BILL NUMBER: SB 1298	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 11, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 1, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 13, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hertzberg

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Section 53750 of the Government Code, relating to
local government finance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1298, as amended, Hertzberg. Local government: fees and
charges.
   Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution
generally require that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to
property owners for approval or rejection after the provision of
written notice and the holding of a public hearing. Existing law, the
Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific
procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with
Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution and defines
terms for these purposes.
   This bill would define the  terms "proportional cost of
the service attributable to the parcel" and "sewer service" 
 term "sewer"  for these purposes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The ongoing, historic drought has made clear that California
must invest in a 21st century water management system capable of
effectively meeting the economic, social, and environmental needs of
the state.
   (b) Sufficient and reliable funding to pay for local water
projects is necessary to improve the state's water infrastructure.
   (c) Proposition  218,   218 was 
approved  by the voters  in  1996, was meant to
improve transparency and accountability of local government fees.
  1996.  Some court interpretations of the law have
constrained important tools that local governments need to manage
 water supplies, address water pollution and provide
stormwater management.   storm water and drainage
runoff. 
   (d)  Stormwater is a key source of local water supply,
  Storm   waters are carried off in storm
sewers,  and careful management is necessary to reduce
pollution. But a court decision has  required stormwater and
flood control programs to meet a higher standard than other
water-related services to raise capital,   excluded
storm water from those provisions of Proposition 218 that apply to
property-related fees for sewer and water,  preventing many
important projects from being built. 
   (e) This act is intended to provide guidance to local agencies and
courts on the implementation of Articles XIII C and XIII D of the
California Constitution and shall not be construed to amend those
articles.  
   (e) The Court of Appeal in Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Ass'n v. City
of Salinas (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 1351, concluded that the term
"sewer," as used in Proposition 218, is "ambiguous" but rejected, and
refused to use, the statutory definition of the term "sewer system"
which was part of the then-existing law as Section 230.5 of the
Public Utilities Code.  
   (f) The Legislature reaffirms and reiterates that the definition
found in Section 230.5 of the Public Utilities Code is the definition
of "sewer" or "sewer service" that should be used in the Proposition
218 Omnibus Implementation Act. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 53750 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   53750.  For purposes of Article XIII C and Article XIII D of the
California Constitution and this article:
   (a) "Agency" means any local government as defined in subdivision
(b) of Section 1 of Article XIII C of the California Constitution.
   (b) "Assessment" means any levy or charge by an agency upon real
property that is based upon the special benefit conferred upon the
real property by a public improvement or service, that is imposed to
pay the capital cost of the public improvement, the maintenance and
operation expenses of the public improvement, or the cost of the
service being provided. "Assessment" includes, but is not limited to,
"special assessment," "benefit assessment," "maintenance assessment,"
and "special assessment tax."
   (c) "District" means an area that is determined by an agency to
contain all of the parcels that will receive a special benefit from a
proposed public improvement or service.
   (d) "Drainage system" means any system of public improvements that
is intended to provide for erosion control, for landslide abatement,
or for other types of water drainage.
   (e) "Extended," when applied to an existing tax or fee or charge,
means a decision by an agency to extend the stated effective period
for the tax or fee or charge, including, but not limited to,
amendment or removal of a sunset provision or expiration date.
   (f) "Flood control" means any system of public improvements that
is intended to protect property from overflow by water.
   (g) "Identified parcel" means a parcel of real property that an
agency has identified as having a special benefit conferred upon it
and upon which a proposed assessment is to be imposed, or a parcel of
real property upon which a proposed property-related fee or charge
is proposed to be imposed.
   (h) (1) "Increased," when applied to a tax, assessment, or
property-related fee or charge, means a decision by an agency that
does either of the following:
   (A) Increases any applicable rate used to calculate the tax,
assessment, fee, or charge.
   (B) Revises the methodology by which the tax, assessment, fee, or
charge is calculated, if that revision results in an increased amount
being levied on any person or parcel.
   (2) A tax, fee, or charge is not deemed to be "increased" by an
agency action that does either or both of the following:
   (A) Adjusts the amount of a tax, fee, or charge in accordance with
a schedule of adjustments, including a clearly defined formula for
inflation adjustment that was adopted by the agency prior to November
6, 1996.
   (B) Implements or collects a previously approved tax, fee, or
charge, so long as the rate is not increased beyond the level
previously approved by the agency, and the methodology previously
approved by the agency is not revised so as to result in an increase
in the amount being levied on any person or parcel.
   (3) A tax, assessment, fee, or charge is not deemed to be
"increased" in the case in which the actual payments from a person or
property are higher than would have resulted when the agency
approved the tax, assessment, fee, or charge, if those higher
payments are attributable to events other than an increased rate or
revised methodology, such as a change in the density, intensity, or
nature of the use of land.
   (i) "Notice by mail" means any notice required by Article XIII C
or XIII D of the California Constitution that is accomplished through
a mailing, postage prepaid, deposited in the United States Postal
Service and is deemed given when so deposited. Notice by mail may be
included in any other mailing to the record owner that otherwise
complies with Article XIII C or XIII D of the California Constitution
and this article, including, but not limited to, the mailing of a
bill for the collection of an assessment or a property-related fee or
charge. 
   (j) "Proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel,"
when applied to a fee or charge for water or sewer service, means
the share of the total cost of providing water or sewer service to
water or sewer users within the service area reasonably attributable
to the parcel. The total cost of providing water or sewer service
includes all costs of acquiring water and water rights, costs of
collecting, conveying, treating, and managing water and wastewater,
and costs of satisfying all regulatory requirements lawfully imposed
on water and sewer service providers.  
   (k) 
    (j)  "Record owner" means the owner of a parcel whose
name and address appears on the last equalized secured property tax
assessment roll, or in the case of any public entity, the State of
California, or the United States, means the representative of that
public entity at the address of that entity known to the agency.

   (l) "Sewer service" 
    (k)     "Sewer"  means services 
and systems  provided by all real estate, fixtures, and personal
property owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with
or to facilitate sewage collection, treatment, or disposition for
sanitary or drainage purposes, including lateral and connecting
sewers, interceptors, trunk and outfall lines, sanitary sewage
treatment or disposal plants or works, drains, conduits, outlets for
surface or storm waters, and any and all other works, property, or
structures necessary or convenient for the collection or disposal of
sewage, industrial waste, or surface or storm waters. "Sewer system"
shall not include a sewer system that merely collects sewage on the
property of a single owner. 
   (m) 
    (l)  "Registered professional engineer" means an
engineer registered pursuant to the Professional Engineers Act
(Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the
Business and Professions Code). 
   (n) 
    (m)  "Vector control" means any system of public
improvements or services that is intended to provide for the
surveillance, prevention, abatement, and control of vectors as
defined in subdivision (k) of Section 2002 of the Health and Safety
Code and a pest as defined in Section 5006 of the Food and
Agricultural Code. 
   (o) 
    (n)  "Water" means any system of public improvements
intended to provide for the production, storage, supply, treatment,
or distribution of water from any source.