BILL NUMBER: SB 553 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 24, 2013
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
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 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 subdivision (c) of 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.
(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, then in addition to the procedures
set forth in Section 6 of Article XIII
D of the California Constitution, the following procedures
shall apply to the election:
(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 ballot, the date and location
where the ballots will be tabulated, 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 ballots shall be tabulated in a location
accessible to the public. 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
different location accessible to the public, provided that
the time and location are announced at the location at which the
tabulation commenced and posted by the agency in a location
accessible to the public . 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.