, the 
            improvements and activities proposed for each year of 
            operation of the district and the maximum cost thereof.

          18)Requires, pursuant to the PBID Law, a management district 
            plan for a district to include, among other things, the total 
            annual amount proposed to be expended for improvements, 
            maintenance and operations, and debt service in each year of 
            operation of the district.

          19)Provides, pursuant to the PBID Law, that a city council may 








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            adopt a resolution for the disestablishment of a district 
            under specified circumstances, further requires, upon the 
            disestablishment of a district, any specified remaining 
            revenues to be refunded to the owners of the property or 
            businesses then located and operating within the district in 
            which assessments were levied, as specified.

          20)Establishes, pursuant to the Kings River Conservation 
            District Act (Act), the Kings River Conservation District, and 
            authorizes the board of the district to exclude specific 
            territory within the district.  The Act divides the district 
            into divisions for purposes of elections, and requires the 
            board of the district to revise the divisions upon adding or 
            removing territory from the district, except that the board is 
            prohibited from revising the division of districts within the 
            three months immediately following the preceding general 
            district election.  The Act additionally defines the term 
            "general district election" to mean the election required to 
            be held in the district on the first Tuesday after the first 
            Monday in November in each odd-numbered year.

          21)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse 
            local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated 
            by the state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for 
            making that reimbursement.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee, the fiscal impact of this bill is negligible.  
          Although keyed a state mandate, no reimbursement is required 
          because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or 
          school district are the result of a program for which 
          legislative authority was requested by that local agency or 
          school district.

           COMMENTS  :  The Local Government Omnibus Act of 2012 compiles 
          twelve sets of noncontroversial changes to state laws affecting 
          local agencies and land use into a single bill.  Each year, 
          local officials discover problems with the state statutes that 
          affect counties, cities, special districts, and redevelopment 
          agencies, as well as the laws on land use planning and 
          development.  Legislators respond by combining several of these 
          minor topics into an annual "omnibus bill."  According to the 
          author, sending a bill through the legislative process costs 
          around $18,000.  By drafting one omnibus bill instead of twelve 








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          small clean-up bills, the Committee's measure avoids roughly 
          $198,000 in legislative costs.

          Although the practice may violate a strict interpretation of the 
          single-subject and germaneness rules, it is an expeditious and 
          relatively inexpensive way to respond to multiple requests.  
          Furthermore, the author conducts a very public review of each 
          item.  More than 100 public officials, trade groups, lobbyists, 
          and legislative staffers see each proposal before it goes into 
          the Committee's bill.  According to the author, "Ŭs]hould any 
          item in SB 1090 attract opposition, the Committee will delete 
          it.  In this transparent process, there is no hidden agenda.  If 
          it's not consensus, it's not omnibus."

          SB 1090 proposes the following changes to the state laws 
          affecting local agencies' powers and duties:

          1)Obsolete voter approval requirements for special taxes.  
            Proposition 13 (1978), Proposition 62 (1986), and Proposition 
            218 (1996) all require voter approval for new and increased 
            local taxes.  Proposition 218 specifically requires special 
            taxes to be approved by a two-thirds vote (California 
            Constitution, Article XIIIC, Section 2(d)).  Some older 
            statutes which were enacted before the constitutional 
            voter-approval requirements took effect appear to allow local 
            governments to impose special taxes with only majority voter 
            approval.  The author aims to update these archaic statutes by 
            cross-referencing the statutory requirements for voter 
            approval of special taxes.  SB 1090 deletes archaic majority 
            voter approval language and inserts cross-references to voter 
            approval requirements for special taxes into a statute 
            authorizing cities to impose charges for sidewalk 
            installation.  

          2)Property and Business Improvement Districts.  The PBID Law 
            allows property owners to petition a city or county to set up 
            an improvement district and levy assessments on property 
            owners, business owners, or both, to pay for promotional 
            activities as well as for physical improvements.  
            Practitioners who work with PBIDs have identified errors and 
            ambiguities in the PBID Law.  They ask that the Legislature 
            amend four code sections to make the following corrections and 
            clarifications: 
                








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              a)   Management district plans.  State law requires each 
               PBID's management district plan to include specified 
               information.  Among other things, every management plan 
               must contain the improvements and activities proposed for 
               each year of operation of the district; and, the total 
               annual amount proposed to be expended for improvements, 
               maintenance and operations, and debt service in each year 
               of operation of the district

