BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 3|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 3
Author: Williams (D)
Amended: 9/4/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-2, 7/8/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
NOES: Nguyen, Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-26, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Isla Vista Community Services District
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill prescribes a formation process, boundaries,
governing body, tax authority, and permissible services for the
Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD).
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 make numerous changes to the
bill's provisions authorizing the formation of the IVCSD,
including: exempting specified properties from the IVCSD's
boundaries, allowing the district to contract for code
enforcement services, increasing the time allowed for review by
the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCO), and modifying the types of functions or services that
IVCSD can perform when it is established.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Controls, pursuant to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local
Government Reorganization Act of 2000, how local officials
change the boundaries of cities and special districts, and
designates a local agency formation commission in each county
to oversee boundary changes.
2) Authorizes a county to create a municipal advisory committee
to advise the board of supervisors and an area planning
commission to carry out the county's land use planning and
development in a designated area.
3) Authorizes, pursuant to the Community Services District Law,
the establishment of Community Services Districts (CSDs) to
provide over 30 types of public services and facilities, and
provides special statutes for the delivery of additional
services.
4) Provides for the election of CSD directors, and specifies
requirements for open government, such as adoption of annual
budgets, setting up designated reserves, following the Brown
Act, holding regular meetings, and following standard
auditing rules.
5) Requires voter approval of special taxes and property
owners' approval of benefit assessments, as required by
Propositions 13, 62, and 218.
6) Allows a city to impose a utility user tax (UUT) on the
consumption of utility services, including, but not limited
to, electricity, gas, water, sewer, telephone, sanitation and
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cable television.
7) Allows a county to levy a UUT on the consumption of
electricity, gas, water, sewer, telephone, telegraph and
cable television services in the unincorporated area.
8) Allows a city or county to determine the rate of the tax and
the use of its proceeds. UUTs are collected by the utility as
part of its regular billing, and then remitted to the city or
county.
This bill:
1) Exempts the IVCSD from the formation process established in
Community Services District Law (CSD Law) and provides that
all other provisions of CSD Law apply to the IVCSD upon its
establishment, except as provided in this bill.
2) Requires the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, on
or before January 5, 2016, to file a resolution of
application with the Santa Barbara County Local Agency
Formation Commission (LAFCO), pursuant to a specified
statute, to initiate a comprehensive review and
recommendation of the formation of the district by the LAFCO.
The application filed with LAFCO cannot be subject to any
protest proceedings and the Board of Supervisors must pay any
fees associated with the resolution of application.
3) Requires the LAFCO to complete the review no later than 150
days following receipt of the completed resolution of
application and prohibits the LAFCO from having the power to
disapprove the resolution of application.
4) Requires that, at the next countywide election after the
completion of the LAFCO review, the LAFCO must order the
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formation of the IVCSD subject to a vote of registered voter
residing within the IVCSD's boundaries.
5) Requires that the IVCSD's boundaries must be contiguous with
the area known as County Service Area No. 31 within Santa
Barbara County.
6) Requires the LAFCO to determine the appropriate rate of
taxation for a UUT, applicable utilities to be taxed, and
which services the district will be initially authorized to
provide.
7) Specifies that the UUT rate must be no lower than 5% and no
higher than 8% of the total cost of an individual's service
charge for the utility being taxed and must only be applied
to electricity, garbage disposal, gas, sewage, or water
services.
8) Requires that the IVCSD must be dissolved voters do not vote
to impose a UUT within the IVCSD on or before January 1,
2023.
9) Requires the LAFCO to direct the Santa Barbara County Board
of Supervisors to direct county officials to conduct the
necessary elections on behalf of the proposed district and
place the items on the ballot including district approval,
candidates for the IVCSD's board, and the UUT at the next
countywide election, as provided in state law.
10)Requires that the initial UUT imposed by the IVCSD must only
be used to fund the following services and powers of the
district:
a) Finance the operations of municipal advisory councils.
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b) Create a tenant mediation program.
c) Finance the operations of area planning commissions.
d) Exercise the powers of a parking district, in the same
manner as a parking district formed pursuant to the
Parking District Law of 1951 (Part 4 (commencing with
Section 35100) of Division 18 of the Streets and Highways
Code).
e) Contract with the County of Santa Barbara or the
Regents of the University of California, or both, for
additional police protection services to supplement the
level of police protection services already provided by
either the County of Santa Barbara or the Regents of the
University of California within the area of the IVCSD.
f) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate
community facilities, including, but not limited to,
community centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural
facilities, and child care facilities.
g) Acquire, construct, improve, and maintain sidewalks,
lighting, gutters, and trees to supplement the level of
service already provided by either the County of Santa
Barbara or County Service Area 31. The IVCSD shall not
acquire, construct, improve, or maintain any work owned by
another public agency unless that other public agency
gives its written consent.
h) Abate graffiti.
11)Exempts the IVCSD from provisions of CSD Law, which govern
the establishment of a board of directors, and instead,
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requires the seven-member Board to be composed of:
a) Four members elected at large from within the IVCSD
for a term of four years, except that for the first
election two members must be elected for a term of two
years and two members must be elected for a term of four
years;
b) One member elected at large from within the IVCSD for
a term of two years;
c) One member appointed by the Board of Supervisors for a
term of two years for the first appointment following the
IVCSD's creation and for a term of four years thereafter;
and,
d) One member appointed by the Chancellor of the
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for a term
of four years.
