BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2551
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2551 (Wilk)
As Amended May 23, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 15, 2014) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 18, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires each bond issue proposed by a county, city
and county, district, or other political subdivision, or any
agency, department, or board thereof, to include the best
estimate from official sources of the total debt service,
including the principal and interest that would be required to
be repaid if all the bonds are issued and sold, and permits the
estimate to include information about the assumptions used to
determine the estimate.
The Senate amendments add coauthors and make a non-substantive
change.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Since 1997, the
non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) has been
required to include the 'fiscal effect' of any costs related to
the approval of a statewide General Obligation Bond in the
ballot pamphlet presented to voters. Per existing law
(Elections Code [Section] 9087) the LAO is required to follow a
list of criteria which includes: the amount of the cost to
state or local government, and utilizing a uniform method in
each analysis to describe the estimated increase or decrease in
revenue or cost of a measure.
"AB 2551 updates the tax rate statement (over 100 years old) to
ensure that voters understand how the estimate of the tax rate
was reached and what the costs will be throughout the 30-40 year
length of the bond.
"The purpose is to establish minimum standard of transparency
for the fiscal analysis of local bond measures that is very
AB 2551
Page 2
similar to what the LAO already does for state General
Obligation bond measures."
In 1968, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 838
(Petris), Chapter 813, which required the elections official to
mail to voters with the sample ballot a tax rate statement for
local bond measures. Aside from a few technical changes that
have been made, the information included in this statement has
mostly been unchanged since it was signed into law in 1968.
This bill requires each bond issue proposed by a county, city
and county, district, or other political subdivision, or any
agency, department of board thereof, to also include the best
estimate from official sources of the total debt service,
including the principal and interest that would be required to
be repaid if all the bonds are issued and sold. According to
the author, the tax rate statement needs to be updated to ensure
voters understand how the estimate of the tax rate was reached
and what the costs will be throughout the 30-40 year period of
the bond. In addition the author argues that the LAO already
includes the "fiscal effect" of any costs related to the
approval of a statewide General Obligation Bond in the statewide
ballot pamphlet sent to voters. According to the author, this
bill adds similar language into the "tax rate" statement
required to be sent with the sample ballot for all local bond
measures.
The Senate amendments were entirely non-substantive. This bill,
as amended in the Senate, is consistent with the Assembly
actions.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker and Ethan Jones / E. &
R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0004113