BILL ANALYSIS
AB 474
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 474 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
SUBJECT : Contractual assessments: water efficiency
improvements.
SUMMARY : Expands the authorization that allows public agencies
to enter into contractual assessments to finance the
installation of specified improvements to now include water
efficiency improvements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a public agency to enter into a contractual
assessment with a willing property owner to finance the
installation of water efficiency measures.
2)Adds agriculture to the types of properties that can enter
into a contractual assessment with a public agency to finance
the installation of distributed generation renewable energy
sources, energy efficiency, and water efficiency improvements.
3)Adds municipal utility districts and community service
districts to the list of entities that may enter into
contractual assessments with a willing property owner to
finance the installation of distributed generation renewable
energy sources, energy efficiency, and water efficiency
improvements.
4)States that it is the intent of the Legislature to address
chronic water needs throughout California by permitting
voluntary individual efforts to improve water efficiency.
5)States that it is the intent of the Legislature that the
authorization created by this bill should be used to finance
the installation of water efficiency improvements that are
permanently fixed to residential, commercial, industrial,
agricultural, or other real property, including,
but not limited to, recycled water connections, synthetic turf,
cisterns for stormwater recovery, and water-porous concrete.
6)Prohibits a water district from entering into any contractual
assessment with a property owner to finance any energy
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efficiency improvements.
7)Requires a public agency to include a brief description of
criteria that will be used for determining the
creditworthiness of a property owner in its resolution of
intention.
8)Redefines "efficiency improvements" to include agricultural
property.
9)Defines "public agency" as a city, county, city and county,
municipal utility district, community services district, or
water district as defined.
10)Requires a legislative body to provide written notice of a
hearing to any entity that provides energy or water within the
boundaries of the area within which contractual assessments
may be entered into.
11)Specifies that the term "newly constructed" as used for the
purposes of reassessment, does not include the construction or
addition of any distributed generation renewable energy
sources or energy or water efficiency improvements.
12)Contains an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes all cities and counties in California to designate
areas within which city officials and willing property owners
may enter into contractual assessments to finance the
installation of distributed generation renewable energy
sources and energy efficiency improvements.
2)States legislative intent that the authorization listed above
should be used to finance the installation of distributed
generation renewable energy sources and energy efficiency
improvements that are fixed to residential, commercial,
industrial, and other real property.
3)Prohibits the authorization from being used to finance the
purchase or appliances or installations not fixed to real
property.
4)Makes findings and declarations concerning the need for energy
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efficiency improvements in order to address global climate
change, the deterrent effect of high up-front costs on making
those improvements, and the need to authorize an alternative
procedure for authorizing assessments to finance the cost of
energy efficiency improvements in order to make them more
affordable and promote their installation.
5)Declares that a public purpose will be served by a contractual
assessment program that provides the legislative body of any
city or county with the authority to finance the installation
of distributed generation renewable energy sources and energy
efficiency improvements to residential, commercial,
industrial, and other real property.
6)Authorizes the legislative body of any city or county to
determine that it would be convenient, advantageous, and in
the public interest to designate an area within the city or
county, which may encompass the entire city or a lesser
portion, within which authorized city or county officials and
property owners may enter into contractual assessments to
finance the installation of distributed generation renewable
energy sources and energy efficiency improvements that are
fixed to the property.
7)Requires the legislative body of the city or county to make
these determinations by adopting a resolution indicating its
intention to do so and requires the resolution to include
certain information, including, but not limited to,
identification of the kinds of public works that may be
financed; a description of the boundaries of the area within
which contractual assessments may be entered into; and, a
description of the proposed arrangements for financing the
program.
8)States that the term "energy efficient improvements" includes,
but is not limited to: the installation of distributed
generation renewable energy resources; and, that any energy
efficiency improvement must be fixed to the real property.
9)Requires that the resolution adopted by the governing body
direct the appropriate city official to prepare a report
including specified provisions.
10)Provides that, upon the written consent of an authorized city
official, the proposed arrangements for financing the program
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pertaining to the installation of distributed generation
renewable energy resources and energy efficiency improvements
fixed to real property may authorize the property owner to
purchase directly the related equipment and materials and to
contract directly for the work on the property owner's
residential, commercial, industrial, and other real property.
