BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1138
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1138 (Pescetti)
As Amended June 25, 2002
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 21, 2002) |SENATE: |38-0 |(June 27,2002) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: J., E.D. & E.
SUMMARY : Sets August 19, 2002, as the deadline to close the
protest hearing on the proposed Rancho Cordova incorporation and
extends the deadline for calling the election on the proposed
incorporation from 88 days to 78 days before the next regular
election date.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Find and declare that a special law is necessary due to the
unique circumstances faced by the unincorporated community of
Rancho Cordova in the County of Sacramento.
2)Set August 19, 2002, as the deadline to close the protest
hearing on the proposed Rancho Cordova incorporation.
3)Extend the deadline for calling the election on the proposed
Rancho Cordova incorporation from 88 days to 78 days before
the next regular election date.
4)Add an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that a protest hearing of a proposed incorporation
may be continued from time-to-time not to exceed 60 days from
the date specified for the hearing in the notice.
2)Requires that the election on the question of an incorporation
shall be called and held on the next regular election date
occurring at least 88 days after the date upon which the
resolution calling the election was adopted by the conducting
AB 1138
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authority.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill allowed the Infrastructure
and Economic Development Bank to provide financing to public and
nonpublic parties for repowering of existing electrical
facilities and for planning, design, construction, and startup
of peak demand facilities of up to 150 megawatts.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Successful city incorporations require five steps:
1) filing an application with the local agency formation
commission (LAFCO); 2) LAFCO review and approval; 3) a protest
hearing by the "conducting authority;" 4) an election; and, 5)
filing formal documents.
If LAFCO approves a proposed incorporation, the conducting
authority must hold a noticed public hearing to measure any
protests. The conducting authority can continue this protest
hearing for up to 60 days. If a majority of the registered
voters within the proposed new city file written protests, the
conducting authority must terminate the proceedings. If there
is no majority protest, the conducting authority must adopt a
formal resolution, calling an election on the question of
cityhood. The election occurs on the next regular election date
that is at least 88 days after the conducting authority adopts
its resolution.
Before 2001, a county board of supervisors was the "conducting
authority" for city incorporation proposals. As part of a
major overhaul of boundary laws, LAFCO is now the conducting
authority [AB 2838 (Hertzberg), Chapter 761, Statutes of 2000].
Boundary change proposals filed before January 1, 2001, still
follow the prior law.
In late 1999, community leaders filed their application to
incorporate Rancho Cordova with the Sacramento LAFCO.
Sacramento LAFCO approved the proposed Rancho Cordova
incorporation on May 22, 2002. As the conducting authority, the
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will open the protest
hearing on July 16. The deadline to place items on the November
5, 2002, ballot is August 9. State law allows the county
supervisors to continue their hearing for up to 60 days, until
September 16. If the county supervisors take that long, they
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can postpone the Rancho Cordova incorporation election until
2004.
Achieving cityhood requires synchronizing complicated statutes
with community politics. Some incorporations take two or three
attempts before they succeed. Past resistance by the Sacramento
County Board of Supervisors makes the cityhood advocates worry
that the county supervisors may take advantage of the state law
and use the full 60 days for the protest hearing. That delay
would keep Rancho Cordova off the November ballot and push the
election out to 2004. Although completely legal, that delay
could dissipate the incorporation drive's political momentum.
By shortening the deadlines for the protest hearing and for
calling the election, this bill keeps the Rancho Cordova
incorporation on track.
Besides representing the political interests of individual
unincorporated communities, county supervisors are also
responsible for running state-mandated programs that advance the
public health and social welfare. They must balance this public
trust with their constituents' political desires. With looming
cuts in state funding, county supervisors must be prudent in all
they do. Placing the Rancho Cordova incorporation on the
November 2002 ballot may satisfy local political desires but it
may not be fiscally prudent.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanne Wong / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
FN: 0005547