             SB 1090 permits a management plan to contain only a 
               description of the proposed improvements and activities for 
               a PBID's first year of operation if the plan states that 
               the improvements and activities proposed for each year of 
               operation are the same.  Similarly, SB 1090 permits a 
               management plan to contain only the amount proposed to be 
               expended for improvements, maintenance and operations, and 
               debt service in the PBID's first year of operation if the 
               plan states that the amount proposed to be expended in each 
               year of operation is not significantly different;

             b)   District name correction.  SB 1090 corrects an erroneous 
               reference to a "parking and business improvement area" by 
               replacing that phrase with "property and business 
               improvement district;" and,
                
              c)   Disposition of revenues after a PBID expires.  State law 
               requires PBIDs to be established for a limited initial term 
               and specifies the procedures by which PBIDs can be renewed 
               for subsequent terms of up to 10 years.  State law also 
               specifies procedures by which a city council or board of 
               supervisors can disestablish a PBID and imposes 
               requirements on the disposition of revenues remaining after 
               a disestablishment.  SB 1090 clarifies that district 
               revenues remaining after a district expires without renewal 
               are subject to the same requirements that apply to revenues 
               remaining after a disestablishment.
                
           3)Water and sewer districts' lien priority. State law authorizes 
            local governments that provide water or sewer service to 
                                                             collect specified charges for services and infrastructure 
            using the same laws that apply to the levy, collection, and 
            enforcement of property taxes.  Statutes authorizing water and 
            sewer service providers to collect charges using property tax 
            billing procedures typically allow a public agency to impose a 








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            levy on real property for delinquent taxes and charges.  The 
            levy becomes a lien - or "encumbrance" - on the property when 
            that property is sold.  The statutes, however, provide an 
            exception to this encumbrance, when the sale occurs before the 
            charge becomes delinquent.

          This exception was intended to cover only sales and new mortgage 
            liens occurring in the "gap period" after the agency submits 
            the charge for placement on the tax bill but before the tax 
            bill becomes due.  However, a 1981 court decision, County of 
            Butte v. North Burbank Public Utility District, interpreted 
            the exception more broadly.  That decision expanded the 
            exception to cover any existing mortgage lien.  The court held 
            that, when a lender holding an existing mortgage forecloses 
            and sells the property, later-added unpaid tax liens for 
            delinquent utility charges are wiped out, regardless of when 
            they were added.  This interpretation of the bona fide 
            encumbrance exception raises questions about the priority of 
            liens that water and sewer providers use to collect unpaid 
            taxes and charges.

          In response to the Butte decision, the Legislature amended the 
            public utility district statutes involved in that decision and 
            the Irrigation District Law.  Those amendments narrowed the 
            exception to apply only to transfers and encumbrances created 
            during a specified window preceding the tax bill showing the 
            charges.  That bill, however, did not amend any of the other 
            statutes with the bona fide encumbrance exception to include 
            this clarification.

          Last year, the Legislature approved AB 741 (Huffman), Chapter 
            106, Statutes of 2011, which authorized sewer service 
            providers, at a property owner's request, to construct sewer 
            improvements on private property and charge the property owner 
            for the costs.  Irvine Ranch Water District officials are 
            concerned that local governments will face risks in 
            implementing AB 741 unless statutes that authorize water and 
            sewer districts to use tax bill collection procedures are 
            conformed to the language enacted by prior legislation.

          This bill narrows the bona fide encumbrance exception to protect 
            sewer and other water agencies using the tax bill collection 
            mechanisms from the Butte decision's expansive interpretation 
            of the exception. 








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          4)Fresno and Merced Counties' boundaries.  State statutes recite 
            the official boundary descriptions of all 58 counties.  State 
            law also allows counties to adjust their mutual boundaries.  
            After counties use this procedure, they ask the Legislature to 
            revise their statutory boundary descriptions to match the new 
            realities.  In 2007, Fresno and Merced county officials used 
            these procedures to shift 4,175 acres from Fresno County to 
            Merced County near the City of Dos Palos.  After those 
            boundary changes took effect on January 1, 2008, the 
            Legislature then corrected the counties' statutory boundary 
            descriptions ŬSB 894 (Senate Local Government Committee), 
            Chapter 699, Statutes of 2010].  County officials recently 
            identified errors in the new boundary descriptions that were 
            enacted in 2010 and ask the Legislature to correct these 
            errors.  SB 1090 corrects Fresno and Merced Counties' 
            statutory boundary descriptions. 

          5)Williamson Act and photovoltaic solar facilities.  Statutes 
            enacted by SB 618 (Wolk), Chapter 596, Statutes of 2011, 
            authorize a city or county and a landowner to simultaneously 
            rescind a Williamson Act contract on marginally productive or 
            physically impaired lands and enter into a solar-use easement 
            that restricts the use of land to photovoltaic solar 
            facilities.  Some of the statutes enacted by SB 618 contained 
            drafting errors and inconsistent terminology:  one statute 
            incorrectly refers to agricultural "productively" instead of 
            "productivity"; two statutes incorrectly refer to the time an 
            easement "terminates" instead of the time it "is 
            extinguished"; and, one statute incorrectly refers to an 
            easement's "abandonment" instead of its "termination."

