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 thebegin delete electorateend deletebegin insert
registered voters residing in the affectedend insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertareaend insert 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 53755.5 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
When an agency proposes to impose or increase any
4fee or charge subject to Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
5Constitution that is not exempt from the requirements of
6subdivision (c) of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
7Constitution, the following procedures, in addition to any other
8procedures adopted by the agency pursuant to subdivision (c) of
9Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution, shall
10apply to the election:
11(a) If the agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for
12approval by a two-thirds vote of thebegin delete electorateend deletebegin insert
registered votersend insert
13 residing in the affected area, the election shall be conducted by
14the agency’s elections official or his or her designee. If the election
15is conducted by the county elections official, the agency, if other
16than the county, shall reimburse the county for the actual and
17reasonable costs incurred by the county elections official in
18conducting the election.
19(b) If the agency opts to submit the proposed fee or charge for
20approval by a majority vote of the property owners who will be
21subject to the fee or charge, then in addition to the procedures set
P3 1forth in Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution,
2
the following procedures shall apply to the election:
3(1) On the face of the envelope in which the notice of election
4and ballot are mailed, there shall appear in substantially the
5following form in no smaller than 16-point bold type: “OFFICIAL
6BALLOT ENCLOSED.” Below that, an agency may repeat the
7phrase “OFFICIAL BALLOT ENCLOSED” in a language or
8languages other than English.
9(2) The ballot shall include the agency’s address for return of
10the ballot, the date and location where the ballots will be tabulated,
11and a place where the person returning it may indicate his or her
12name, a reasonable identification of the parcel, and his or her
13support or opposition to the proposed fee. The ballots shall be
14tabulated in a location accessible to the public. The ballot shall be
15
in a form that conceals its content once it is sealed by the person
16
submitting it. The ballot shall remain sealed until the ballot
17tabulation pursuant to paragraph (3) commences.
18(3) An impartial person designated by the agency who does not
19have a vested interest in the outcome of the proposed fee shall
20tabulate the ballots submitted in support of or opposition to the
21proposed fee. For the purposes of this section, an impartial person
22includes, but is not limited to, the clerk of the agency. If the agency
23uses agency personnel for the ballot tabulation, or if the agency
24contracts with a vendor for the ballot tabulation and the vendor or
25its affiliates participated in the research, design, engineering, public
26education, or promotion of the fee, the ballots shall be unsealed
27and tabulated in public view to permit all interested persons to
28meaningfully monitor the accuracy of the tabulation
process.
29(4) The ballot tabulation may be continued to a different time
30or different location accessible to the public, provided that the time
31and location are announced at the location at which the tabulation
32commenced and posted by the agency in a location accessible to
33the public. The impartial person may use technological methods
34to tabulate the ballots, including, but not limited to, punchcard or
35optically readable (bar-coded) ballots. During and after the
36tabulation, the ballots and, if applicable, the information used to
37determine the weight of each ballot, shall be treated as public
38records, as defined in Section 6252, subject to public disclosure
39and made available for inspection by any interested person. The
40ballots shall be preserved for a minimum of two years, after which
P4 1they may be destroyed as provided in Sections 26202, 34090,
and
260201.
3(c) The proceedings described in subdivision (b) shall not
4constitute an election or voting for purposes of Article II of the
5California Constitution or of the Elections Code.
6(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
8this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
9local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
10pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
114 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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