BILL NUMBER: SB 553 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2013
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
pro. procedures.
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 , 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
require, if a local government agency opts to submit the
proposed fee or charge for approval by a vote of the subject
property owners, as provided, that specified procedures be
applied , 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. regarding the form
and tabulation of ballots. The bill would become operative on July 1,
2014.
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) of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution, the following procedures , in addition to any
other procedures adopted by the agency pursuant to Section 6 of
Article XIII D of the California Constitution,
shall apply to the election:
(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.
(a)
(b) 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, subdivisions (b) to
(e), inclusive, of Section 53753 shall apply, except that the ballots
shall not be weighted. the following procedures
shall apply to the election:
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.
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.