BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          SB 1404 (Hancock) - School Property: Civic Center Act.
          
          Amended: April 26, 2012         Policy Vote: Education 7-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 14, 2012      Consultant: Jacqueline 
          Wong-Hernandez
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. 

          
          Bill Summary: SB 1404 expands the authority of a school district 
          governing board to charge fees for the use of its school 
          facilities and grounds under the Civic Center Act. This bill 
          also required the state board of education (SBE) to develop 
          guidelines related to the fee authority, as specified.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Regulations: The California Department of Education (CDE) 
              estimates that it will cost $50,000-$75,000 General Fund to 
              develop regulations to implement the provisions of this 
              bill.
              School district authority: Potentially significant revenue 
              for local schools, to the extent they are able to charge 
              higher fees for the use of their facilities.

          Background: The Civic Center Act, in existing law, declares that 
          at every public school facility and grounds is a civic center 
          where the governing board of the school district may grant 
          various organizations, clubs, and associations, some of which 
          are specified, the opportunity to engage in supervised 
          recreation and meet and discuss subjects pertaining to the 
          interests of the citizens of the communities in which they 
          reside. The school district governing board is authorized to set 
          terms for this use of public school facilities and grounds, and 
          some conditions are specified in statute. 

          The governing board is authorized to charge an amount not to 
          exceed its direct costs for use of its facilities by another 
          entity. Direct costs are specified in existing law as costs of 
          supplies, utilities, janitorial services, services of any other 
          district employees, and salaries paid school district employees 
          necessitated by the organization's use of the school district's 








          SB 1404 (Hancock)
          Page 1


          facilities/grounds.  

          In the case of functions for which admission is charged or 
          contributions are solicited, and the receipts are not expended 
          for the welfare of the district's students, districts are 
          required to charge a fee equal to fair rental value. (Education 
          Code § 38130- 38139)

          Proposed Law: This bill would, until January 1, 2020, expand the 
          definition of direct costs that a school district governing 
          board may charge an entity for the use of school facilities or 
          grounds to include a share of the operating and maintenance 
          costs proportional to the use of school facilities or grounds by 
          the entity using those facilities. This bill would require the 
          SBE to develop "guidelines" to be used by a school district in 
          determining the proportionate share and the specific allowable 
          costs that a school district may include as direct costs for the 
          use of its school facilities or grounds.
          
          Staff Comments: This bill gives local governing boards greater 
          authority to charge fees for the use of their facilities under 
          the Civic Center Act, by expanding the definition of a "direct 
          cost" which they can include in their rental rates. This will 
          likely result in additional local revenue, and will vary by 
          school.

          This bill also requires the SBE, staffed by CDE employees, to 
          develop "guidelines" for implementing this new fee authority. 
          The CDE has opined that the less formal guidelines would not be 
          sufficient and, instead, regulations would need to be developed 
          to implement this bill. The CDE estimates that it will cost 
          $50,000-$75,000 General Fund to develop those regulations.