BILL ANALYSIS Ó
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1404|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1404
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 8/6/12
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 4/18/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Huff, Liu, Price,
Simitian
NOES: Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Blakeslee, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 36-2, 5/29/12
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cannella,
Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson,
Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff,
Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Rubio, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland,
Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Negrete McLeod, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/23/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Civic Center Act
SOURCE : Los Angeles Unified School District
Piedmont Unified School District
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
2
DIGEST : This bill 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.
Assembly Amendments add language to express 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; and make various technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, known as the "civic center act"
declares that at every public school facility and grounds
there 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 and conditions for this use of public school
facilities and grounds, and some conditions are specified
in statute. In addition, the governing board is authorized
to charge an amount not to exceed its direct costs for use
of its facilities by any entity. Existing law defines
direct cost as costs of supplies, utilities, janitorial
services, services of any other district employees, and
salaries paid school district employees necessitate by the
organization's use of the school district's
facilities/grounds.
In the case of entertainments or meetings where 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. Existing law defines "fair rental
value" as the direct costs to the districts plus the
amortized costs of the facilities or grounds used for the
duration of the authorized activity.
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
3
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district to require persons other than students, or
organizations that wish to use recreational facilities that
are on school grounds or are provided by a district at a
community recreation center and maintained solely by the
district, to pay fees, as prescribed by the board.
This bill 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:
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
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
4
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:
(1) "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;
(2) The share of the cost for maintenance,
repair, restoration and refurbishment shall not
apply to:
(a) Classroom-based programs that operate
after school hours, including, but not limited
to, after school programs, tutoring programs or
child care programs; and,
(b) Organizations retained by the school
or school district to provide instruction or
instructional activities to pupils during
school hours.
(3) 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.
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
5
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 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
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
6
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."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
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.
General Fund administrative costs, likely between
$100,000 and $150,000, to the Department of Education to
conduct a regulatory process required in this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/23/12)
Los Angeles Unified School District (co-source)
Piedmont Unified School District (co-source)
Association of California School Administrators
California School Board Association
Riverside County School Superintendents' Association
San Diego Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters argue that over the
past several years, school districts throughout the state
have experienced very deep budget cuts. Those cuts have
not only impacted teachers, aides, administrators, but also
the facilities and play fields we all use. When the Civic
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
7
Center Act was created, its goal was to provide the public
with access to school facilities and play fields. Since
the creation of the Civic Center Act, the costs to maintain
these facilities and play fields have been covered under a
school district's general fund budget. However, due to the
ongoing budget cuts, many school districts are no longer
able to maintain these facilities. This puts in jeopardy
the access to clean and safe school facilities and play
fields for both the community and the students.
Currently, the Civic Center Act authorizes a school
district to recoup "direct costs" such as the cost of
supplies, utilities, janitorial services, and any
administrative costs. This bill expands the definition of
direct costs and authorizes school districts to charge for
the proportional share of the cost of maintaining,
repairing or replacing those facilities.
With the deep cuts school districts are facing, school
districts need the ability to ask those community
organizations who use school facilities and play fields to
pay their fair share of the actual costs to make these
facilities available.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/23/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, 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: Halderman, Roger Hernández, Mansoor
PQ:m 8/24/12 Senate Floor Analyses
CONTINUED
SB 1404
Page
8
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED