Amended in Senate May 1, 2014

Amended in Senate April 7, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1053


Introduced by Assembly Member Cooley

February 22, 2013


An act relating to local government, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1053, as amended, Cooley. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District: return of improperly collected money.

Existing law authorizes the formation of a fire protection district and further authorizes an established district to raise revenues, including, but not limited to, levying assessments for fire suppression services pursuant to a specified procedure. Existing law also authorizes a district to charge fees to cover the costs of providing certain services or enforcing certain regulations and to waive those fees under specified conditions.

This bill would authorize the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, until January 1, 2015, and notwithstanding any other law, to return money it improperly collected from payees due to a clerical error in the district’s administration ofbegin delete an assessmentend deletebegin insert a special taxend insert levied from 2005 to 2012, inclusive. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the public purpose served by this act.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) Integrity and accountability in government demands that
4when a subdivision of the state discovers that it improperly
5collected money from the public due to a clerical error, that it be
6authorized to return the money to the members of the public from
7whom the money was mistakenly collected.

8(b) This act, by authorizing an efficient return of money that
9the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District improperly collected in
10the form ofbegin delete an assessmentend deletebegin insert a special taxend insert due to an unintentional
11clerical error, serves a public purpose by maintaining public
12confidence in the imposition and collection ofbegin delete property assessmentsend delete
13begin insert special taxesend insert to pay for public improvements and services,
14correcting an unintentional error and restoring accuracy in the
15district’s finances, providing transparency and accountability in
16the proper collection and use of public funds, and by avoiding the
17potential public expense of defending against costly litigation filed
18by those parties from whom money was mistakenly collected.

19

SEC. 2.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Sacramento
20Metropolitan Fire District may return to a payor any money the
21district improperly collected from the payor due to a clerical error
22in the district’s administration ofbegin delete that certain assessmentend deletebegin insert the special
23taxend insert
known as the Special Fire Tax forbegin insert theend insert Rancho Murieta and
24begin delete Sloughouseend deletebegin insert Sloughhouseend insert area levied from 2005 to 2012, inclusive.

25(b) This act shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2015,
26 and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
27is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends that date.

28

SEC. 3.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
29is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
30within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
31Constitution because of the unique and limited need of the
32Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District to return money it
P3    1improperly and unintentionally collected in the form ofbegin delete an
2assessmentend delete
begin insert a special taxend insert.

3

SEC. 4.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
4immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
5the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
6immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

7To remedy as soon as possible the mistaken collection from the
8public of fire districtbegin delete assessmentend deletebegin insert special taxend insert amounts, it is necessary
9for this act to take effect immediately.



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