BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
398 (Correa)
Hearing Date: 05/11/2009 Amended: 05/04/2009
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T&H 8-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 398 would require the Department of Housing
and Community Development (HCD), to the extent funding is
available, to post the following information on its website by
July 1, 2012:
The records of all mobilehome park inspections conducted since
January 1, 1991.
Reports and records pertaining to fire hydrant maintenance and
inspections in mobilehome parks.
The bill would also revise provisions related to the assumption
of fire code enforcement by a local agency.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
HCD website publicationup to $200 up to $500 up to
$200Special*/
of inspections and reports (cost pressures, see staff
comments) General
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* Mobilehome Parks and Special Occupancy Parks Revolving Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA) requires HCD or a local agency
that has assumed enforcement responsibilities through an
agreement with HCD to inspect mobilehome parks that have had the
most serious history of health and safety code violations, with
a goal of inspecting at least five percent of the parks per
year. HCD or the local enforcement agency collects a fee of $4
per space annually to fund the program. There are currently
over 4,700 mobilehome parks with a permit to operate in
California, containing nearly 400,000 spaces. HCD employs about
45 inspectors statewide and contracts with 74 local agencies for
enforcement of the MPA in their jurisdictions. Local agencies
are increasingly returning the enforcement responsibilities to
HCD, primarily because the fees allowed by statute are
insufficient to fully cover the costs related to enforcement.
HCD reports that tens of thousands of health and safety code
violations have been cited and remedied since the program's
inception in 1991.
Existing law authorizes a local entity that has assumed code
enforcement for HCD to enforce its own full fire code, or
authorizes a local fire agency to assume jurisdiction for
certain limited fire code requirements in parks, such as weed
abatement, fire equipment access, water supply, and fire hydrant
systems. To date only eight fire agencies have been willing to
assume this partial jurisdiction for fire safety in mobilehome
parks.
Page 2
SB 398 (Correa)
SB 398 would delete the requirement that a local agency must
take on the full spectrum of park code enforcement in order to
assume full fire code jurisdiction. The bill would also require
that all park inspection and fire hydrant maintenance records be
made available to the public on HCD's website by July 1, 2012,
to the extent that funding is available.
HCD park inspections and other reports, such as those involving
the maintenance and operation of fire hydrants in mobilehome
parks, may be accessed under the Public Records Act. A member
of the public making a request for a specific report must know
that a specific report exists in order to request it via the
mail or must visit HCD offices in Sacramento to look through the
reports to find out what is available. This bill is intended to
increase accessibility of MPA code enforcement records.
HCD indicates that the MPA code enforcement programs are
severely underfunded, and this bill would place further strains
on the ability to administer current programs. HCD estimates
that costs associated with posting the records of mobilehome
park inspections since 1991 and the specified reports related to
fire hydrants would be substantial, possibly in the range of $1
million. Staff estimates that HCD would at least require 2-3 PY
of temporary staff to compile 18 years of records and reports
dating back to 1991, redact any personal information, scan any
older paper documents, compile a searchable database, and upload
the information. Ongoing costs would likely be less than
$100,000 annually to manage any new reports. Since this bill
specifies that the information would only be made available on
HCD's website "to the extent funding is available," these costs
represent special fund and General Fund cost pressures.
Staff notes that the 2009-10 Budget Act signed by the Governor
on February 20, 2009 (SB3x 1 (Ducheny), Chapter 1 of 2009)
included a loan of $2.1 million from the Mobilehome Park
Purchase Fund to the Mobilehome-Manufactured Home Revolving
Fund, which supports the enforcement programs of the MPA.
Without this loan, the Revolving Fund would have a negative
balance at the end of 2009-10. SB 398 would place additional
pressures on the Revolving Fund, requiring further transfers of
revenues from other available special funds or the General Fund
to the extent that HCD complies with the requirements to post
code enforcement records on their website.