BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 738 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015
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|Author: |Beth Gaines |
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|Version: |5/11/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Eric Thronson |
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SUBJECT: Sacramento Regional Transit District
DIGEST: This bill recasts membership in the Sacramento Regional
Transit District and redefines the boundaries of the District.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Sacramento Regional Transit (Sacramento
RT) District to operate a single unified public
transportation system in the Sacramento region in order to
meet the present and future public transportation, and mass
and rapid transit, needs of the region.
2) Defines member entities of the Sacramento RT District as
cities or counties that are annexed to the district.
3) Enables any city or county to annex and become part of the
Sacramento RT District following a written request by that
city or county and upon approval by the Sacramento Area
Council of Governments.
4) Defines the boundaries of the Sacramento RT District as:
a) All of the areas of any eligible cities in which a
city council has declared the need for the district to
operate; and
b) Any of the area of a county described in statute
AB 738 (Beth Gaines) Page 2 of ?
within which a board of supervisors has declared the need
for the district to operate.
1) Enables Sacramento RT to operate and exercise its powers
within any city or county.
2) Restricts Sacramento RT from levying an ad valorem
property tax within the boundaries of any city or county
unless that city council or county board of supervisors
declares that there is a need for Sacramento RT to levy a
tax within its boundaries.
This bill:
1) Defines member entities of Sacramento RT as any city or
county within the district boundaries.
2) Determines the boundaries of Sacramento RT to include:
a) The cities of Sacramento and Rancho Cordova
b) The unincorporated territory of Sacramento County
within the urban service area, as determined by the Board
of Supervisors
c) An eligible city or county that has annexed to the
district
1) Requires that any territory annexed into a city currently
included in Sacramento RT also be included in the district.
2) Requires any new city incorporated on or after January 1,
2016, which has any territory within Sacramento RT
boundaries, to be annexed wholly into the district.
3) Declares that any territory included within the district
boundaries of Sacramento RT is subject to taxation in
accordance with the assessable valuation of the property and
that revenue can be used for general purposes and for
payment of any district indebtedness.
4) Restricts Sacramento RT from levying an ad valorem
property tax on any territory that is not within the
district boundaries.
5) Requires the legislative body of any city or county that
wishes to be annexed into Sacramento RT to agree in writing
AB 738 (Beth Gaines) Page 3 of ?
upon terms and conditions of annexation with the district's
board of directors.
6) Eliminates the Sacramento Area Council of Governments'
approval of annexation of any new territory to the district.
7) Requires any territory wishing to detach from the district
to obtain a supermajority vote of 80%of the district's board
of directors, and a majority of its governing body, in order
to no longer be part of the district.
8) Holds any territory that detaches from the district
responsible for taxation for the payment of any bonded
indebtedness existing at the time of detachment.
COMMENTS:
1) Purpose. According to the author, this bill is attempting
to resolve a few problems created by existing law. First,
some jurisdictions in Sacramento County, specifically the
cities of Folsom, Citrus Heights, and Elk Grove, contract
for service with Sacramento RT but are reluctant to annex
into the district for fear of losing some existing degree of
control over the operations of service within their
boundaries. This bill allows entities to negotiate their
relationships to Sacramento RT before annexing into the
district and therefore allay some concerns. Second,
Sacramento RT has invested in some currently unincorporated
areas of Sacramento County, and to protect those investments
this bill specifies that those areas remain part of the
district notwithstanding any new city incorporations in the
future. Finally, this bill creates a mechanism for a member
city to leave the district if it wishes, which is currently
not possible under existing law.
2) Sacramento RT Background. The Legislature authorized the
creation of the Sacramento RT District in 1971 to operate a
comprehensive public transportation system for the
Sacramento region.
Sacramento RT serves an area encompassing 418 square miles
and 1.4 million people; it operates 67 bus routes and 38.6
miles of light rail service. Sacramento RT is governed by
an 11-member board of directors comprised of eight directors
that are appointed by the member entities, including
Sacramento County and the cities of Sacramento and Rancho
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Cordova. Additionally, three directors are appointed by
non-annexed jurisdictions, which are "participating
entities," including the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk
Grove, and Folsom. Board members vote based on a weighted
vote system established by AB 2137 (Niello, Chapter 227,
Statutes of 2008), which is based upon the type of
membership and the financial contribution made by each
entity to the district.
3) Concerns. The City of Elk Grove has an "oppose unless
amended" position on this bill, and raises several areas of
concern. First, it believes this bill creates challenges
for the city's planned future annexations and the service
area for Elk Grove's own transit service. Second, Elk Grove
strongly objects to this bill granting Sacramento RT the
ability to levy and keep an ad valorem property tax in the
unincorporated area of Sacramento County. If Elk Grove ever
annexes more land that had an ad valorem property tax
associated with it, the City expects to take over that
property tax.
Elk Grove states that it has no intention of annexing into
Sacramento RT. Any future land Elk Grove annexes will
become part of the city's own transit service. Elk Grove's
oppose letter suggests that this bill threatens Elk Grove's
ability to grow, and at the same time, expand its own
transit service. For example, this bill will include in
Sacramento RT's boundary a portion of Sacramento County
south of Elk Grove that is entirely disconnected from the
rest of Sacramento RT by the City of Elk Grove's boundary.
It seems reasonable for Elk Grove to want this portion of
Sacramento County to be excluded from Sacramento RT's
district, given that Sacramento RT does not provide service
to this area and would have to travel through Elk Grove to
do so. Further, it doesn't appear that Sacramento RT
intends to limit Elk Grove's ability to grow and provide its
own service. In light of this, the committee and author may
wish to amend the bill to resolve Elk Grove's growth issues
as well as exclude the detached portion of Sacramento County
from Sacramento RT's district boundary.
Related Legislation:
AB 906 (Cooper) - specifies that the City of Elk Grove's
obligation to pay its proportionate share for transit service
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provided by Sacramento RT is fully satisfied by the district's
receipt of revenues from a countywide sales tax measure
dedicated to transit service. This bill is also being heard in
this committee today.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 75-0
LGov: 9-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
July 8, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
Sacramento Regional Transit District
OPPOSITION:
City of Elk Grove -- END --