BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: SB 184 HEARING: 4/17/13
AUTHOR: Governance & Finance Committee FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 4/9/13 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Weinberger
LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMNIBUS ACT OF 2013
Proposes nine changes to state laws governing local
governments' powers and duties.
Background and Existing Law
Each year, local officials discover problems with the state
statutes that affect counties, cities, special districts,
and redevelopment agencies, as well as the laws on land use
planning and development. These minor problems do not
warrant separate (and expensive) bills. According to the
Legislative Analyst, in 2001-02 the cost of producing a
bill was $17,890.
Legislators respond by combining several of these minor
topics into an annual "omnibus bill." In 2012, for
example, the local government omnibus bill was
SB 1090 (Senate Governance & Finance Committee) which
contained 12 noncontroversial statutory changes, avoiding
about $200,000 in legislative costs. Although this
practice may violate a strict interpretation of the
single-subject and germaneness rules as presented in
Californians for an Open Primary v. McPherson (2006), it is
an expeditious and relatively inexpensive way to respond to
multiple requests.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 184, the "Local Government Omnibus Act of
2013," proposes the following changes to the state laws
affecting local agencies' powers and duties:
State collection of debts owed to special districts . If a
person or entity owes money to a city or county, that city
or county can request that the State Controller withhold
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money that the person or entity would otherwise receive
from a personal income tax refund, corporate income tax
refund, sales tax refund, state lottery winnings, or a
claim for payment of money from unclaimed property held by
the state (Government Code §12419.8). The Controller can
withhold money only when the debt:
Has been reduced to a judgment,
Is contained in a court order,
Is from a bench warrant for a fine, penalty, or
assessment, or
Is a lien for delinquent unsecured property taxes.
Special districts can only ask the State Controller to
withhold money from tax refunds, lottery winnings, or
unclaimed property payments to collect debts from unpaid
bridge tolls, high-occupancy toll lane fees, or other
charges on account of nonpayment of bridge toll or high
occupancy toll lane fees (Government Code §12419.12,
enacted by AB 1175, Torlakson, 2009). California Special
Districts Association staff notes that special districts
could benefit from the same revenue collection efficiency
that benefits cities and counties when they ask the
Controller to collect debts by withholding state payments.
Senate Bill 184 expands special districts' existing
authority to use the State Controller's debt collection
program, giving special districts the same statutory
authority that cities and counties have to request that the
Controller withhold state payments to collect debts [see
§§2 and 3 of the bill].
Gender-neutral references to city attorneys . Some statutes
that govern city attorneys have not been amended for many
decades and use the masculine pronouns "he" and "him" to
refer to a city attorney (Government Code §41802, §41803,
and §41805). The League of California Cities' General
Counsel notes that this gender-specific language does not
conform to current usage. Senate Bill 184 replaces
outdated references to "he" and "him" with the
gender-neutral term "the city attorney" [see §§4 - 6 of the
bill].
"Abuse of office" definition . State law requires a local
agency's employment contracts to contain a provision to
reimburse the local agency for specified salary, legal, and
settlement costs if an employee is convicted of a crime
involving an abuse of his or her office or position (AB
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1344, Feuer, 2011). For the purposes of this requirement,
Government Code §53243.4 defines "abuse of office" as
either:
An abuse of public authority, including, but not
limited to, waste, fraud, and violation of the law
under color of authority.
A crime against public justice, including, but not
limited to, a crime described in Title 5 (commencing
with Section 67) or Title 7 (commencing with Section
92) of Part 1 of the Penal Code.
The Local Government Omnibus Act of 2012 (SB 1090, Senate
Governance & Finance Committee) added the cross-reference
to Title 5 of the Penal Code. Assembly Local Government
Committee staff notes that the current definition excludes
important crimes that are contained in Title 6 of the Penal
Code. Senate Bill 184 adds a cross-reference to Title 6 of
the Penal Code to more accurately define the phrase "abuse
of office"[see §7 in the bill].
Counties and Infrastructure Financing Districts . Cities and
counties can create Infrastructure Financing Districts
(IFDs) and issue bonds to pay for community scale public
works: highways, transit, water systems, sewer projects,
flood control, child care facilities, libraries, parks, and
solid waste facilities. To repay the bonds, IFDs divert
property tax increment revenues from other local
governments -- but not schools -- for 30 years (SB 308,
Seymour, 1990). California State Association of Counties
staff notes that the statutes governing IFDs only use the
term "city" because "city" is defined, for the purposes of
the IFD statutes, as including a county and a city and
county. The exclusive use of the term "city" throughout
the IFD statutes may mislead some readers into thinking
that counties are not authorized to use IFDs. Senate Bill
184 removes counties from the definition of a city and
inserts the term "county" throughout the statutes governing
IFDs [see §§8 - 16 in the bill].
Subdivision Map Act Update . The Subdivision Map Act
(Government Code §66410, et seq.) controls how local
officials approve the division of property into smaller
parcels. To approve a major subdivision, local officials
approve a "tentative map," the subdivider fulfills the
conditions, and then local officials issue the "final map."
