BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 974|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: SB 974
Author: Committee on Governance and Finance
Amended: 3/29/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/6/16
AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach,
Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Local government: omnibus
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill proposes several non-controversial changes to
state laws governing local governments' powers and duties.
ANALYSIS: Each year, local officials discover problems with the
state statutes that affect counties, cities, special districts,
and redevelopment agencies, as well as the laws on land use
planning and development. These minor problems do not warrant
separate (and expensive) bills. According to the Legislative
Analyst, in 2001-02 the cost of producing a bill was $17,890.
Legislators respond by combining several of these minor topics
into an annual "omnibus bill." In 2015, for example, the local
government omnibus bill was SB 184 (Senate Governance & Finance
Committee, Chapter 269, Statutes of 2015), which contained
noncontroversial statutory changes to 11 areas of local
government law, avoiding more than $150,000 in legislative
costs.
SB 974
Page 2
This bill proposes the following changes to the state laws
affecting local agencies' powers and duties:
1) County recorders. County recorders accept and officially
record legal documents, notices, or papers, including survey
maps. State law requires that a record of survey filed with
a county recorder must be securely fastened into a suitable
book provided for that purpose. The County Recorders
Association of California notes that this requirement does
not conform to modern best practices for storing recorded
final and parcel maps. This bill allows a county recorder,
as an alternative to fastening maps in a book, to store
recorded survey maps in any manner that assures the maps will
be kept together. In the same statute, the bill also
replaces outdated references to "he" and "him" with
gender-neutral terms. [See SEC. 2 of this bill.]
2) Veterans' records. State law requires that certified copies
of specified recorded documents related to an individual's
military service may be made available only to four types of
requesters, including a county office that provides veterans'
benefit services. The County Recorders Association of
California notes that this requirement prohibits county
recorders from providing certified copies of military service
records to city or state offices that provide veterans'
benefit services. This bill allows any state, county, or
city office that provides veterans' benefit services to
request and receive certified copies of military service
records. [See SEC. 3 of this bill.]
3) Notaries and certified mail. State law requires that
specified communications between a notary public and the
Secretary of State's Office be made using certified mail.
The California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
notes that a narrow reading of the certified mail requirement
could prohibit a notary public from communicating with the
Secretary of State's Office using other similar means of
delivery that provide a receipt, like overnight or express
delivery services. This bill allows specified communications
between a notary public and the Secretary of State's Office
to use, in addition to certified mail, any other means of
SB 974
Page 3
physical delivery that provides a receipt. [See SEC. 4, SEC.
5, SEC. 7, and SEC. 8 of this bill.]
4) Notaries' oaths. State law specifies the manner in which a
notary public must file an oath of office with a county
clerk. The California Association of Clerks and Elections
Officials notes that state law does not require a county
clerk to confirm the identity of an individual taking the
oath as a notary public. This bill requires a person taking
the notary public oath of office before a county clerk to
provide an identification document that meets specified
statutory requirements. This bill also allows the oath of
office to be filed with the county clerk by any means of
physical delivery that provides a receipt, in addition to
certified mail. [See SEC. 6 of this bill.]
5) Cities' financial transaction reports. State law requires
cities to furnish the State Controller with annual reports of
their financial transactions and requires city clerks to
either publish or publicly post the contents of the annual
reports that cities submit to the Controller. Last year, the
Legislature extended, until seven months after the end of a
local agency's fiscal year, the deadline for submitting an
annual financial transactions report to the Controller (AB
341, Achadjian, Chapter 37, Statutes of 2015). The League of
California Cities notes that the statutory deadline by which
city clerks must publish or post the annual reports was not
extended and now falls well before the deadline for
submitting the reports to the Controller. This bill conforms
the deadline before which city clerks must publish or post
annual financial transactions reports to the timelines
established by last year's Achadjian bill. [See SEC. 9 of
this bill.]
6) Local agency investment requirements. Since 1913, state law
has authorized local officials to invest a portion of their
temporarily idle funds in a variety of financial instruments.
State law allows local officials to invest in some financial
instruments only if the instrument receives a specified
rating from a nationally recognized statistical rating
organization (NRSRO), like Fitch, Moody's, or Standard &
Poor's. NRSROs assign specific investment vehicles into
SB 974
Page 4
ratings categories (usually designated with a letter-grade,
like "A" or "B") and further differentiate investment
vehicles' relative standing within those general ratings
categories by attaching various modifiers (like "A+", "A-")
that indicate whether a particular investment vehicle falls
within the high, middle, or low range of a ratings category.
