BILL NUMBER: SB 321 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Benoit
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to amend Sections 53753 and 53755
Section 53753 of the Government Code, relating to local
government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 321, as amended, Benoit. Local government: assessment
and fees assessments : election requirements.
(1) 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.
Existing statutory law provides notice, protest, and hearing
procedures for the levying of new or increased assessments, fees, and
charges by local government agencies pursuant to Articles XIII C and
XIII D of the California Constitution.
This bill would limit the information an agency is
required to provide in a notice by mail to the record owner of each
identified parcel prior to levying the assessment. The
This bill would prescribe other requirements for the
tabulation of ballots if an agency uses agency personnel or a vendor,
and for the availability and relating to the ballot
envelope, the tabulation of ballots, and the preservation of
ballots to the public as disclosable public records. By creating new
requirements for property assessments conducted by counties and
cities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
With respect to a proposed increase of an existing fee or charge
for a property-related service, if an election is required pursuant
to existing law, this bill would impose new requirements regarding
the conduct of the election.
By adding new duties to the local officials regarding these fees
or charges, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 53753 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
53753. (a) The notice, protest, and hearing requirements imposed
by this section supersede any statutory provisions applicable to the
levy of a new or increased assessment that is in existence on the
effective date of this section, whether or not that provision is in
conflict with this article. Any agency that complies with the notice,
protest, and hearing requirements of this section shall not be
required to comply with any other statutory notice, protest, and
hearing requirements that would otherwise be applicable to the levy
of a new or increased assessment, with the exception of Division 4.5
(commencing with Section 3100) of the Streets and Highways Code. If
the requirements of that division apply to the levy of a new or
increased assessment, the levying agency shall comply with the
notice, protest, and hearing requirements imposed by this section as
well as with the requirements of that division.
(b) Prior to levying a new or increased assessment, or an existing
assessment that is subject to the procedures and approval process
set forth in Section 4 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution, an agency shall give notice by mail to the record owner
of each identified parcel. Each notice shall include the total
amount of the proposed assessment chargeable to the entire district,
the amount chargeable to the record owner's parcel, the duration of
the payments, the reason for the assessment and the basis upon which
the amount of the proposed assessment was calculated, and the date,
time, and location of a public hearing on the proposed assessment.
Each notice shall also include, in a conspicuous place thereon, a
summary of the procedures for the completion, return, and tabulation
of the assessment ballots required pursuant to subdivision (c),
including a statement that the assessment shall not be imposed if the
ballots submitted in opposition to the assessment exceed the ballots
submitted in favor of the assessment, with ballots weighted
according to the proportional financial obligation of the
affected property. Except for the information described in
subdivision (c), this subdivision, and the information required by
Section 4 of Article XIII D of
the California Constitution, no other information shall be included
with the notice. An agency shall give affected
property. An agency shall give notice by mail at least 45 days
prior to the date of the public hearing upon the proposed assessment.
On the face of the envelope mailed to the record owner, in
which the notice and ballot are enclosed, there shall appear in
substantially the following form in no smaller than 16-point bold
type: "OFFICIAL BALLOT ENCLOSED."
(c) Each notice given pursuant to subdivision (b) shall contain an
assessment ballot that includes the agency's address for receipt of
the ballot and a place where the person returning the assessment
ballot may indicate his or her name, a reasonable identification of
the parcel, and his or her support or opposition to the proposed
assessment. Each assessment ballot shall be in a form that conceals
its contents once it is sealed by the person submitting the
assessment ballot. Each assessment ballot shall be signed and either
mailed or otherwise delivered to the address indicated on the
assessment ballot. Regardless of the method of delivery, all
assessment ballots shall be received at the address indicated, or the
site of the public testimony, in order to be included in the
tabulation of a majority protest pursuant to subdivision (e).
Assessment ballots shall remain sealed until the tabulation of
ballots pursuant to subdivision (e) commences, provided that an
assessment ballot may be submitted, or changed, or withdrawn by the
person who submitted the ballot prior to the conclusion of the public
testimony on the proposed assessment at the hearing required
pursuant to subdivision (d). An agency may provide an envelope for
the return of the assessment ballot, provided that if the return
envelope is opened by the agency prior to the tabulation of ballots
pursuant to subdivision (e), the enclosed assessment ballot shall
remain sealed as provided in this section.
(d) At the time, date, and place stated in the notice mailed
pursuant to subdivision (b), the agency shall conduct a public
hearing upon the proposed assessment. At the public hearing, the
agency shall consider all objections or protests, if any, to the
proposed assessment. At the public hearing, any person shall be
permitted to present written or oral testimony. The public hearing
may be continued from time to time.
