AB 483, as amended, Ting. Local government: taxes, fees, assessments, and charges: definitions.
Article XIII C of the California Constitution generally requires a majority vote of the electorate for a local government to impose, extend, or increase any general tax and a 2⁄3 vote of the electorate to impose, extend, or increase any special tax, and permits the use of the initiative to affect local taxes, assessments, fees, and charges. Article XIII C of the California Constitution also defines a local tax and sets out the categories of charges that are excluded from that definition.begin delete Article XIIIend deletebegin delete end deletebegin deleteD of the California Constitution generally requires that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to property owners for approval or
rejection after the provision of written notice and the holding of a public hearing.end delete Existing law, the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply withbegin delete Articlesend deletebegin insert Articleend insert XIII Cbegin delete and XIIIend deletebegin delete end deletebegin deleteDend delete of the California Constitution, and defines various terms for these purposes.
This bill wouldbegin insert add a provision to the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act toend insert additionally define the terms
“specific benefit,” and “specific government service” for purposes ofbegin delete the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Actend deletebegin insert Article XIIIend insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertC of the California Constitutionend insert.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertThe Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:end insert
3(a) Business improvement districts and tourism marketing
4districts are important to California’s economy, and provide a
5number of tourism-related services to California’s tourism industry,
6including marketing of assessed businesses, tourism promotion,
7and special events to attract tourists.
8(b) Business improvement
district and tourism marketing district
9assessment revenues are intended only to provide benefits or
10services directly to those businesses paying the assessment, and
11business improvement district and tourism marketing district
12assessment revenues cannot be diverted to support general
13governmental programs.
14(c) The purpose of this bill is to clarify that business
15improvement district and tourism marketing district assessments
16are not taxes within the meaning of Article XIII C of the California
17Constitution merely because they might generate indirect,
18secondary benefits for nonpayors, provided that those indirect,
19secondary benefits occur incidentally and without cost to the
20payors of the assessment.
Section 53758 is added to the Government Code, to
23read:
For purposes ofbegin delete Articlesend deletebegin insert Articleend insert XIII Cbegin delete and XIIIend deletebegin delete end deletebegin deleteDend delete of
25the California Constitution and this article:
P3 1(a) “Specific benefit” means a benefit that is provided directly
2to a payor and is not provided to those not charged.begin delete Ancillary or begin insert
A
3other benefits to nonpayors may be created in the course of
4providing the specific benefit to payors. A benefit is not excluded
5from classification as a “specific benefit” by reason of a complete
6or partial exemption from the levy, charge, or exaction imposed
7for that benefit, provided that a levy, charge, or exaction paid for
8that benefit is used to provide that benefit only to the payor.end delete
9specific benefit is not excluded from classification as a “specific
10benefit” merely because an indirect benefit to a nonpayor occurs
11incidentally and without cost to the payor as a consequence of
12providing the specific benefit to the payor.end insert
13(b) “Specific government service” means a service that is
14provided bybegin delete an agencyend deletebegin insert a local governmentend insert directly to the payor
15and is not provided to those not charged.begin insert A specific government
16service is not excluded from classification as a “specific
17government service” merely because an indirect benefit to a
18nonpayor occurs incidentally and without cost to the payor as a
19
consequence of providing the specific government service to the
20payor.end insert A “specific government service” may include, but is not
21limited to,begin delete safety,end delete maintenance, landscaping, marketing, events,
22begin delete capital improvements,end delete and promotions.begin delete A service is not excluded
23from classification as a “specific government service” by reason
24of a complete or partial exemption from the levy, charge, or
25exaction imposed for that service, provided that a levy, charge, or
26exaction paid for that service is used to provide that service only
27to the payor.end delete
28(c) The local government bears the burden of proving by a
29preponderance of the evidence that a levy, charge, or other
30exaction imposed for a specific benefit or specific government
31service is not a tax, that the amount is no more than necessary to
32cover the reasonable costs to the local government in providing
33the specific benefit or specific government service, and that the
34manner in which those costs are allocated to a payor bear a fair
35or reasonable relationship to the specific benefits or specific
36government services received by the payor.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
39immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
P4 1the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
2immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
3In order to ensure compliance with the California Constitution
4it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
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