          To help local governments and land owners use SB 618's 
            provisions properly, Williamson Act practitioners ask the 
            Legislature to correct these errors.

          6)"Abuse of office or position" definition.  State law requires 
            a local agency's employment contracts to contain a provision 
            to reimburse the local agency for specified salary, legal, and 
            settlement costs if an employee is convicted of a crime 
            involving an abuse of his or her office or position ŬAB 1344 
            (Feuer), Chapter 692, Statutes of 2011].  For the purposes of 
            this requirement, Government Code Section 53243.4 defines 
            "abuse of office or position" as either an abuse of public 








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            authority, including, but not limited to, waste, fraud, and 
            violation of the law under color of authority; or, a crime 
            against public justice, including, but not limited to, a crime 
            described in Title 7 (commencing with Section 92) of Part 1 of 
            the Penal Code.

          Some law enforcement officials worry that this definition's 
            cross-reference to the Penal Code excludes important crimes 
            that are defined in Title 5 of Part 1 of the Penal Code. This 
            bill adds a cross-reference to the Penal Code to more 
            accurately define the phrase "abuse of office or position."

          7)Benefit Assessment Act of 1982 validations.  Numerous statutes 
            authorize a local government to file a validation lawsuit, 
            asking a superior court to determine the validity of actions 
            the local government has taken.  The Benefit Assessment Act of 
            1982 allows local governments to levy assessments on real 
            property to pay for the maintenance and operation costs of 
            drainage, flood control, and street lighting services.  Unlike 
            many other benefit assessment acts, the 1982 Act does not 
            expressly authorize local governments to use validation 
            lawsuits to validate 1982 Act assessments.  The California 
            Central Valley Flood Control Association asks the Legislature 
            to allow local governments that levy benefits assessments 
            under the 1982 Act to use validation suits to confirm their 
            actions.  This bill adds language to the 1982 Act that mirrors 
            the validation language that was added to the North Delta 
            Water Agency's governing statutes by the Local Government 
            Omnibus Act of 2009 ŬSB 113 (Senate Local Government 
            Committee) Chapter 332, Statutes of 2009].

          8)Engineers' and surveyors' seals on subdivision maps.  The 
            Subdivision Map Act governs how cities and counties approve 
            applications to convert large properties into smaller parcels 
            for sale, lease, or financing.  A major subdivision creates 
            five or more parcels and requires both a tentative map and a 
            final map.  A minor subdivision (lot split) creates four or 
            fewer parcels and usually needs only a parcel map.  Final maps 
            and parcel maps must be certified by a licensed engineer or 
            land surveyor, who must "indicate his or her registration or 
            license number with expiration date and the stamp of his or 
            her seal" on a certified map.  The Legislature recently 
            repealed the requirement that an expiration date appear on the 
            seal that licensed engineers and surveyors stamp on specified 








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            engineering and land surveying documents ŬAB 645 (Niello), 
            Chapter 368, Statutes of 2009].  The California Land Surveyors 
            Association asks the Legislature to conform the Subdivision 
            Map Act to these changes.  
          This bill deletes the requirement that final maps and parcel 
            maps must be stamped with a seal that indicates the expiration 
            date of an engineer's or surveyor's license.  

          9)Kings River Conservation District's elections.  The Kings 
            River Conservation District (District) of Fresno County is a 
            special act special district that provides flood control, 
            water resource management, and power generation services to 
            communities within its 1.2 million acre jurisdiction.  The 
            District is governed by a seven-member elected board of 
            directors.  
          Six of the directors represent six electoral divisions within 
            the District and the seventh director represents the entire 
            District.  Because the boundaries of these electoral divisions 
            are defined in the District's special act, using metes and 
            bounds descriptions, the boundaries can only be adjusted by 
            the Legislature, not by the District's board of directors.  
            The Legislature last amended the statute describing the 
            District's electoral boundaries in 1955.  

