Amended in Senate April 8, 2013

Senate Bill No. 536

Introduced by Senator Berryhill

February 22, 2013

An act to begin delete amend Section 815 of end delete begin insert add Section 53757 to end insert the Government Code, relating to begin delete government liability end delete begin insert local government end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 536, as amended, Berryhill. begin delete Government tort claims. end delete begin insert Property-related services. end insert

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The California Constitution, with certain exceptions, conditions the imposition or increase of a property-related fee or charge upon less than a majority of owners of subject parcels submitting written protests, and approval by either a majority vote of the owners of the properties subject to the fee or charge or, under certain conditions, by a 2⁄3 vote of the voters residing in the area affected by the fee or charge.

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This bill would provide that a district, as defined, shall not be obligated to provide subsidies to cure any deficiencies in funding of property-related services provided in the district’s jurisdiction under any of certain specified circumstances. This bill would provide that this prohibition would not apply if the district’s governing board had agreed to subsidize the services before the completion of a majority protest proceeding or election, as specified.

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Existing law governs the tort liability and immunity of, and claims and actions against, public entities and their officers and employees. A public entity, as defined, is not liable for an injury, except as otherwise provided by statute, whether the injury arises out of an act or omission of the public entity or a public employee or any other person.

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This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 53757 is added to the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

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begin insert 53757. end insert   

(a) A district shall not be obligated to provide subsidies
to cure any deficiencies in the funding of property-related services
provided within the district’s jurisdiction, if any of the following
conditions exist:

(1) The district’s governing board proposed to impose, extend,
or increase property-related fees or charges for the services, the
board fully complied with Section 6 of Article XIII D of the
California Constitution, and a majority of parcel owners submitted
a written protest against the proposed imposition, extension, or
increase, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6 of Article XIII D
of the California Constitution.

(2) The district’s governing board proposed to impose, extend,
or increase property-related fees or charges for the services, the
board fully complied with Section 6 of Article XIII D of the
California Constitution, and the proposed imposition, extension,
or increase failed to get voter approval pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 6 of Article XIII D of the California Constitution.

(3) Property-related fees or charges for the services that comply
with Section 6 of XIII D of the California Constitution were reduced
or repealed by the voters by an initiative pursuant to Section 3 of
Article XIII C of the California Constitution.

(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply if the district’s governing
board had undertaken the obligation to subsidize the services
before the completion of a majority protest proceeding or election
described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subdivision (a).

(c) For purposes of this section, “fully complies with Section 6
of Article XIII D of the California Constitution” means all of the
following:

(1) Revenues derived from the proposed fee or charge do not
exceed the funds required to provide the property-related service.

(2) Revenues derived from the fee or charge are not used for
any purpose other than that for which the fee or charge was
imposed.

(3) The amount of the fee or charge imposed on any parcel or
person as an incident of property ownership does not exceed the
proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel or person.

(4) The fee or charge is not imposed for a service unless and
until that service is actually used by, or immediately available to,
the property owner in question.

(5) The fee or charge is not imposed for general government
services if the service is available to the public at large in
substantially the same manner it is to property owners.

(6) The district has identified all parcels upon which the fee or
charge is proposed and calculated the amount of the fee or charge
to be imposed upon each identified parcel.

(7) The district has provided a written notice by mail of the
proposed fee or charge to the record owner of each identified
parcel, in conformance with subdivision (c) of Section 6 of
Article XIII D of the California Constitution, and provided for all
required hearings.

(d) For purposes of this section, “district” shall mean a local
governmental entity created for the purpose of providing sidewalks,
streets, sewers, water, flood control, drainage systems, or vector
control services within its jurisdiction with a governing board that
has the same members as the board of supervisors for the county
in the overlapping geographical area.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 815 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

815.  

Except as otherwise provided by statute:

(a) A public entity is not liable for an injury, whether the injury
arises out of an act or omission of the public entity or a public
employee or any other person.

(b) The liability of a public entity established by this part
(commencing with Section 814) is subject to any immunity of the
public entity provided by statute, including this part, and is subject
to any defenses that would be available to the public entity if it
were a private person.

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