BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Patricia Wiggins, Chair
BILL NO: SB 635 HEARING: 4/29/09
AUTHOR: Wiggins FISCAL: No
VERSION: 4/21/09 CONSULTANT:
Weinberger
SONOMA COUNTY'S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FEES
Background and Existing Law
Counties can charge fees when they issue marriage licenses
or provide certified copies of vital records, such as birth
certificates and death records. Counties must add charges
on to their marriage license fees to fund domestic violence
shelters. The additional amount has increased over time
and is now $23 (SB 5, Presley, 1993).
In 2001, the Legislature authorized a pilot program in
Contra Costa County, allowing the County to provide
governmental oversight and coordination of domestic
violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts
within the county (SB 425, Torlakson, 2001). The County
must make findings and declarations about the need for
oversight and coordination and may fund the program by
increasing fees by a maximum of $4 on certified copies of
marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records, and death records. The County must deposit the
fees into a special county fund, with no more than 4% being
retained for administrative costs, and may increase the
fees each year by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In a 2006 report to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary
Committees, Contra Costa County cited many improved
outcomes resulting from funding for oversight and
coordination activities. Based on this success,
legislators made Contra Costa's program permanent (SB 968,
Torlakson, 2006).
The Legislature authorized similar programs in Alameda and
Solano Counties in 2004. The counties can increase fees
for marriage licenses and certified copies of birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up
to $2 and must report to the legislative Judiciary
Committees by July 1, 2009. The programs sunset on January
1, 2010 (AB 2010, Hancock, 2004).
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Sonoma County currently charges $75 for public marriage
licenses, $90 for confidential marriage licenses, $17 for
birth certificates, $13 for marriage certificates, and $12
for death records. Sonoma County officials want the same
authority to raise fees on these vital records that
legislators granted to Alameda County and Solano County.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 635 authorizes the Sonoma County Board of
Supervisors, upon making findings and declarations of the
need for governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence agencies, to increase fees for marriage
licenses, confidential marriage licenses, and certified
copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal
death records, and death records by up to $2.
SB 635 allows Sonoma's Board of Supervisors to authorize an
annual increase in those fees by an amount equal to the
increase in the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco
metropolitan area, rounded to the nearest one-half dollar.
The bill requires the County of Sonoma to direct the local
registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to deposit
those fees into a special fund to be used for governmental
oversight and coordination of a variety of domestic
violence and family violence prevention and intervention
efforts. The County may retain up to 4% of the funds for
administrative costs.
SB 635 requires the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to
report to the Legislature the annual amounts of funds
received and expended from fee increases and the outcomes
achieved. A preliminary report must be submitted no later
than July 1, 2013 and a final report no later than July 1,
2014.
SB 635 has a sunset date of January 1, 2015.
Comments
1. Expanding a successful program . Domestic violence has
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widespread and costly effects in Sonoma County. In 2005,
law enforcement agencies throughout Sonoma County received
2,048 calls for assistance and made 697 domestic violence
felony arrests. That same year, the District Attorney's
Office filed a total of 1,365 domestic violence cases. The
response to domestic violence involves a complex web of
stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, the
courts, social services agencies, and various non-profit
community organizations. By giving Sonoma County the same
vital records fee authority that has already been
successfully implemented in Contra Costa County, SB 635
will annually generate much-needed funding for the
oversight and coordination of domestic violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution efforts in Sonoma County.
2. Fee or tax ? Despite the Legislature's past
authorization of additional fees on vital records for the
purpose of funding domestic violence programs, the question
persists whether these charges constitute "taxes," which
require voter approval, rather than "fees." County
officials maintain that charges imposed on vital records
fall within the category of "regulatory fees" that have
been validated by the courts. To qualify as a regulatory
fee, a charge cannot exceed the reasonable cost of
providing the services for which the fee is charged and
must not be levied for unrelated revenue purposes. It is
unclear, however, whether there is a sufficient
relationship between charges imposed on certified copies of
vital records and the coordination of domestic violence
programs to meet the standards for regulatory fees. If the
merits of a program like the one implemented in Contra
Costa are sufficiently clear, counties should simply seek
voter approval of taxes, rather than imposing ambiguous
charges that may be subject to future legal challenges.
3. Territorial issues . While not disputing the need to
reduce domestic violence, some opponents of SB 635 argue
that the fees proposed by the bill are misplaced. Child
abuse prevention advocates want to preserve fees on birth
certificates as a dedicated source for child abuse
prevention. Currently, $4 from every fee paid for a birth
certificate is allocated to trust funds for child abuse
prevention. Some advocates oppose adding birth certificate
fees for other purposes, reasoning that such new fees may
constrain their ability to increase revenues for child
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abuse prevention in the future. County recorders argue
that fees for vital records should relate exclusively "to
the cost of recording or obtaining certified copies" of
vital records and should not force the county recorder's
office into the unwanted role of being "a revenue
generator." The Committee may wish to consider whether,
despite the authorizations already granted to Contra Costa,
Alameda, and Solano counties, vital records fees are the
most appropriate revenue source for coordinating domestic
violence prevention.
4. Related legislation . The Assembly recently passed AB
73 (Hayashi, 2009), which eliminates the sunset date on
Alameda County's authorization to raise fees for certified
copies of marriage licenses, marriage certificates, birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records by up
to $2 in order to fund governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence prevention, intervention
and prosecution programs. Last year, legislators passed AB
2231 (Hayashi, 2008) which would have extended the sunset
dates for the Alameda County and Solano County programs
until 2015. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill,
arguing that the additional vital records fees are actually
taxes. AB 1275 (DeSaulnier, 2007), which authorized any
county to impose additional vital records fees to fund
domestic violence, child abuse, and family violence
programs, died in the Senate Local Government Committee.
SB 605 (Alquist, 2007), which authorized additional vital
records fees to fund domestic violence programs in Santa
Clara County, died in the Senate Local Government
Committee.
5. Special legislation . The California Constitution
prohibits special legislation when a general law can apply
(Article IV, 16). SB 635 contains findings and
declarations explaining the need for legislation that
applies only to Sonoma County.
6. Double referral . The Senate Rules Committee has
ordered a double-referral of SB 635 to the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Support and Opposition (4/23/09)
Support : Sonoma County, Catholic Charities of the Diocese
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of Santa Rosa, Council on Aging Services for Seniors Santa
Rosa, Healdsburg Police Department, Kaiser Permanente Santa
Rosa, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa Police
Department, Sonoma County District Attorney, Stephan A.
Passalacqua, Sonoma County Human Services Department,
Sonoma County Medical Association, Sonoma County Probation
Department, Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, Sonoma
County Superior Court, Redwood Community Health Coalition,
Southwest Community Health Center, United Against Sexual
Assault of Sonoma County, YWCA Sonoma County.
Opposition : Child Abuse Prevention Center, Howard Jarvis
Taxpayers Association.