BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 184
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 26, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
SB 184 (Committee on Governance and Finance) - As Amended:
June 10, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Local government: omnibus bill.
SUMMARY : Enacts the Local Government Omnibus Act of 2013,
which proposes thirteen technical, noncontroversial changes to
state laws affecting local agencies' powers and duties.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that a lot, parcel, or unit satisfies the requirement
that it be improved with a completed residential structure if
it is improved with a completed residential structure at the
time it is conveyed by the subdivider.
2)Requires an agency to provide the officially adopted facsimile
signature to the county recorder by a letter from the agency.
Provides that a facsimile signature shall continue to be valid
until the agency notifies the county recorder that the
facsimile signature is revoked.
3)Replaces references to "he and him" with the term "city
attorney."
4)Grants special districts the authority, currently granted to a
city and county, to use the State Controller's debt collection
program, to request that the Controller withhold state
payments to collect debts.
5)Repeals the requirement that the property owner or agency of
an owner shall record the Mills Act contract with the county
in which the property is located within six months of entering
into the contract.
6)Adds a cross-reference, Title 6 of the Penal Code, to the
current definition of "abuse of office or position."
7)Removes county from the definition of "city" and adds county
throughout current law that governs infrastructure financing
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districts (IFDs).
8)Makes changes within the Subdivision Map Act and adds the date
signed and seal number to the information required by current
law for the licensee who prepares a parcel or final map.
9)Adds "domestic partner" to the definition of "family member"
in the Public Cemetery District Law. Clarifies the definition
of a "domestic partner" to mean, "two adults who have chosen
to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed
relationship of mutual caring, and are qualified and
registered with the Secretary of State as domestic partners in
accordance with Division 2.5 of the Family Code."
10)Repeals existing law that requires the Ventura County
Resource Conservation District to be split into three
divisions.
11)Authorizes a member of the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors serving on the Baldwin Hills Conservancy governing
board to appoint a designee.
12)Repeals existing law that allows a management district plan
to provide that real property which is exempt by law from real
property taxation to be included within the boundaries of the
district but shall not be subject to assessment on real
property.
13)Makes the following changes to the Kings River Conservation
District Act:
a) Provides the candidate receiving the highest number of
votes cast for the office of director for a specific
division shall be declared elected;
b) Requires all vacancies occurring in the office of
director to be filled pursuant to the Government Code.
Allows the oath of office to be taken before the secretary,
any member of the board or any officer authorized by law to
administer oaths;
c) Repeals existing law that authorizes the board to submit
to the voters a measure to issue bonds and establishes new
procedures;
d) Requires the board, if they deem necessary for the
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district to incur bonded indebtedness, by resolution to
state the purpose for the proposed debt to be incurred, the
amount, and a hearing time and place; and,
e) Establishes public notice, hearing, and election
requirements to create improvement districts.
14)Makes findings and declarations.
15)Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires any person who intends to sell or lease subdivided
lands to file with the Department of Real Estate an
application for a public subdivision report making various
disclosures relevant to the sale or lease of the property.
Exempts a person that intends to sell or lease subdivided
lands from the requirement to file a notice of intention if
the proposed offering of subdivided land meets specified
criteria.
2)Authorizes a city or county, if a person or entity owes money
to the city or county, to request that the State Controller
withhold 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. Authorizes special districts to request that the State
Controller 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.
3)Authorizes a county recorder to accept facsimile signatures on
recorded liens that are adopted by the local agency.
4)Establishes the Mills Act that authorizes property owners and
local jurisdictions to preserve historical properties, as
specified. Establishes recording requirements for a property
owner entering into a Mills Act contract.
5)Requires local agency 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
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crime involving an abuse of his or her office or position.
Defines "abuse of office or position" to mean, "an abuse of
public authority, including, but not limited to, waste, fraud,
and violation of the law under color of authority or 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."
6)Defines "city" to include county for purposes of IFD statutes.
7)Establishes the Subdivision Map Act which governs cities and
counties approval of requests to convert large properties into
marketable parcels.
8)Defines "family member" in the Public Cemetery District Law to
mean "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."
9)Establishes the Ventura Resource Conservation District as
three divisions and requires that three members of the board
of directors are elected from each division.
10)Requires the Balwin Hill Conservancy to be governed by
thirteen voting members and seven nonvoting members. Requires
one of the voting members to be a member of the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors whose district the majority of
Baldwin Hills area is located within.
11)Establishes the Property and Business Improvement District
Law of 1994 (PBID Law) that allows property owners to petition
a city or county to establish an improvement district and levy
assessments on property and business owners to finance.
Requires, pursuant to the PBID Law, a management district plan
to provide that real property which is exempt by law from real
property taxation to be included within the boundaries of the
district but not subject to assessments on real property.