11)Specifies that assessments may be levied only with the free
and willing consent of the owner of each lot or parcel on
which an assessment is levied at the time the assessment is
levied.
12)States that assessments levied pursuant to this chapter, and
the interest and any penalties thereon shall constitute a lien
against the lots and parcels of land on which they are made
until they are paid.
13)Specifies that the collection of assessments in the same
manner and at the same time as the general taxes of the city
on real property are payable.
14)Requires that a specified city official enter into
consultations with the office of the county auditor or
controller in order to reach agreement on what additional
fees, if any, will be charged to the city or county for
incorporating the proposed contractual assessments into the
assessments of the general taxes of the city or county on real
property, and to include a report on the results of these
consultations in the report to be submitted to the legislative
body of the city.
15)Requires a legislative body to publish notice of a hearing
regarding contractual assessments.
16)Defines "city" for purposes of this bill as a city, county,
or city and county.
17)Defines "water district" as any district or other political
subdivision, other than a city or county, a primary function
of which is the irrigation, reclamation, or drainage of land
or the diversion, storage, management, or distribution of
water primarily for domestic, municipal, agricultural,
industrial, recreation, fish and wildlife enhancement, flood
control, or power production purposes.
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FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)AB 811 (Levine), Chapter 159, Statutes of 2008, proposed to
further the public interest of addressing climate change
through energy conservation efforts by authorizing cities to
provide up-front financing to property owners to install solar
or other renewable energy-generating devices or make specified
energy efficiency improvements to their properties through a
system of contractual assessments. Prior to AB 811,
contractual assessments were only authorized for certain types
of public works projects. Under contractual assessments,
the property owner or owners within a designated area choose to
assess themselves for the cost of energy efficiency
improvements or public works project (i.e., under grounding of
power lines or installation of streetlights). The local
government then provides the up-front funds for the project,
and the property owners pay an annual assessment until those
funds, plus interest, are repaid. The underlying purpose is
to create a means by which a project that provides both a
public benefit and an incidental benefit to particular
property owners can be financed without imposing the cost on
property owners in other parts of the city who derive no
benefit.
2)This year AB 474 adds water efficiency improvements to the
list of improvements that can be paid for through a
contractual assessment between a willing property owner and a
public agency. The author believes that AB 474 fills a
financing void by offering upfront funding to private property
owners to pay for costly water use efficiency improvements
such as permeable pavement, recycled water piping, drip
irrigation, cisterns, synthetic turf, or other water
conservation measures. The author states that AB 474 will
create financing opportunities to residential, commercial, and
agricultural property owners who want to be more responsible
water users but have limited financial resources to make those
investments.
3)One of the factors in deciding if a property has to be
reassessed for the purposes of determining property tax
valuation is whether or not the property has had any
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improvements done to it that cause the property to be deemed
"newly constructed". Existing law states that "newly
constructed," as used in subdivision (a) of Section 2 of
Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, does not include
the construction or addition of any active solar energy
system. Existing law defines "active solar energy system" as a
system that uses solar devices, which are thermally isolated
from living space or any other area where the energy is used,
to provide for the collection, storage, or distribution of
solar energy. AB 474 would add a new section to the Revenue
and Taxation Code to expand on the scope of what is considered
"newly constructed" for the purposes of reassessment. Under
the provisions of AB 474, the construction or addition of any
distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or
water efficiency improvements would be exempted from the
definition of "newly constructed". However, the Committee may
wish to consider whether it is appropriate to expand the
definition of what is not considered "newly constructed" given
that the definition proposed in this measure seems to move
away from the definition added by the voters, to promote the
use of solar, in Article XIIIA of the California Constitution.
4)COMMITTEE AMENDMENT : Remove language that expands the
definition on what is not considered "newly constructed."
a) On page 8 strike lines 15-21.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Municipal Utilities Association [CO-SPONSOR]
Metropolitan Water District of Southern CA [CO-SPONSOR]
Association of CA Water Agencies
CA Association of Realtors
CA Chamber of Commerce
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CA Municipal Utilities Association
CA Special Districts Association
CA Water Association (if amended)
City of Corona
Eastern Municipal Water District
Green Plumbers USA
Placer County Water Agency
Planning and Conservation League
PolyTurf Inc.
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Sierra Club CA
Three Valleys Municipal Water District
Valley Industry and Commerce Association
WateReuse CA
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958