The State Treasurer's Office notes that some public officials
and investment industry professionals disagree about how to
interpret some state laws that require an investment vehicle
to have a specified rating. For example, it is ambiguous
whether a statute that requires an investment instrument to
have an "A" rating or higher allows investments in any
instrument within the "A" category or allows investments only
in instruments within the middle or upper range of the "A"
category. This bill clarifies some statutory ratings
requirements by specifying that some ratings requirements
refer to a ratings category and specifying that the rating
specified in statute also applies to "equivalent" ratings
(i.e. a requirement that an investment instrument must have
an "A1" rating also allows for investment in an instrument
with a "AAA" rating). [See SEC. 10 of this bill.]
7) Hearing notice cross-reference. State law specifies the
manner in which local governments must provide notice of
public hearings relating to planning and land use. One
statute requires that notice of a hearing must be mailed or
delivered to:
a) A local agency that is expected to provide water,
sewage, streets, roads, schools, or other essential
facilities or services to a project.
b) All owners of real property located within 300 feet
of real property that is the subject of a hearing.
A senior deputy in the Monterey County Counsel's office notes
that amendments made by AB 2867 (Torrico, Chapter 363,
Statutes of 2006) renumbered the statute's provisions but
failed to change a cross-reference. As a result, some notice
requirements that used to be related to the mailing or
delivery of notice to property owners now appear to be
related to the mailing or delivery of notice to public
SB 974
Page 5
agencies. This bill changes the cross-reference to refer to
the same section of statute that it referred to before 2006.
[See SEC. 11 of this bill.]
8) General plan safety element updates. Current law requires
counties and cities, upon each revision of their general
plans' housing elements, to review and, if necessary, revise
their general plans' safety elements to identify new flood
and fire hazard information that wasn't available at the
time the safety element was previously revised to address
flood and fire hazards (Government Code §65302). Last year,
the Legislature passed SB 379 (Jackson, Chapter 608, Statutes
of 2015) which requires cities and counties to review and
update their general plans' safety elements to address
climate adaptation and resiliency. SB 379 added a
cross-reference to existing law to require that a general
plan's safety element must be reviewed and updated to add new
information about risks posed by climate change upon each
revision of the general plan's housing element, as is already
required for flood and fire risks. Senator Jackson's staff
notes that, unlike earlier bills requiring safety plan
updates for flood and fire risks, SB 379 requires the safety
element to be updated to address climate change risks upon
the next update of a local hazard mitigation plan, and not
the housing element. The League of California Cities wants
to further clarify that a housing element update does not
trigger a requirement to update the safety element with
climate change and resiliency information. This bill deletes
the erroneous cross-reference enacted by last year's SB 379
and clarifies that additional information relating only to
flood and fire hazards must be identified in a revised
general plan safety element after each revision of a general
plan housing element. [See SEC. 12 of this bill.]
9) Fort Ord Reuse Authority's board. After federal officials
closed the Fort Ord military base in Monterey County, the
Legislature passed the Fort Ord Reuse Authority Act, which
created the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) to coordinate the
former base's transition (SB 899, Mello, 1994). State law
allows FORA's board to include, as ex officio nonvoting
members:
SB 974
Page 6
a) A representative designated by the Member of
Congress from the 17th Congressional District.
b) A representative designated by the Senator from the
15th Senate District.
c) A representative designated by the Assembly Member
from the 27th Assembly District.
10)Senator Monning's staff notes that redistricting has changed
the numbers that are assigned to congressional, state senate,
and state assembly districts, so that the district numbers
identified in statute no longer correspond to districts
representing the Fort Ord area. This bill allows the
congressmember, state senator, and state assemblymember whose
districts include the majority of Fort Ord to appoint
representatives to FORA's board. [See SEC. 13 of this bill.]
11)Fire protection district resolution of application. Current
law allows a city council or county board of supervisors to
propose forming a new fire protection district by adopting a
"resolution of application" that meets specified requirements
(Health and Safety Code §13821). A related statute requiring
a local agency formation commission to act on proposals to
form new fire protection districts erroneously refers to a
"resolution or application" (Health and Safety Code §13822).
To clarify that statute's meaning, this bill replaces the
word "or" with the word "of" so that the statute refers to a
"resolution of application." [See SEC. 14 of this bill.]
12)Sewer agency ordinances and resolutions. Many state laws
provide that local agencies may take specified actions only
by adopting an ordinance, only by adopting a resolution, or
by either adopting an ordinance or a resolution. Irvine
Ranch Water District staff notes that several statutes
governing local governments that operate sanitary sewers and
sewerage systems contain inconsistent language specifying
whether an agency must adopt an ordinance, a resolution, or
either one to fix and collect fees or charges and take other
actions related to its operation of a sanitary sewer or
sewerage system. This bill amends existing statutes to
consistently authorize a local agency to adopt either an
ordinance or a resolution. [See SEC. 15, SEC. 16, SEC. 17,
and SEC. 18 of this bill.]