(e) (1) At the conclusion of the public hearing conducted pursuant
to subdivision (d), an impartial person designated by the agency who
does not have a vested interest in the outcome of the proposed
assessment shall tabulate the assessment ballots submitted, and not
withdrawn, in support of or opposition to the proposed
assessment. In a city, the impartial person may include, but is not
limited to, the city clerk. If the agency uses agency personnel for
the ballot tabulation, or if the agency contracts with a vendor for
the ballot tabulation and the vendor or its affiliate
proposed assessment. For the purposes of this section, an impartial
person may include, but is not limited to, the clerk of the agency.
An impartial person does not include the person or entity that
participated in the research, design, engineering, public education,
or promotion of the assessment, then the
assessment. The ballots shall be unsealed and tabulated in
public view at the conclusion of the hearing so as to permit all
interested persons to meaningfully monitor the accuracy of the
tabulation process. The
(2) The governing body
of the agency may, if necessary, continue the tabulation at a
different time or location accessible to the public, provided the
governing body announces the time and location at the hearing. The
impartial person may use technological methods of tabulating the
assessment ballots, including, but not limited to, punchcard or
optically readable (bar-coded) assessment ballots. During and after
the tabulation, the assessment ballots and the information used
to determine the weight of each ballot shall be treated as
disclosable public records, as defined in Section 6252, and equally
available for inspection by the proponents and the opponents of the
proposed assessment. Any member of the public wishing to
inspect and count assessment ballots shall also be given access, upon
request, to the information needed to determine the correct weight
for each ballot. The ballots The ballots shall
be preserved for a minimum of two years, after which they may be
destroyed as provided in Sections 26202, 34090, and 60201.
In
(3) In the event that more than
one of the record owners of an identified parcel submits an
assessment ballot, the amount of the proposed assessment to be
imposed upon the identified parcel shall be allocated to each ballot
submitted in proportion to the respective record ownership interests
or, if the ownership interests are not shown on the record, as
established to the satisfaction of the agency by documentation
provided by those record owners.
(2)
(4) A majority protest exists if the assessment ballots
submitted, and not withdrawn, in opposition to the proposed
assessment exceed the assessment ballots submitted, and not
withdrawn, in its favor, weighting those assessment ballots by the
amount of the proposed assessment to be imposed upon the identified
parcel for which each assessment ballot was submitted.
(3)
(5) If there is a majority protest against the
imposition of a new assessment, or the extension of an existing
assessment, or an increase in an existing assessment, the agency
shall not impose, extend, or increase the assessment.
(4)
(6) The majority protest proceedings described in this
subdivision shall not constitute an election or voting for purposes
of Article II of the California Constitution or of the Elections
Code.
SEC. 2. Section 53755 of the Government Code is
amended to read:
53755. (a) (1) The notice required by paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution of a proposed increase of an existing fee or charge for
a property-related service being provided to a parcel may be given by
including it in the agency's regular billing statement for the fee
or charge or by any other mailing by the agency to the address to
which the agency customarily mails the billing statement for the fee
or charge.
(2) The notice required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution of a
proposed new fee or charge may be given in the manner authorized for
notice of an increase of a fee or charge if the agency is currently
providing an existing property-related service to the address.
(3) If the agency desires to preserve any authority it may have to
record or enforce a lien on the parcel to which service is provided,
the agency shall also mail notice to the recordowner's address shown
on the last equalized assessment roll if that address is different
than the billing or service address.
(b) One written protest per parcel, filed by an owner or tenant of
the parcel, shall be counted in calculating a majority protest to a
proposed new or increased fee or charge subject to the requirements
of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution.
(c) Any agency that bills, collects, and remits a fee or charge on
behalf of another agency may provide the notice required by Section
6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution on behalf of the
other agency.
(d) If the fee or charge requires an election pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution, the election shall be conducted by the elections
official on an established election date pursuant to Section 1000 of
the Elections Code or, in the case of a mailed ballot election,
Section 1500 of the Elections Code. The provisions of the Elections
Code shall govern elections under this section, to the extent they do
not conflict with this section or Section 6 of Article XIII D of the
California Constitution. If the agency chooses to limit the election
to the owners of the property subject to the fee or charge, the
election shall be conducted by mailed ballot, and the agency shall
deliver to the elections official, by the date and in the format
requested by the official, a list of the property owners entitled to
vote in the election, and the addresses to which the agency mails
their bills. If the agency does not mail bills, then the agency shall
provide the addresses to which the property tax bills are mailed.
There shall be only one ballot per parcel and the ballots shall not
be weighted.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because a local agency or school district has
the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by
this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.