BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |SB 1315 |Hearing |4/6/16 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Author: |Bates |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |3/28/16 |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Weinberger |
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Counties: budgets
Allows a county that fulfills specified requirements to adopt a
final budget without first voting on a recommended budget.
Background
The County Budget Act spells out the procedures that county
officials must follow when adopting an annual budget. The Act
requires counties to use a two-step process in which a board of
supervisors must annually approve a recommended budget on or
before June 30. The recommended budget provides interim
authority for county government spending during the period of
time after the fiscal year begins on July 1 and before the board
of supervisors adopts a final budget, which must happen on or
before October 2.
The recommended budget must be submitted to the board by either
the county administrative officer or county auditor, as
designated by the board, on or before June 30 of each year.
After receiving the recommended budget, the board must consider
it and make any revisions, reductions, or additions. On or
before June 30 of each year the board must vote to approve the
recommended budget, including the revisions it deems necessary
for the purpose of having authority to spend until the budget is
adopted. With specified exceptions, a board may make revisions
to the recommended budget until a final budget is adopted.
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On or before September 8 of each year, state law requires the
board to make the recommended budget available to the public and
publish a notice in a newspaper stating that:
The recommended budget documents are available to
members of the public.
On the date stated in the notice, not fewer than 10 days
after the recommended budget documents are available, and
at a specified time and place, the board will conduct a
public hearing on the recommended budget.
Any member of the public may appear at the hearing and
be heard regarding any item in the recommended budget or
for the inclusion of additional items.
All proposals for revisions must be submitted in writing
to the clerk of the board of supervisors before the close
of the public hearing.
State law specifies the manner in which a board of supervisors
must conduct a hearing on the recommended budget and requires
that after the hearing's conclusion, the board must, by
resolution, adopt the budget as finally determined not later
than October 2 of each year.
Orange County officials assert that it is not necessary to
require a county board of supervisors to vote on a recommended
budget if the county chooses to adopt a final budget before the
July 1 start of the fiscal year. They want the Legislature to
allow a county board of supervisors that adopts a final budget
on or before June 30 to publish a recommended budget without
having to take an official action to approve it.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 1315 allows a county, in lieu of approving a
recommended budget pursuant to state law, to instead direct the
publication of a recommended budget for the purposes of
conducting a budget hearing without authorizing spending
pursuant to the recommended budget until the budget is adopted.
To use the budget adoption procedures authorized by SB 1315, a
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county board of supervisors must:
Make the recommended budget available to the public on
or before May 30.
Publish a notice on or before May 30 stating that the
recommended budget is available to members of the public
and specifying the time and place at which the board will
conduct a public hearing on the recommended budget.
Conduct a public hearing on the budget on or before June
20.
Adopt the budget by resolution after the conclusion of
the hearing and not later than June 30.
SB 1315 requires that, on or before May 30 of any year in which
a board of supervisors uses the budget adoption procedures
enacted by the bill, the board must set forth a budget adoption
schedule that complies with specified statutory requirements.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . In most counties, the recommended
budget that a board of supervisors must vote to approve annually
by June 30 governs county spending until a final budget is
adopted later in the fiscal year. However, if a county adopts a
budget before the fiscal year begins, the initial recommended
budget never has any practical effect beyond serving as a
baseline for the board's deliberations on, and approval of, a
final budget. In counties that don't rely on a recommended
budget for spending authority, it doesn't make sense to require
a separate board of supervisors vote on the recommended budget.
SB 1315 creates an alternative budget approval process that
allows a county board of supervisors to publish a recommended
budget, in lieu of voting on it, if the board adopts a final
budget by June 30. SB 1315 does not require any county to alter
its current budget process, but simply provides an alternative
process that counties can choose.
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2. Unintended consequences . Although SB 1315 is intended to
require a county that uses its alternative procedures to follow
existing laws governing the adoption of a final budget.
However, its language could be misinterpreted to allow a county
to adopt a final budget simply by adopting a resolution, without
following most of the requirements that are imposed by current
law. To avoid unintended consequences, the Committee may wish
to consider amending SB 1315 to specify that, under the
alternative process authorized by the bill:
A hearing on a recommended budget must be held at least
ten days after the recommended budget is made available to
the public, and
A final budget must be adopted pursuant to all of the
statutory requirements that current law imposes on the
adoption of a final budget.
Support and
Opposition (3/31/16)
Support : Orange County; Urban Counties of California.
Opposition : Unknown.
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