12)Specifies that there is no limit on the number of terms any
individual may serve on the IVCSD's board of directors either
as an appointed or elected member.
13)Requires that that IVCSD must be formed if a majority of
voters within the District's boundaries vote in favor of the
District.
14)Allows the IVCSD, within its boundaries, to do any of the
following:
a) Create a tenant mediation program;
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b) Exercise the powers of a parking district pursuant to
the Parking District Law of 1951;
c) Contract with the County or the Regents of the
University of California, or both, for additional police
protection services to supplement the level of police
protection services already provided by either within the
area of the District;
d) Acquire, construct, improve, and maintain sidewalks,
lighting, gutters, and trees to supplement the level of
service provided by either the County of Santa Barbara or
County Service Area 31, except that the IVCSD may not
acquire, construct, improve, or maintain any work owned by
another public agency, unless that other public agency
gives its written consent;
e) Levy a UUT proposed by resolution of the IVCSD's
governing board pursuant to approval by a 2/3 vote in
accordance with Section 2 of Article XIII C of the
California Constitution.
f) Contract with the County of Santa Barbara, the Santa
Barbara County Department of Planning and Development's
Code Enforcement Program, or both, to provide
supplementary code enforcement services, which may include
contracting for zoning enforcement services or building
enforcement services, as specified.
15)Specifies the manner in which the IVCSD may petition the
county LAFCO to exercise new or different functions or
classes of services in addition to those that were authorized
when the IVCSD was created.
16)Prohibits services provided by the IVCSD from supplanting
the level of services provided by any other service provider.
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17)Prohibits a UUT imposed by the IVCSD from applying to any
utility provided by a telecommunications service provider.
18)Directs that the IVCSD does not possess, and must not
exercise, the power of eminent domain.
19)Specifies that the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government
Reorganization Act of 2000 does not apply to the IVCSD's
formation or to the selection of specified functions or
services upon IVCSD's establishment.
20)Directs that the Act does apply to any other change or
organization or reorganization following the IVCSD's
establishment.
Background
The unincorporated community of Isla Vista receives regional and
local services from Santa Barbara County and from two County
Service Areas (CSAs), which are special districts governed by
the Board of Supervisors. CSA 32 provides Sheriff Patrol in the
unincorporated areas of the County and is funded by non-property
tax revenues. CSA 31 services more than 250 streetlights and is
funded by benefit assessments and approximately $15,000 of
property tax. Additionally, several special districts provide
services to Isla Vista, including the Isla Vista Recreation and
Park District, County Fire Protection District, Goleta West
Sanitary District, Goleta Water District, Santa Barbara
Metropolitan Transit District, and the Santa Barbara Vector
Control District.
In response to concerns about public safety, inadequate
infrastructure, insufficient land use planning, and a
poorly-maintained housing stock, and other local challenges
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there have been a variety of efforts to establish different
local governance structures in Isla Vista. A municipal advisory
council was formed and later dissolved due to lack of funding.
SB 921 (Lagomarsino, Chapter 1420, Statutes of 1972) allowed
Isla Vista to form a CSD, however, the authority granted by SB
921 was never used. Proposals to incorporate Isla Vista as a
city or annex it to adjacent cities have met substantial local
opposition. In 2001, the Santa Barbara Local Agency Formation
Commission commissioned a study to examine the local government
options for the unincorporated area consisting of Isla Vista and
UCSB while they examined the proposal to incorporate Goleta.
The report states that, "The Isla Vista community encompasses a
population of over 20,000 residents. It is adjacent to UC Santa
Barbara campus and its student population. Including University
property, the area totals about 1,500 acres. Isla Vista faces
various challenges in local governance. For example, as a
university town, Isla Vista must accommodate the service needs
associated with its transient student population and a
predominantly renter-oriented community. Isla Vista's situation
is complicated by its unincorporated status, which limits local
participation in managing public services and providing needed
public improvements."
A report issued in November 2014 by the UC Santa Barbara
Foundation Trustees' Advisory Committee on Isla Vista Strategies
identified the goal of developing a form of self-governance for
Isla Vista that will provide the necessary infrastructure and
services, and promote the safety and well-being of its
residents. To achieve this goal, the advisory committee
recommended the creation of a community services district or
municipal services district, with specified powers. In response
to the challenges confronting the Isla Vista and the recent
recommendations for improved self-governance structures, some
community stakeholders want the Legislature to create a
community services district with a formation process, governing
board structure, and authorized powers that are uniquely
tailored to Isla Vista's needs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
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SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15)
Associated Student Government of Santa Barbara City College
Associated Students of the University of California, Santa
Barbara
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy
City of Goleta
City of Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider
Isla Vista Relationship Committee
Santa Barbara City Council Member Gregg Hart
Santa Barbara City Council Member Cathy Murillo
Santa Barbara City Council Member Harwood "Bendy" White
Service Employees International Union, Local 721
Santa Barbara Community College District
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal
UAW, Local 2865
UAW, Local 5810
68 individual supporters
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/4/15)
California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions
California Special Districts Association, Santa Barbara County
Chapter
California Taxpayers Association
Goleta City Council Member Roger Aceves
Goleta City Council Member Tony Vallejo
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Nevada County LAFCO
San Mateo County LAFCO
Santa Barbara County LAFCO
Santa Barbara Rental Property Association
Yolo County LAFCO
47 individual opponents
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-26, 6/3/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
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Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Irwin, Jones, Kim,
Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Gallagher, Wilk
Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
9/9/15 10:05:23
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