BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2910
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 2910
(Committee on Local Government) - As Amended April 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Local government: organization: omnibus bill.
SUMMARY: Makes several non-controversial changes to the laws
affecting local government organization and reorganization.
EXISTING LAW establishes the procedures for the organization and
reorganization of cities, counties, and special districts under
the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Reorganization Act of 2000.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS:
1)Background. As statutes go into effect, local officials and
others often discover problems or inconsistencies in the
language of the law and approach the Legislature to correct
them. These minor problems do not warrant separate bills, so
this Committee has found that it is expeditious and relatively
inexpensive to respond to multiple minor, non-controversial
requests on related issues by combining them into an annual
"omnibus bill." Since the major rewrite of the law governing
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local agency organization and reorganization [AB 2838
(Hertzberg), Chapter 761, Statutes of 2000], the Committee has
focused its omnibus bill efforts on LAFCO-related issues.
Prior bills authored by the Committee include: AB 2795,
Chapter 47, Statutes of 2010;
AB 1430, Chapter 300, Statutes of 2011; AB 2698, Chapter 62,
Statutes of 2012; AB 1427, Chapter 87, Statutes of 2013; AB
2762, Chapter 112, Statutes of 2014; and AB 1532, Chapter 114,
Statutes of 2015.
This bill reflects the concerns of local agency formation
commissions (LAFCOs) and other stakeholders who have brought
proposals and issues to the Committee. All proposals are
vetted by a large number of stakeholders. Any proposal that
provokes any controversy or opposition is rejected for
inclusion.
2)Bill Summary. This bill makes several non-controversial
changes to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Reorganization Act
(Act).
Existing law requires the filing of a Notice of Intent to
Circulate Petition (NOI) prior to the circulation of any
petition to initiate a change of organization. The required
contents of the NOI are limited to basic information about the
proponent, the type of change, and the reasons for the
proposed change. The NOI must be signed by the proponent or a
representative of the proponent. Once the NOI is filed with
the executive officer, the petition requesting the boundary
change may be circulated for signature. Many proposals
submitted to LAFCOs are initiated by the sole landowner of the
affected territory. This requirement serves no purpose when
there is only a single landowner involved and that sole
landowner must file this notice before they can sign their own
petition.
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The NOI requirement originated as a recommendation from the
Commission on Local Governance for the 21st Century to assist
organizers of complex proposals in understanding the
requirements of the LAFCO process. The reasoning was that
early notification to LAFCO would provide an opportunity to
explain all the requirements to citizen groups and avoid
formatting, legal, or procedural mistakes that could lead to
delays, such as recirculating a petition signed by thousands
of voters. The purpose of this requirement was never directed
at simple proposals that are initiated by the sole affected
landowner. This bill specifically exempts proposals initiated
by a landowner that owns all parcels in the affected
territory. This bill does not alter any other notification,
posting, or protest requirements contained in LAFCO law for
proposed boundary changes.
Current law establishes the composition of LAFCOs, which
includes the appointment of a public member and an alternate
public member. This bill ensures that existing law reflects
the practice of LAFCOs, which requires a public member to be a
resident of the affected county. Under LAFCO law, only one
restriction is placed on the selection of public members - no
officer or employee of a county, city, or district within the
county may be appointed as a public member or alternate public
member. This bill requires that a public member and alternate
public member be residents of the affected county and includes
cross references to individual LAFCOs whose composition is
established separately in a stand-alone section.
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Existing law specifies that one of the purposes of LAFCO is to
efficiently provide government services. This bill makes
changes to more accurately reflect one of the purposes of
LAFCO, which is to encourage that government services provided
by local agencies are done so efficiently.
This bill contains technical and conforming changes to
statutes recently enacted by
SB 239 (Hertzberg), Chapter 763, Statutes of 2015; and, AB 851
(Mayes), Chapter 304, Statutes of 2015. This bill also
corrects typos contained in the Act.
3)Arguments in Support. Supporters argue that the
non-controversial changes included in this bill are necessary
as LAFCOs implement the Act.
4)Arguments in Opposition. None on file
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions
(CALAFCO)
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Local Agency Formation Commissions of the Counties of: Alameda,
Contra Costa, Imperial,
Los Angeles, Marin, Riverside, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma and
Yolo
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Misa Lennox / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958