Amended in Senate April 23, 2013

Senate Bill No. 553

Introduced by Senator Yee

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 53755.5 to the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 553, as amended, Yee. Local government: assessment: elections begin delete pro. end delete begin insert procedures. end insert

Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution generally require that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to property owners for approval or rejection after the provision of written notice and the holding of a public hearing. Existing law, the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution.

Existing statutory law provides notice, protest, and hearing procedures for the levying of new or increased assessments, fees, and charges by local government agencies pursuant to Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution.

This bill would begin insert , where a proposed fee or charge is submitted to the electorate for approval, require a county elections official to conduct that election. This bill would also end insert require, if a local government agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for approval by a vote of the begin insert subject end insert property owners, as provided, that specified procedures be applied begin delete , except that ballots shall not be weighted. This bill would also require, if a local government agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for approval by the electorate, as provided, that the election be conducted by the county elections official or his or her designee. end delete begin insert regarding the form and tabulation of ballots. The bill would become operative on July 1, 2014. end insert

By creating new requirements for property assessments conducted by counties and cities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 53755.5 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

53755.5.  

When an agency proposes to impose or increase any
fee or charge subject to Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution that is not exempt from the requirements of
subdivision (c) begin insert of end insert Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution, the following procedures begin insert , in addition to any other
procedures adopted by the agency pursuant to Section 6 of Article
XIII end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert D of the California Constitution, end insert shall apply to the election:

begin insert

(a) If the agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for
approval by a two-thirds vote of the electorate residing in the
affected area, the election shall be conducted by the agency’s
elections official or his or her designee. If the election is conducted
by the county elections official, the agency, if other than the county,
shall reimburse the county for the actual and reasonable costs
incurred by the county elections official in conducting the election.

end insert begin delete

(a)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  If the agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for
approval by a majority vote of the property owners who will be
subject to the fee or charge, begin delete subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, of
Section 53753 shall apply, except that the ballots shall not be
weighted. end delete begin insert the following procedures end insert begin insert shall apply to the election: end insert

begin delete

(b) If the agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for
approval by a two-thirds vote of the electorate residing in the
affected area, the election shall be conducted by the county
elections official or his or her designee.

end delete begin insert

(1) On the face of the envelope in which the notice of election
and ballot are mailed, there shall appear in substantially the
following form in no smaller than 16-point bold type: “OFFICIAL
BALLOT ENCLOSED.” Below that, an agency may repeat the
phrase “OFFICIAL BALLOT ENCLOSED” in a language or
languages other than English.

end insert begin insert

(2) The ballot shall include the agency’s address for return of
the ballot and a place where the person returning it may indicate
his or her name, a reasonable identification of the parcel, and his
or her support or opposition to the proposed fee. The ballot shall
be in a form that conceals its content once it is sealed by the person
submitting it. The ballot shall remain sealed until the ballot
tabulation pursuant to paragraph (3) commences.

end insert begin insert

(3) An impartial person designated by the agency who does not
have a vested interest in the outcome of the proposed fee shall
tabulate the ballots submitted in support of or opposition to the
proposed fee. For the purposes of this section, an impartial person
includes, but is not limited to, the clerk of the agency. If the agency
uses agency personnel for the ballot tabulation, or if the agency
contracts with a vendor for the ballot tabulation and the vendor
or its affiliates participated in the research, design, engineering,
public education, or promotion of the fee, the ballots shall be
unsealed and tabulated in public view to permit all interested
persons to meaningfully monitor the accuracy of the tabulation
process.

end insert begin insert

(4) The ballot tabulation may be continued to a different time
or location accessible to the public, provided that the time and
location are announced at the location at which the tabulation
commenced. The impartial person may use technological methods
to tabulate the ballots, including, but not limited to, punchcard or
optically readable (bar-coded) ballots. During and after the
tabulation, the ballots and, if applicable, the information used to
determine the weight of each ballot, shall be treated as public
records, as defined in Section 6252, subject to public disclosure
and made available for inspection by any interested person. The
ballots shall be preserved for a minimum of two years, after which
they may be destroyed as provided in Sections 26202, 34090, and
60201.

end insert begin insert

(c) The proceedings described in subdivision (b) shall not
constitute an election or voting for purposes of Article II of the
California Constitution or of the Elections Code.

end insert begin insert

(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.