BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 129|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 129
Author: Beall (D)
Amended: 6/14/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/22/11
AYES: Wolk, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Liu
NOES: Huff, Fuller, La Malfa
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-17, 4/14/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local government: fines and penalties:
assessments
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a city or county after
notice and public hearing to specially assess and record a
notice of lien for any fines or penalties related to
ordinance violations constituting a public nuisance or
threat to public health and safety on the real property
that the fines or penalties are being assessed or recorded
on if the owner of the real property fails to pay those
fines or penalties after demand by the city or county.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution allows counties and
cities to adopt and enforce ordinances that regulate local
health, safety, peace, and welfare.
State law defines "a nuisance" as anything that is
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injurious to health, indecent or offensive to the senses,
obstructs the free use of property, or unlawfully obstructs
free passage. In addition to civil and criminal
enforcement mechanisms, counties and cities can adopt
ordinances that establish local procedures for abating
nuisances. Counties and cities can recover abatement
costs, including administrative costs, by using a special
assessment, abatement lien, or both.
This bill authorizes a city, county, or city and county,
after notice and public hearing, to order unpaid fines or
penalties to be specially assessed against a parcel if the
fines or penalties are related to ordinance violations on
the real property that constitute a public nuisance or
threat to public health and safety. This bill allows the
assessment to be collected at the same time and in the same
manner as ordinary county taxes and subject to the same
penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of
delinquency. This bill declares that all laws applicable
to the levy, collection, and enforcement of county taxes
apply to the special assessment, except the assessment does
not constitute an assessment lien pursuant to specified
statutes governing special assessment liens' priority.
This bill also specifies that the assessment does not
constitute a lien on the real property until a notice of
lien is recorded.
If a city, county, or city and county specially assess the
cost of the administrative fines or penalties against the
parcel, this bill authorizes it to record a notice of lien
to perfect the lien. The abatement lien notice must:
Identify the assessor's parcel number.
Identify the record owner.
Set forth the last known address of the record owner.
Set forth the date upon which assessment was ordered by
the city, county, or city and county.
State the amount of the lien.
This bill declares that recordation of a notice of lien has
the same effect as recordation of an abstract of a money
judgment. The lien against the parcel has the same force,
effect, and priority as a judgment lien on real property.
This bill allows the city, county, or city and county, or
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any authorized officer to release or subordinate an
abatement lien in the same manner as releasing or
subordinating a judgment lien on real property.
This bill authorizes a city, county, or city and county to
combine the administrative procedures that govern the
imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative
review of administrative fines and penalties with specified
nuisance abatement procedures.
This bill allows a local agency, in administrative
procedures, to authorize the appointment of hearing
officers to hear and decide issues regarding ordinance
violations and the imposition of administrative fines or
penalties.
This bill declares that the power it gives to the
legislative body of a city, county, or city and county is
in addition to any other powers of a city, county, or city
and county under its charter.
Comments
The recent recession has increased public nuisances in many
cities and counties while forcing local officials to cut
their enforcement budgets. Local governments have fewer
resources to enforce codes and standards. Some
recalcitrant property owners maintain nuisances on their
properties while ignoring administrative fines. These
fines accumulate into large debts, which are costly for
local officials to recover through the courts. Using
special assessment and abatement liens gives local
officials a less expensive and more effective method for
collecting unpaid fines and will provide a stronger
incentive for property owners to comply with local
ordinances. This bill helps local agencies protect the
public's health and safety by giving them stronger code
enforcement authority that mirrors the authority they
already use to collect nuisance abatement costs.
Prior legislation
AB 2613 (Beall), of 2010, was nearly identical to this
bill, AB 2613 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, in his
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vetoed message the Governor stated, "It is important that
the due process rights of homeowners are balanced against a
local government's right to collect an ordinance violation
fine. The current system that requires a local government
to seek judicial approval to impose a lien properly
balances these opposing interests."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/24/11)
California Association of County Treasurers and Tax
Collectors
California State Association of Counties
City of San Marcos
City of Torrance
County of Santa Clara
League of California Cities
Sierra Club California
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/24/11)
California Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon,
Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall,
Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher,
Hagman, Halderman, Huber, Jeffries, Mansoor, Miller,
Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Valadao
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Butler, Conway, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mendoza,
Morrell, Olsen, Wagner, Williams, Vacancy
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AGB:do 6/24/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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