For a minor subdivision ("lot split"), the local officials
approve and issue a final "parcel map." When the county
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surveyor or city engineer approves a parcel map, he or she
must sign the map, indicate his or her registration number,
and stamp the map with his or her seal (Government Code
§66450 [a]). When the county surveyor or city engineer
approves a final map, he or she must sign the map and
indicate his or her registration number, and stamp the map
with his or her seal. Additionally, state law requires the
licensed professional who prepared a parcel map or final
map to include a specified statement on the map. The
California Land Surveyor's Association wants this statement
to provide additional information about the timing of a
map's completion and the identification of the licensee who
prepared a map. Senate Bill 184 amends Government Code
Sections 66442.5 and 66449 to provide more complete
information of the licensee who prepared a map by including
the "date signed" and the actual "seal" of the licensee
[see §§17 and 18 in the bill].
Public Cemetery District Law's Definition of "Family
Member. " In 2003, the Legislature modernized and
recodified the Public Cemetery District Law, which governs
California's 250 cemetery districts (Health & Safety Code
9000, et seq., recodified by SB 341, Senate Local
Government Committee, 2003). The Public Cemetery District
Law defines the term "family member" as:
any spouse, by marriage or otherwise, child or stepchild,
by natural birth or adoption, parent, brother, sister,
half-brother, half-sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law,
sister-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, first cousin, or
any person denoted by the prefix "grand" or "great," or the
spouse of any of these persons.
State law establishes a statewide domestic partnership
registry (AB 26, Migden 1999) and requires that registered
domestic partners have the same rights, protections, and
benefits as are granted to spouses (AB 205, Goldberg,
2003). Cemetery District officials note that the Public
Cemetery District Law's definition of "family member" omits
domestic partners. Senate Bill 184 clarifies that a
domestic partner is included in the Public Cemetery
District Law's definition of "family member" [see §19 in
the bill].
Ventura Resource Conservation District's Board of
Directors . The 98 resource conservation districts (RCDs)
in California conserve soil and water, control runoff,
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stabilize soil, protect water quality, reclaim water, and
develop water storage facilities and distribution systems.
RCDs are governed by five-, seven-, or nine-member boards.
The number of directors may be changed by resolution
adopted by a majority of the members of the board of
directors (AB 278, Costa, 1991). The special act governing
the Ventura County Resource Conservation District splits
the District into three divisions and requires that three
members of the board of directors must be elected from each
division (AB 1914, Imbrecht and Priolo, 1978). Ventura
County Resource Conservation District officials want to
eliminate the District's three divisions and reduce the
size of the governing board to seven directors who are
elected at-large. To allow the Ventura County Resource
Conservation District to follow general state laws that
govern the size and election of a resource conservation
district's board of directors, Senate Bill 184 deletes
statutes in the District's special act that require the
District to be split into three divisions [see §§20 - 25 in
the bill].
Baldwin Hills Conservancy Governing Board . State law
establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to acquire and
manage public lands within the Baldwin Hills area, and to
provide recreational, open space, wildlife habitat
restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses
within the area (SB 1625, Murray, 2000). The Conservancy's
governing board consists of 13 voting members and seven
nonvoting members. One of the voting members is the member
of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors within whose
district the majority of the Baldwin Hills area is located
(AB 966, Wesson, 2001). Some of the Board's voting
members, including the Secretary of the Resources Agency,
the Director of Parks and Recreation, the Director of
Finance, and the Director of the Los Angeles County
Department of Parks can name a designee to sit on the
board. Los Angeles County staff notes that the county
supervisor who sits on the Conservancy's board is not
authorized to name a designee to sit on the board. Senate
Bill 184 authorizes the Los Angeles County supervisor who
sits as a voting member of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy's
governing board to name a designee to sit on the board [see
§26 in the bill].
PBID Assessments on Tax-Exempt Property . Proposition 218
(1996) requires owners of real property to approve benefit
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assessments in a weighted ballot protest proceeding;
property owners vote in proportion to their proposed
assessments, which reflect how much their property benefits
from the proposed public works or public services. The
Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994
allows property owners to petition a city (or county) to
set up an improvement district (PBID) and levy assessments
on property owners, business owners, or both, to pay for
certain improvements and activities (AB 3754, Caldera,
1994). The 1994 Law allows a PBID's management plan to
provide that "real property which is exempt by law from
real property taxation may nevertheless be included within
the boundaries of the district but shall not be subject to
assessment on real property." Practitioners who work with
PBIDs note that this language is ambiguous and appears to
conflict with Proposition 218's special benefit
requirements by allowing tax-exempt parcels that benefit
from PBID activities and improvements to be excluded from
the assessment. Senate Bill 184 deletes the ambiguous
language in the 1994 Act that conflicts with Proposition
218 [see §27 in the bill].
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comment
Purpose of the bill . SB 184 compiles nine noncontroversial
changes to state laws affecting local agencies and land use
into a single bill. Sending a bill through the legislative
process costs around $18,000. By avoiding 8 other bills,
the Committee's measure avoids over $140,000 in legislative
costs. Although the practice may violate a strict
interpretation of the single-subject and germaneness rules,
the Committee insists on a very public review of each item.
More than 100 public officials, trade groups, lobbyists,
and legislative staffers see each proposal before it goes
into the Committee's bill. Should any item in SB 184
attract opposition, the Committee will delete it. In this
transparent process, there is no hidden agenda. If it's
not consensus, it's not omnibus.
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Support and Opposition (4/11/13)
Support : County of Los Angeles; California Association of
Public Cemeteries; California Land Surveyors Association;
California Special Districts Association; California State
Association of Counties; MuniServices.
Opposition : Unknown.