          District officials worry that the antiquated statutes governing 
            their board of directors' electoral divisions prevent the 
            District from complying with federal Voting Rights Act 
            requirements.  They ask the Legislature to repeal and amend 
            outdated provisions of the Kings River Conservation District 
            Act governing the district's electoral divisions.  
            Specifically, 
          this bill:

             a)   Repeals the statutory descriptions of the District's 
               electoral boundaries; 

             b)   Repeals other antiquated statutory provisions governing 
               district elections; 

             c)   Requires district directors to establish seven electoral 
               divisions that must be, as far as practicable, equal in 
               population, using the most recent federal census data as a 
               basis; 









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             d)   Allows directors, when establishing division boundaries, 
               to consider the topography, geography, cohesiveness, 
               contiguity, integrity, compactness of territory, and the 
               community of interests of the electoral divisions; 

             e)   Requires directors to review and, if necessary, adjust 
               the District's electoral division boundaries following each 
               decennial census; 

             f)   Requires a candidate for the board of directors to 
               reside in the electoral division for which he or she is a 
               candidate; 

             g)   Requires a director to continue to reside within the 
               electoral division during his or her term of office; 

             h)   Prohibits a change in boundaries of an electoral 
               division from affecting an incumbent director's term of 
               office; 

             i)   Establishes a schedule for conducting elections for each 
               division; 

             j)   Defines directors' terms of office; and, 

             aa)  Requires the District to conduct elections in accordance 
               with the Uniform District Election Law.

          1)Annual reports of school districts' financial transactions.  
            Since 1949, state law has required the Controller to annually 
            publish reports of the financial transactions of each school 
            district.  The Controller's staff has been unable to comply 
            with this requirement because a recent software conversion at 
            the California Department of Education (CDE) is incompatible 
            with the computer system that the Controller's Office uses to 
            collect the data and publish the annual financial transactions 
            reports.  The proposed law allows the Controller's Office to 
            meet its school district financial transactions reporting 
            requirement by making the CDE's financial transactions data 
            available on the Controller's Web site.

          2)Recording counties' and cities' voter-approved charter 
            language.  State law requires that a certified and 
            authenticated copy of the complete text of a charter proposal 








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            or of any revised, amended, or repealed section ratified by 
            the electors of a county must be recorded in the office of the 
            recorder of the county.  State law requires that a certified 
            and authenticated copy of the complete text of a charter 
            proposal or of any amended or repealed section ratified by the 
            voters of a city or city and county must be filed with the 
            recorder of the county in which the city is located.  City 
            clerks worry that the discrepancy between the requirement that 
            counties must record charter language with a county recorder 
            and the requirement that cities must file charter language 
            with a county recorder creates uncertainty and confusion about 
            recording city charter language.  The proposed law conforms 
            the statutory requirements for submitting charter language to 
            a county recorder by clarifying that city charter language 
            must be recorded in a county recorder's office. 

          3)Planning for disadvantaged communities.  State law requires 
            local agencies to plan for specified disadvantaged communities 
            through the Local Agency Formation Commission planning process 
            and general plan updates.  A recently-enacted statute ŬSB 244 
            (Wolk), Chapter 513, Statutes of 2011] bill defines the terms 
            "disadvantaged unincorporated community," "unincorporated 
            fringe community," "unincorporated island community," and 
            "unincorporated legacy community."  The statute requires a 
            city, on or before the next due date for adopting the housing 
            element of its general plan, to review and update the land use 
            element of its general plan to include an identification of 
            each unincorporated island or fringe community within the 
            city's sphere of influence.  The statute requires a county, on 
            or before the due date for the next adoption of the housing 
            element of its general plan, to review and update the land use 
            element of its general plan to include an identification of 
            each legacy community within the boundaries of the county, but 
            not including any area within the sphere of influence of any 
            city.  Based on conversations with stakeholders involved with 
            last year's bill, Senator Wolk's staff asked to clarify these 
            statutory definitions and requirements.  The proposed law 
            clarifies that:

             a)   A city council or board of supervisors must review and 
               update the land use element of its general plan to include 
               an analysis, based on specified data, of unincorporated 
               island, fringe, or legacy communities inside or near its 
               boundaries; 








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             b)   A city does not need to identify every unincorporated 
               island or fringe community within its sphere of influence, 
               but must identify only those island or fringe communities 
               that also are disadvantaged unincorporated communities; 
               and, 

             c)   A county does not need to identify every legacy 
               community within its boundaries, but must identify only 
               those legacy communities that are also disadvantaged 
               unincorporated communities.

            Certain provisions of this bill conflict with those contained 
            in SB 186 (Kehoe).  The author may wish to consider 
            'chaptering-out' amendments to resolve the conflict. 

          1)Support arguments:  According to the Senate Governance and 
            Finance Committee, sending a bill through the legislative 
            process costs around $18,000.  By drafting one omnibus bill 
            instead of twelve small clean-up bills, the Committee's 
            measure avoids roughly $198,000 in legislative costs.  
            Moreover, the sponsor adds "Ŭs]hould any item in SB 1090 
            attract opposition, the Committee will delete it.  In this 
            transparent process, there is no hidden agenda.  If it's not 
            consensus, it's not omnibus."

          Opposition arguments:  None on file.

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Hank Dempsey / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 



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