SB 974
Page 7
13)Best value definition. Last year, the Legislature passed SB
762 (Wolk, Chapter 627, Statutes of 2015), which allows seven
specified counties to award construction contracts through a
"best value" procurement process and modifies the definitions
of "best value" in statutes allowing the state and local
government officials to use the design-build contracting
method for some public works. The Legislature also passed SB
374 (Hueso, Chapter 715, Statutes of 2015), which authorized
the San Diego Association of Government to use design-build
for transit capital projects and development projects
adjacent or related to transit facilities. Both SB 762 and
SB 374 made different amendments to Public Contract Code
§22161. Senator Wolk's staff notes that because SB 374 was
signed into law after SB 762, its language erased - or
"chaptered out" - the changes that SB 762 made to the
definition of "best value" in Public Contract Code §22161.
This bill restores the changes to the definition of best
value that were chaptered out by SB 374. [See SEC. 19 of
this bill.]
14)Vehicle license fee calculation. In lieu of a property tax
on motor vehicles, the state collects an annual Vehicle
License Fee (VLF) and allocates the revenues, minus
administrative costs, to cities and counties. As a part of
the complex statutory requirements for allocating VLF
revenues, state law requires the State Controller to use a
specified formula to determine the population of certain
recently incorporated cities (Revenue and Taxation Code
§11005.3). The State Controller's staff notes that statutes
requiring this calculation contain erroneous cross-references
to the definition of a city's "actual population." To
clarify this law's meaning, this bill corrects
cross-references to the definition of a city's "actual
population." [See SEC. 20. and SEC. 21 of this bill.]
15)County clerk references. In 2002, state law was amended to
shift the responsibility for entering some superior court
judgements from county clerks to the Clerk of the Court (SB
1316, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Chapter 784, Statutes of
2002). The California Association of Clerks and Elections
Officials notes that two statutes relating to superior court
SB 974
Page 8
judgements contain outdated references to a county clerk.
This bill replaces the term "county clerk" with the term
"Clerk of the Court" in those two statutes. [See SEC. 22 and
SEC. 23 of this bill.]
16)Highway user tax account allocations. The State allocates
funds from the Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA), to cities
and counties for local street and road maintenance. The
apportionment amount for revenues from the Use Fuel Tax Law
is calculated and distributed based on specific formulas and
rates established in Revenue & Taxation Code § 8651, §8651.5,
and §8651.6. The State Controller's staff notes that Streets
and Highways Code 2105 only references Revenue and Taxation
Code §8651 for the calculation, omitting references to
§8651.5 and §8651.6. To ensure that the apportionments to
cities and counties required by Streets & Highways Code §2105
are calculated properly, this bill adds the omitted
cross-references. [See SEC. 24 of this bill.]
17)Kern County Water Agency. The Kern County Water Agency
(KCWA) is governed by a seven member elected board of
directors and is responsible for delivering water from the
state water project to local water agencies with which it
contracts. State law requires KCWA, in addition to all other
requirements in state law, to additionally obtain the Kern
County Board of Supervisor's approval before it can levy a
tax, create a benefit zone, or adopt a budget. KCWA
officials note that in light of the many voter-approval and
public hearing requirements in state law that apply to local
agencies' taxes and budgets, the requirement for KCWA to seek
the board of supervisors' approval is duplicative and
unnecessary. State law does not require most other special
districts to obtain a board of supervisors' approval before
levying taxes or adopting a budget. This bill deletes the
requirement that KCWA must get the board of supervisors'
approval before levying taxes, creating benefit zones, or
adopting a budget. This bill also deletes a section of law
authorizing Kern County employees to perform duties and
provide services for the KCWA subject to specified
conditions. [See SEC. 25, SEC. 26 and SEC. 27 of this bill.]
Comments
SB 974
Page 9
SB 974 compiles, into a single bill, noncontroversial statutory
changes to 16 parts of state laws that affect local agencies and
land use. Moving a bill through the legislative process costs
around $18,000. By avoiding 15 other bills, the Committee's
measure avoids more than $250,000 in legislative costs.
Although the practice may violate a strict interpretation of the
single-subject and germaneness rules, the Committee insists on a
very public review of each item. More than 100 public
officials, trade groups, lobbyists, and legislative staffers see
each proposal before it goes into the Committee's bill. Should
any item in SB 974 attract opposition, the Committee will delete
it. In this transparent process, there is no hidden agenda. If
it's not consensus, it's not omnibus.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified4/18/16)
California State Association of Counties
Irvine Ranch Water District
Kern County Water Agency
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/18/16)
None received
Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
4/20/16 15:39:00
**** END ****
SB 974
Page 10