BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 1666 |Hearing | 6/15/16 |
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|Author: |Brough |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |5/4/16 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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Community facilities districts: reports
Requires specified information about community facilities
districts' activities and finances to be made available on a
local agency's Internet web site.
Background
The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 allows cities,
counties, special districts, school districts, joint powers
agencies, and redevelopment agencies to finance public
facilities, and provide limited services with voter-approved
special taxes.
In 2000, the Legislature required local agencies to annually
report on the specific purpose and status of bonds or special
taxes, and required that the agencies spend taxes or bonds on
their specified purpose (SB 165, Alarcon, 2000). State law
requires local governments to report specified information about
their financial transactions to the State Controller annually.
These reports must include information about parcel taxes levied
by local governments, including those levied by community
facilities districts (CFDs) (AB 2109, Daly, 2014). CFDs also
must report to the State Treasurer's California Debt and
Investment and Advisory Commission (CDIAC) each year so that the
state can monitor these local bonds. CDIAC requires that CFDs
submit information on outstanding bonds, reserve fund balances,
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capital interest funds, balances of construction funds, and
total assessed valuation within the district. State law
requires CFDs, upon the request of a resident or landowner, to
prepare a detailed annual revenue and expenditure report (AB
2851, Cogdill, 2002) within 120 days after the end of each
fiscal year. State law specifies information that these annual
reports must contain and allows a CFD to charge a fee for the
report not to exceed the actual costs of preparing the report.
Some taxpayer advocates note that despite the extensive
reporting requirements that state law imposes on CFDs, many
members of the public find it hard to determine where and how
they can obtain the information the reports submitted by CFDs.
They want the Legislature to make it easier for the public to
access annually updated information about CFDs.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 1666 requires a local agency that has an Internet
Web site, within seven months after the last day of each fiscal
year of the district, to display prominently on its Internet Web
site all of the following information:
A copy of an annual report for that fiscal year if
requested pursuant to state law.
A copy of the report provided to the California Debt and
Investment Advisory Commission pursuant to state law.
A copy of the report provided to the Controller's office
pursuant to state law.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . The more that Californians know about
the local governments that serve them, the more they can insist
on accountability and responsiveness. The first step in
promoting openness is to share important information with any
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member of the public looking for it. Many taxpayers and
residents within CFDs find it difficult to obtain all of the
information that state law requires CFDs to report. The
information reported by CFDs is compiled and maintained by
various state and local agencies, which can make it time
consuming, confusing, and burdensome for members of the public
to track down all of the information that they are looking for.
By requiring local governments to make CFDs' reports available
online, AB 1666 will help taxpayers and members of the public
who reside within a CFD and want to determine whether public
funds are being managed and spent appropriately by the
governments that serve them.
2. Mandate . The California Constitution requires the state to
reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded
state mandated local programs. Because AB 1666 imposes new
duties on county auditors and recorders, Legislative Counsel
says that it imposes a new state mandate. AB 1666 disclaims the
state's responsibility for providing reimbursement by citing
local agencies' authority to levy charges, fees, or assessments
to cover their costs.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Floor: 76-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:20-0
Assembly Local Government Committee:9-0
Support and
Opposition (6/9/16)
Support : California Association of County Treasurers and Tax
Collectors; California Taxpayers Association; Cities of Mission
Viejo, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano; City of Rancho
Santa Margarita Mayor L. Anthony Beall; City of Laguna Niguel
Mayor Laurie Davies; Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association; Orange
County Auditor-Controller Eric Wollery; Orange County Assessor
Department; Orange County Association of Realtors; Orange County
Taxpayers Association; Talega Residents for Fair Taxation.
Opposition : Unknown.
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