BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 774
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
AB 774 (Donnelly) - As Amended: March 19, 2013
SUBJECT : County service areas: zone dissolution.
SUMMARY : Eliminates responsibility and liability for counties,
county service areas (CSAs) and CSA zones for street services
when a CSA or zone is dissolved or divested of authority, and
when a board of supervisors is unable to raise revenues.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that, if a board is unable to raise revenues, the
county, CSA, and the CSA's zones shall not be responsible for
a loss or injury resulting from the failure to provide
maintenance of services or facilities that the CSA or any of
its zones provides.
2)Requires, in the above instance, the county board of
supervisors (board) to mail notice to any owner of property
within the CSA or any of its zones that it will no longer be
able to maintain the services or facilities.
3)Requires, upon dissolution of a CSA or a zone providing
services or facilities for a public street or divestiture of
authority of a CSA to provide services or facilities for a
public street, the board to post clearly visible signs within
the zone for which authorized services, levels of service, or
authorized facilities are no longer being provided within the
zone.
4)Requires the sign to indicate what service or facility is no
longer being provided within the zone and that the county and
the zone are not responsible for any loss or injury resulting
from the termination of services or facilities.
5)Requires the board to provide adequate maintenance to ensure
that the signs remain posted within the zone and the message
is legible for a period of one year.
6)Provides that, after the signs are posted pursuant to the
above requirements, the county and the dissolved zone shall
not be held liable for death or injury resulting from
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termination of services or facilities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, pursuant to the CSA law, for the formation, powers,
services and facilities, financing, and revenues of CSAs and
zones within CSAs as a means to finance and provide needed
public facilities and services to the residents and property
owners of unincorporated areas and to meet the diversity of
local conditions, circumstances, and resources.
2)Provides that a county board of supervisors acts as the
governing body of the CSA.
3)Allows CSAs to be proposed via petition or adoption of a board
resolution after a public hearing, requires approval via the
Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) process, and
prohibits a LAFCO from approving a CSA unless the LAFCO
determines that the proposed CSA will have sufficient revenues
to carry out its purposes. However, a LAFCO may approve a CSA
that that does not have sufficient revenues by conditioning
the approval on the concurrent approval of special taxes,
benefit assessments, or property-related fees or charges. If
voters or property owners do not approve these financing
methods, the proposed CSA shall not be formed.
4)Requires a LAFCO to terminate a CSA formation proceeding if a
majority protest exists.
5)Requires a LAFCO to order the formation of a CSA without an
election if the proposed territory is uninhabited, if all of
the landowners within the proposed CSA service territory have
given written consent, and no special tax, benefit assessment,
or property-related fee or charge is needed.
6)Requires a LAFCO to order the formation of a CSA subject to
approval by the voters or landowners, as specified, where no
special tax, benefit assessment, or property-related fee or
charge is needed.
7)Requires a LAFCO to order the formation of a CSA subject to
approval by the voters of a special tax, the approval by
property owners of a benefit assessment, or the approval of
property-related fees or charges as required by current law.
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8)Provides procedures for divesting a CSA of its authority to
provide a service or facility, which require public notice and
public hearing.
9)Provides procedures for establishing and dissolving zones
within a CSA, which require public notice and public hearing.
10)Provides, whenever a board determines that the amount of
revenue available to a CSA or any of its zones is inadequate
to meet the costs of operating and maintaining the services
and facilities that the CSA provides, the board may raise
revenues pursuant to current law.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)This bill eliminates responsibility for a loss or injury
resulting from the failure to provide maintenance of services
or facilities that a CSA or any of its zones provides if a
board is unable to raise revenues. In this case, the board
must mail notice to any owner of property within the CSA or
any of its zones that it will no longer be able to maintain
the services or facilities. This bill also eliminates
liability for death or injury resulting from termination of
street services or facilities for counties, CSAs and CSA zones
when a CSA or zone is dissolved or divested of authority,
provided that signs are posted within the CSA or zone for one
year. This bill is sponsored by the County of San Bernardino.
2)According to the author, "This bill is intended to expand
public safety, by imposing posting and notification
requirements upon counties dissolving a county service area or
county service zone for public streets and requires
notification to property owners when revenue is insufficient
to meet the costs of operating and maintaining services. This
bill is also intended to release counties from liability when
revenue is insufficient to maintain services and voters do not
agree to an increase in revenue."
3)According to the County of San Bernardino, "Many of the
service areas in San Bernardino were created more than 30
years ago and revenue has not kept pace with the cost of
providing services?As county governments throughout California
continue to struggle meeting the financial needs of
maintaining infrastructure, this bill would allow counties to
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operate service areas and zones within their financial means."
The county reports chronic operating shortfalls in the range
of $1,000 to $100,000, depending on the CSA or zone. Voters
have turned down requests for increased CSA revenues twice,
once about two years ago and once about eight years ago. In
both cases, the CSA or zone was dissolved. The county argues
that it is seeking a mechanism to prevent dissolution and
continue some services using existing revenues.
4)CSAs are the most common type of special district in
California, with roughly 900 CSAs in existence statewide. A
county board of supervisors always governs a CSA, which can
provide any service that the county provides, or a higher
level of service, to an unincorporated area. CSAs deliver
additional, tailored county services to specific geographic
areas. CSAs provide a wide range of services and facilities,
including animal control, libraries, police protection, snow
removal, and weed abatement.
5)The Legislature revised and updated the CSA law relatively
recently, in 2008. Under the law, decisions to form and
dissolve CSAs and CSA zones always involve the affected
stakeholders - property owners and residents within the CSA or
zone - through public notice and hearing requirements. This
policy is based on the premise that residents and property
owners agree to pay additional taxes and fees for additional
services and, thus, should be involved in these
decision-making processes. This bill represents a significant
departure from this long-standing policy, by unilaterally
eliminating responsibility for loss or injury for a board, a
CSA or any of its zones if services are not provided because
revenues have fallen short of costs. In addition, many of
these services represent health and public safety concerns -
for example, law enforcement and police protection, fire
protection, water supply, wastewater and stormwater treatment
or disposal, solid waste collection and disposal, emergency
medical services, and flood control and drainage. The
Committee may wish to consider whether this is a prudent shift
in public policy.
6)This bill also eliminates liability for death or injury in the
case of a dissolved CSA or zone, or one divested of authority,
resulting from termination of street services or facilities,
if signs are posted for one year. The Committee may wish to
consider the ramifications of this provision. What if the CSA
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has constructed sub-standard road improvements or has
inadvertently damaged roads? Which entity would then be held
liable for any failures and resulting injuries or deaths?
What are the implications if a county board knows it will not
be held liable for past maintenance or improvements once a CSA
or zone is dissolved?
7)Support arguments : The County of San Bernardino states that
"San Bernardino County is dedicated to public safety and
operating in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner.
This legislation would provide our county with important
mechanisms to further those aims."
Opposition arguments : Opponents could argue that this bill
runs contrary to the established procedures in CSA law whereby
affected stakeholders (residents and property owners) must
consent to the formation of a CSA and any additional taxes or
fees for CSA services, and that this bill could invite
litigation on the part of residents and property owners within
affected CSAs. Opponents could also argue that this bill's
provisions discourage diligent and responsible management of
CSAs that could lead to public health and safety risks.
8)This bill is double-referred to the Judiciary Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County of San Bernardino [SPONSOR]
California State Association of Counties
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958