12)Establishes the Kings River Conservation District.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed fiscal.
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COMMENTS :
1)The Local Government Omnibus Act of 2013 compiles thirteen
sets of noncontroversial changes to state laws affecting local
agencies and land use into a single bill. Each year, local
officials discover problems with the state statutes that
affect counties, cities, and special districts as well as the
laws on land use planning and development. Legislators
respond by combining several of these minor topics into an
annual "omnibus bill." According to the author, the Senate
Governance and Finance Committee, sending a bill through the
legislative process costs around $18,000. By drafting one
omnibus bill, instead of thirteen small clean-up bills, the
Committee's measure avoids roughly $216,000 in legislative
costs.
Although the practice may violate a strict interpretation of
the single-subject and germaneness rules, it is an expeditious
and relatively inexpensive way to respond to multiple
requests. Furthermore, the Senate Governance and Finance
Committee conducts 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. According to the Senate Governance and
Finance Committee, "Should any item in this bill 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."
2)This bill proposes the following thirteen changes to current
law affecting local agencies:
a) Subdivided Lands Act clarification . Existing law
requires any person who intends to sell or lease subdivided
lands to file with the Department of Real Estate an
application for a public subdivision report making various
disclosures relevant to the sale or lease of the property.
Current law also specifies that a person who intends to
sell or lease subdivided lands is not required to file a
notice of intention with the Department if the proposed
offering of subdivided land satisfies specified criteria.
Among the criteria is a requirement that each lot, parcel
or unit of the subdivision must be sold or offered for sale
improved with a completed residential structure and with
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all other improvements completed that are necessary to
occupancy. According to the author, practitioners note
that a bulletin issued by the Department of Real Estate in
1981 clarified that a subdivider who intends to sell lots
with residential dwellings could enter into contracts to
sell the lots with residences before construction is
complete.
This bill clarifies that a lot, parcel or unit satisfies
the requirement that it be improved with a completed
residential structure if it is improved with a completed
residential structure at the time it is conveyed by the
subdivider.
b) Facsimile signatures on recorded government liens . A
county recorder must accept for recordation any document
that is authorized or required by law to be recorded. With
some exceptions, current law generally requires that each
instrument, paper, or notice must contain an original
signature or be a certified copy of the original. However,
existing law allows a county recorder to accept facsimile
signatures on liens recorded by government agencies that
have officially adopted those signatures. According to the
author, Napa County's Recorder notes that ambiguity in
current statutory language creates confusion about how
agencies should submit facsimile signatures to county
recorders.
This bill clarifies that a government agency must provide
an officially adopted facsimile signature to a county
recorder by letter and that a facsimile signature remains
valid until the governmental agency notifies the county
recorder that the facsimile signature is revoked.
c) Gender-neutral references to city attorneys . Some
statutes that govern city attorneys still use the pronouns
"he" and "him" to refer to a city attorney.
This bill replaces outdated references to "he" and "him"
with the gender-neutral term "the city attorney."
d) State collection of debts owed to special districts .
Current law authorizes a city or county, if a person or
entity owes money to a city or county, to request that the
State Controller withhold money that the person or entity
would otherwise receive from a personal income tax refund,
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corporate income tax refund, sales tax refund, state
lottery winnings, or a claim for payment of money from
unclaimed property held by the state. 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 request that the State
Controller 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. Supporters argue 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.
This bill 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.
e) Recording requirements for Mills Act contracts . The
Mills Act authorizes property owners and local officials to
preserve historical properties with voluntary contracts
that restrict the use of qualified historical properties in
historic zones, and reduced property tax assessments for
the contracted properties, based on statutory formulas
instead of their acquisition prices.
AB 654 (Hueso), Chapter 278, Statutes of 2011, repealed
language requiring property owners to send copies of their
historical property preservation contracts to the State
Office of Historical Preservation. AB 654 replaced the
repealed language with a requirement that a property owner
must, within six months of entering into a contract, record
the contract with the county where the property is located.
Other statutory language that was enacted as part of the
original Mills Act already requires the clerk of a city
council or board of supervisors, no later than 20 days
after a city or county enters into a contract with a
property owner, to record a copy of the contract with the
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county recorder.
This bill repeals the duplicative requirement that a
property owner must record a Mills Act contract, leaving in
place the long-standing requirement that city or county
officials must record a contract within 20 days of entering
into the contract.
f) "Abuse of office" definition . Current 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. For
the purposes of this requirement, current law defines
"abuse of office" to mean "an abuse of public authority,
including, but not limited to, waste, fraud, and violation
of the law under color of authority or 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."
