BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 128
AUTHOR: Emmerson
AMENDED: April 15, 2013
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 8, 2013
URGENCY: Yes CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : Community facilities districts: transfer of
governance authority.
SUMMARY
This bill, an urgency measure, authorizes the Hemet Unified
School District (HUSD) to transfer, the jurisdiction of the
HUSD Community Facilities District (CFD No. 2005-1), to the
Temecula Valley Unified School District upon written
agreement entered between the two governing boards of those
school districts.
BACKGROUND
Current law provides for a county committee on school
district organization in each county (county committee) to
consider locally developed reorganization petitions to
transfer territory among districts; unify, merge or create
new districts or revise the boundaries of trustee areas.
Proposals for transfer of territory may be decided by the
county committee in a public hearing, although such
decisions to transfer more than 10% of a district's
territory must be ratified by a vote of the people in the
affected districts. The decisions of the county committee
may be appealed to the State Board of Education (SBE) for
specified reasons. (Education Code � 35500 et. seq.)
ANALYSIS
This bill , an urgency measure, authorizes the Hemet Unified
School District to transfer, the jurisdiction of the HUSD
Community Facilities District (CFD No. 2005-1), to the
Temecula Valley Unified School District upon written
agreement entered between the two governing boards of those
school districts. In addition, this bill:
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1) Requires, except as otherwise may be provided in the
written agreement, upon the effective date of the
transfer of jurisdiction pursuant to the written
agreement all of the following shall apply:
a) The legislative body, as specified, to
exercise authority over Hemet
Unified School District CFD No. 2005-01 shall be
the governing board of the Temecula Valley
Unified School District.
b) The Hemet Unified School District shall not
bear any liability for any action taken with
regard to the CFD on or after the effective date
of the transfer of jurisdiction.
c) The Temecula Valley Unified School District
shall not bear any liability for any action taken
with regard to the CFD before the effective date
of the transfer of jurisdiction.
2) Makes findings and declarations on the necessity and
desire that a process be established under which the
governance of the HUSD CFD No. 2005-1 may be
transferred to the governing board of the Temecula
Valley USD. The findings and declarations clarify that
legislative approval is required because the Riverside
County Committee on School District Organization lacks
the authority to approve the transfer of the CFD
between the school districts.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, the French
Valley Community, which is an unincorporated area of
Riverside County, is located in close proximity to the
Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD).
However, due to the district boundary lines, French
Valley technically falls within the jurisdiction of
the more distantly located Hemet Unified School
District (HUSD). This imposes a significant hardship
on French Valley students by requiring them to travel
long distances by bus to attend HUSD schools as
opposed to their neighborhood TVUSD schools. All
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parties (school districts and county committee) agree
that the transferring of French Valley from HUSD to
TVUSD is in the best interest of the local communities
and students; however, located within French Valley is
a specified community facilities district. The county
committee lacks the authority to approve the transfer
of the CFD. This measure will authorize the transfer
of the CFD.
2) Does the bill provide enough clarity to protect the
fiscal and financial integrity of the CFD and school
districts by ensuring the entity that created the CFD
maintain responsibility for audit findings or other
actions which are initiated subsequent to the transfer
of jurisdiction that challenge transactions or actions
by the CFD prior to the transfer of jurisdiction? Is
current law governing such possible situations
sufficient?
3) What is a Community Facilities District (CFD)? The
Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982
(Government Code Chapter 2.5, commencing with Section
53311) provides a method of financing public
facilities, infrastructure and certain services in
connection with new development. Mello-Roos
authorizes cities, school districts, and certain other
local agencies to form Mello-Roos community facilities
districts (CFDs) to finance a wide range of public
facilities - such as school sites and buildings, parks
and libraries - and services through the imposition of
special taxes approved by a two-thirds vote of the
qualified electorate of the district. Community
facilities districts (CFDs) are formed for funding
purposes only; once established, a CFD is a legally
constituted governmental entity distinct from the
local agency that created it even though the members
of the local agency and the district are the same.
According to the California Debt and Investment
Advisory Commission, since 1985, CFDs have issued over
$18 billion in long-term bonds, mostly for capital
improvements.
4) Staff recommends amendments : Technical amendments to
clarify:
(i) In Section 1 it is the Hemet Unified School
District, not the Hemet Valley School District; and
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(ii) On page 2, line 20, strike "CFD" and insert:
Community Facilities District (CFD No. 2005-1)
5) Similar past legislation . Chapter 505, Statutes of
1992 (SB 509, Mello) authorized the Perris Union High
School District, which established a community
facilities district (CFD No. 87-1), and the Val Verde
Unified School District to enter into a written
agreement to transfer to the latter the jurisdiction
of the community facilities district.
SUPPORT
Hemet Unified School District
Anthony St. Martin
Maurice Moore
Supervisor Jeff Stone, Third District, County of Riverside
Temecula Valley Unified School District
OPPOSITION
None on file.