BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 974
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
974 (Committee on Governance and Finance)
As Amended August 4, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Local |9-0 |Eggman, Waldron, | |
|Government | |Alejo, Bonilla, Chiu, | |
| | |Cooley, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Beth Gaines, Gordon, | |
| | |Linder | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |18-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
SB 974
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| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Enacts the Local Government Omnibus Bill of 2016,
which proposes a number of non-controversial changes to existing
laws governing the powers and duties of local agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill enacts the Local Government Omnibus
Act of 2015, which includes the following provisions:
a) 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statute, the bill also replaces outdated references to "he"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.
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b) 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.
c) 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 physical delivery that
provides a receipt.
d) Board of Equalization - Floating Homes. State law
defines a "floating home" as a floating structure that is
designed and built to be used, or is modified to be used,
as a stationary waterborne residential dwelling; has no
mode of power of its own; is dependent for utilities upon a
continuous utility linkage to a source originating on
shore; and, has a permanent continuous hookup to a shore
side sewage system. A floating home is not categorized as
a vessel, but is assessed for property tax purposes in the
same manner as real property. State law prescribes the
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powers and duties of the State Board of Equalization (BOE),
including the adoption of rules, regulations, and
instructions relating to mobile homes which are subject to
property taxation. The California Assessor's Association
notes that the statutes prescribing the BOE's powers and
duties lack any explicit reference to floating homes. This
bill allows the BOE to exercise powers relating to rules,
regulations, and instructions for floating homes that are
the same as the powers that state law allows the BOE to
exercise for mobile homes.
e) 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.
f) 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
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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.
g) Local Artificial Turf Regulations. State law prohibits
local governments from adopting ordinances or regulations
that prohibit the installation of drought tolerant
landscaping, synthetic grass, or artificial turf on
residential property. However, local governments may
impose reasonable restrictions on the type of drought
tolerant landscaping, synthetic grass, or artificial turf
that may be installed on residential property provided that
those restrictions do not substantially increase the cost
of installing drought tolerant landscaping, synthetic
grass, or artificial turf; effectively prohibit the
installation of drought tolerant landscaping, synthetic
grass, or artificial turf; or, significantly impede the
installation of drought tolerant landscaping, including,
but not limited to, a requirement that a residential yard
must be completely covered with living plant material.
Some City of Sacramento officials are concerned that, in at
least some situations, state law may not allow local
governments to impose restrictions on the installation of
synthetic grass or artificial turf to prevent damage to
trees that are protected by local ordinances. This bill
allows a city, including a charter city, county, or city
and county, to impose reasonable restrictions on the
installation of synthetic grass or artificial turf within
the dripline of a tree protected by local ordinance.
h) 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
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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 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).
i) 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 local agency that is expected to provide
water, sewage, streets, roads, schools, or other essential
facilities or services to a project; and, all owners of
real property located within 300 feet of real property that
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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
agencies. This bill changes the cross-reference to refer
to the same section of statute that it referred to before
2006.
j) 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. 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
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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.
aa) 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. State law allows
FORA's board to include, as ex officio nonvoting members:
a representative designated by the Member of Congress from
the 17th Congressional District; a representative
designated by the Senator from the 15th Senate District;
and, a representative designated by the Assembly Member
from the 27th Assembly District.
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.
bb) 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. A related statute requiring
a local agency formation commission to act on proposals to
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form new fire protection districts erroneously refers to a
"resolution or application." 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."
cc) 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.
dd) 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 Section 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 Section 22161. This
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bill restores the changes to the definition of best value
that were chaptered out by SB 374.
ee) 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. 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."
ff) 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. The California Association of Clerks and Elections
Officials notes that two statutes relating to superior
court 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.
gg) 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 Section 8651, Section 8651.5, and Section
8651.6. The State Controller's staff notes that Streets
and Highways Code Section 2105 only references Revenue and
Taxation Code Section 8651 for the calculation, omitting
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references to Section 8651.5 and Section 8651.6. To ensure
that the apportionments to cities and counties required by
Streets & Highways Code Section 2105 are calculated
properly, this bill adds the omitted cross-references.
hh) Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994.
The Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994
allows property owners to petition a city or county to set
up an improvement district (PBID) and levy assessments on
property owners, business owners, or both, to pay for
promotional activities as well as for physical improvements
(AB 3754 (Caldera), Chapter 897, Statutes of 1994).
Practitioners who work with PBIDs have identified errors
and ambiguities in the 1994 Act. They want the Legislature
to make the following corrections and clarifications:
i) Specific Benefit. Pursuant to the California
Constitution, PBIDs' assessments on businesses must be
imposed for the purpose of conferring a specific benefit
on the businesses that are assessed. To conform the 1994
Act's language to this Constitutional requirement, this
bill adds language to two statutes to specify that PBIDs'
assessments must be used to confer a specific benefit or
benefits on assessed businesses.
ii) Consistent Terminology. In general, the 1994 Act
uses the term "district" to describe the territory within
a PBID's boundaries. However, two statutes use the term
"area" to describe territory within a PBID's boundaries.
To make the Act's language more consistent, this bill
replaces the term "area" with the term "district" in
those two statutes.
iii) Funding for Extraterritorial Improvements and
Activities. The 1994 Act prohibits a PBID from using
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assessment revenues to provide improvements, maintenance,
and activities outside the district. However, marketing
and promotional activities are among the services that a
PBID can fund. Some practitioners argue that it is
ineffective to limit those activities only to the area
within the boundaries of the PBID itself. This bill
allows a PBID to provide improvements and activities
which must be provided outside the district boundaries to
create a special or specific benefit to assessed parcels
or businesses and specifies that the allowable activities
are limited to marketing or signage pointing to the
district.
ii) 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.
2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "SB 974
compiles, into a single bill, noncontroversial statutory
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changes to?state laws that affect local agencies and land use.
Moving a bill through the legislative process costs around
$18,000. By avoiding (numerous) 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."
3)State Mandate. This bill is keyed a state mandate, which
means the state could be required to reimburse local agencies
and school districts for implementing the bill's provisions if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill
contains costs mandated by the state.
4)Arguments in Support. Supporters note that this bill assists
them with their mission and duties by making several
non-controversial changes to the statutes governing local
governments.
5)Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN:
0003616
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