This bill adds a cross-reference to Title 6 of the Penal
Code to more accurately define the phrase "abuse of
office."
g) Counties and Infrastructure Financing Districts . Cities
and counties can create 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 (not schools) for 30
years. The statutes governing IFDs only use the term
"city" because "city" is defined, for the purposes of the
IFD statutes, to include a county and a city and county.
This bill removes counties from the definition of a city
and inserts the term "county" throughout the statutes
governing IFDs.
h) Subdivision Map Act Update . The Subdivision Map Act
controls how local officials approve the division of
property into smaller parcels. To approve a major
subdivision, local officials approve a tentative map, the
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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 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. 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, existing law
requires the licensed professional who prepared a parcel
map or final map to include a specified statement on the
map.
This bill will provide additional information on the
statement about the timing of a map's completion and the
identification of the licensee who prepared a map. This
bill provides more information of the licensee who prepared
a map by including the "date signed" and the actual "seal"
of the licensee.
i) Subdivision Map Act Correction . The Subdivision Map Act
controls how counties and cities approve requests to
convert large properties into marketable parcels. When a
major subdivision creates five or more parcels, current law
requires a two-stage process involving both a tentative map
and a final map. A minor subdivision with fewer parcels
needs only a parcel map, but local officials can require a
tentative parcel map and a final parcel map. Counting the
number of parcels determines if a proposed subdivision is a
major subdivision or a minor subdivision. The Map Act
excludes certain types of divisions when counting parcels.
To address inconsistent statutory language, SB 194, Senate
Governance & Finance Committee), Chapter 382, Statutes of
2011, amended a section of the Subdivision Map Act that
excluded land conveyed to or from a government agency,
public entity, public utility, or land conveyed to a
subsidiary of a public utility for conveyance to the public
utility from being counted as a parcel. County officials
found that SB 194 inadvertently eliminated the statute's
frequently-used exemption for specified real property
transactions involving local governments and public
utilities.
This bill repeals the changes made by SB 194 and restores
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the exact wording of the statute as it read before January
1, 2012.
j) 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. 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." Current law establishes a
statewide domestic partnership registry and requires that
registered domestic partners have the same rights,
protections, and benefits as are granted to spouses.
This bill clarifies that a domestic partner is included in
the Public Cemetery District Law's definition of "family
member."
aa) Ventura Resource Conservation District's Board of
Directors . The 98 resource conservation districts (RCDs)
in California conserve soil and water, control runoff,
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. 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.
This bill eliminates the District's three divisions and
reduces the size of the governing board to seven directors
who are elected at-large which will allow the District to
follow general current laws that govern the size and
election of a resource conservation district's board of
directors.
bb) Baldwin Hills Conservancy Governing Board . Existing law
establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy to acquire and
manage public lands within the Baldwin Hills area, and to
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provide recreational, open space, wildlife habitat
restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses
within the area. 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 whose district the majority of
the Baldwin Hills area is located within. 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. The Los Angeles county supervisor who sits on
the Conservancy's board is not authorized to name a
designee to sit on the board.
This bill 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.
cc) Property and Business Improvement District Assessments
on Tax-Exempt Property . Proposition 218 (1996) requires
owners of real property to approve benefit 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. Current 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." According to the author,
practitioners that 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.
This bill deletes the ambiguous language in the Property
and Business Improvement District Law that conflicts with
Proposition 218.
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dd) Kings River Conservation District's elections . The
Kings River Conservation District (Fresno County) is a
special district established by a special act that provides
flood control, water resource management, and power
generation services. The District is governed by a
seven-member elected board of directors. SB 1090
(Governance & Finance Committee), Chapter 330, Statutes of
2012, included amendments to the District's statutes
governing its board elections and inadvertently reenacted
some antiquated statutory language that had been repealed
by AB 1892 (Porter) of 1965. According to the author,
district officials want to repeal the statute that contains
the outdated language and add some cross-references to more
modern statutes governing district elections.
This bill repeals outdated statutory language relating to
the King's River Conservation District's elections,
requires the District's board to fill board vacancies
pursuant to a specified section of the Government Code, and
specifies that the District's elections to approve bonded
indebtedness must be conducted pursuant to the statutes
that govern irrigation districts' bond elections.
3)Because provisions of this bill conflict with those contained
in AB 80 (Committee on Budget), SB 33 (Wolk), and SB 75
(Committee on Budget) the author may wish to amend the bill to
avoid any chaptering out issues that could occur because of
the conflict.
4)Support arguments : Supporters argue that this bill provides
clarity and makes noncontroversial changes for local agencies.
Opposition arguments : None
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
California Association of Counties
California Association of Public Cemeteries
California Land Surveyors Association
California Special Districts Association
Civitas Advisors Inc.
Kings River Conservation District
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
MuniServices
Napa County Recorder
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Misa Yokoi-Shelton / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958