BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 738|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 738
Author: Beth Gaines (R)
Amended: 7/16/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Sacramento Regional Transit District
SOURCE: 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.
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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
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, and not otherwise divided from the rest of
the unincorporated territory by an incorporated city; and
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.
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If a territory within the boundaries of Sacramento RT is
annexed to any city that is not a member entity, that
territory shall remain part of the district unless no
transit service is operated or planned by the district
within or near that annexed territory, as defined, subject
to a determination by the Sacramento County Local Agency
Formation Commission.
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
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.
Background
Sacramento RT. The Legislature authorized the creation of the
Sacramento RT District in 1971 to operate a comprehensive public
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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 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.
Comments
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.
Concerns Resolved. Earlier concerns by the City of Elk Grove
have been resolved. The City is now neutral.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/15)
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Sacramento Regional Transit District (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron, Weber
Prepared by:Randy Chinn & Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916)
651-4121
8/13/15 13:10:14
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