BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1404
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1404 (Hancock)
As Amended August 6, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :36-2
EDUCATION 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Eng, Grove, Wagner, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Williams | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes a governing board of a school district to,
until January 1, 2020, charge an entity for using school facilities
or grounds, an amount for maintenance, repair, restoration, and
refurbishment, proportional to the use of the school facilities or
grounds. Specifically, this bill :
1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to encourage all school
districts to maximize opportunities to make available and
accessible public school facilities and grounds to their
communities as civic centers.
2)Finds and declares that the ability of school districts to
maintain their facilities and grounds has been jeopardized due to
severe budget cuts, and the costs to maintain facilities or
grounds exceeds the operational costs associated with an
organization's use of the facilities and grounds.
3)Strikes the provision specifying that a governing board of a
school district shall authorize the use of school facilities or
grounds only when an alternative location is not available.
4)Adds YMCA to the list of organizations promoting youth and school
activities that may use school facilities or grounds.
5)Revises the definition of "direct costs" to mean the following:
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a) The share of costs of supplies, utilities, janitorial
services, services of school district employees directly
associated with the administration of the Civic Center Act, and
salaries paid to school district employees to operate and
maintain school facilities or grounds; and,
b) The share of the costs for maintenance, repair, restoration,
and refurbishment, proportional to the use of the school
facilities or grounds by the entity using the school facilities
or grounds as follows:
i) "School facilities" shall be limited to only
nonclassroom space and "school grounds" shall include, but
not be limited to, playing fields, athletic fields, track and
field venues, tennis courts, and outdoor basketball courts;
ii) The share of the cost for maintenance, repair,
restoration and refurbishment shall not apply to:
(1) Classroom-based programs that operate after school
hours, including, but not limited to, after school
programs, tutoring programs or child care programs; and,
(2) Organizations retained by the school or school
district to provide instruction or instructional
activities to pupils during school hours.
iii) Funds collected shall be deposited into a special fund
that shall only be used for purposes specified in this bill.
6)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to, by
December 31, 2013, develop, and the State Board of Education
(SBE), to adopt, regulations 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.
7)Sunsets on January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,
2020, deletes or extends that date.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
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1)No General Fund or state school construction fund effect related
to providing school district's with the authorization to assess a
direct cost fee associated with operating and maintaining school
facilities or grounds that is proportional to the entities use of
the facilities or grounds.
2)General Fund administrative costs, likely between $100,000 and
$150,000, to the State Department of Education to conduct a
regulatory process required in this bill.
COMMENTS : The Civic Center Act requires school districts to
authorize use of school facilities or grounds to school-related and
community organizations for various purposes. Existing law also
authorizes a school district to charge a fee for the use of
facilities or ground. Governing boards are required to adopt a
policy specifying the type of activities that require a fee;
however, existing law also specify parameters, including: 1) a
governing board may charge an organization using the facilities or
grounds for youth sports league activities an amount not to exceed
the district's direct costs; 2) a governing board must charge a
religious organization or church an amount at least equal to the
district's direct costs for use of facilities or grounds for
religious service; and, 3) a governing board must charge fair rental
value in the case of entertainments or meetings where admission fees
are charged or contributions are solicited and the net receipts are
not expended for the welfare of the pupils or for charitable
purposes.
"Direct costs" is defined as the costs of supplies, utilities,
janitorial services, and salaries of district employees required to
facilitate an organization's use of the facilities or grounds. This
bill, until January 1, 2020, authorizes a school district to charge
a proportional amount for the maintenance, repair, restoration and
refurbishment for the use of non-classroom space and school grounds,
defined as playing fields, athletic fields, track and field venues,
tennis courts, and outdoor basketball courts. This bill exempts
classroom-based after school programs, including, but not limited
to, tutoring programs or child care programs, and organizations
serving pupil populations during the core school day from the
maintenance fee.
According to the author, current law defines "direct costs" as
"incremental costs to the District caused by the community
organization's use, but does not include any of the District's costs
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to maintain the facilities in condition for use by the public or to
replace equipment, including artificial turf, trace surfaces, or gym
floors, that is worn out over time. SB 1404 would expand the
definition of "direct costs" to include each user's proportionate
share of the total costs to operate and maintain the school district
facilities being used, the proportionate share of the total costs to
repair and replace those facilities, and costs caused by the user's
use of the facilities that would otherwise not be incurred. School
districts' need for users to pay their fair share of these costs is
particularly acute with respect to artificial turf fields, which are
heavily used throughout the year (unlike grass fields), but which
must be replaced periodically."
According to the sponsor, the Los Angeles Unified School District, a
possible methodology for calculating a fee is to determine an hourly
cost. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to, by December 31, 2013, develop and the State Board of Education
to adopt regulations to provide guidelines on how a proportionate
share is calculated and allowable costs.
Maintenance costs for facilities and grounds are generally covered
under a district's general fund budget. Supporters argue that state
budget cuts have resulted in many districts being unable to set
aside funds to maintain or repair facilities and grounds. In 2009,
the Legislature and Governor, through the Budget Act, gave districts
the flexibility to use 39 categorical program funds for any general
fund purpose until 2014-15, including deferred maintenance funds,
generally used for major repair or replacement of plumbing, heating,
air conditioning, electrical, roofing, and floor systems, painting,
and other items. A survey conducted by the Legislative Analyst's
Office shows that in 2010-11, over 70% of the districts that
responded to the survey diverted deferred maintenance funds to other
programs. The challenge of maintaining facilities and grounds are
further exacerbated by the use of facilities and grounds by
non-profit organizations, sports leagues, and community
organizations. This bill will enable school districts to continue
offering school facilities and grounds for community use while being
able to maintain the facilities or grounds.
The sunset date of January 1, 2020, was added to the bill at the
recommendation of the Senate Education Committee, arguing that the
fee should only be allowed temporarily, during bad budget times.
The Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) states, "In Piedmont and
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many other communities, school athletic facilities are used by a
wide variety of community groups. Non-school organizations use
PUSD's athletic facilities over 4000 hours per year, roughly the
same amount as PUSD athletic programs. These facilities are heavily
used and expensive to maintain, restore, and refurbish. For
example, PUSD's athletic complex includes a full-size running track
and artificial turf field. PUSD expects to have to restore and
refurbish both surfaces at some point after 2015 at an estimated
cost of approximately $800,000. State funding cuts have forced PUSD
to cut employee compensation, lay off teachers and other employees,
increase class sizes, and shorten the school year with furloughs.
In this budget climate, PUSD has not been able to set aside adequate
funds to repair or refurbish its athletic facilities. Although not
a complete solution, California legislators can help school
districts by loosening restrictions in the Civic Center Act."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005018