BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1907
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1907 (Daly) - As Introduced February 11, 2016
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|Policy | Agriculture |Vote:| 8 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill repeals the provision in existing law that allows the
Department of General Services (DGS) to sell part or all of the
Orange County Fair (OCF) property.
FISCAL EFFECT:
AB 1907
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Forgone potential one-time GF revenues in the range of $100
million. However, DGS is not currently planning to sell OCF so
any foregone revenue is uncertain.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, AB 1907 would protect OCF
from possible efforts in the future to sell the property for
one-time state revenues. The author notes that the OCF is home
to the county fair, which draws more than 1.3 million visitors
each year, as well as a number of cultural and recreational
events. Moreover, the author notes that the property has been
self-supporting since 2011.
2)Background. The 2009-10 budget agreement authorized the sale
of OCF property as one option to help close significant state
budget gaps following the 2008 financial crisis. In October
2009, DGS began soliciting bids for the OCF sale. The highest
bid of $56.5 million was far below the assumed value of $96
million to $180 million. In March 2010, the department
rejected all bids for the sale, and the state commenced
negotiations with the City of Costa Mesa for sale of the
property. In August 2010, DGS again put the OCF property out
to bid, and Facilities Management West (FMW) was selected as
winning bidder after offering $100 million for the property.
However, the 4th District Court of Appeal blocked that sale,
citing a flawed bidding process. Since that ruling, DGS has
not attempted to sell the property and there are currently no
plans to do so.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1907
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