BILL NUMBER: AB 2403 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 78
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 28, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JUNE 28, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 16, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 15, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Rendon and Mullin
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 53750 of the Government Code, relating to
local government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2403, Rendon. Local government: assessments, fees, and charges.
Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution
generally require that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to
property owners for approval or rejection after the provision of
written notice and the holding of a public hearing. Existing law, the
Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific
procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with
Articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution and defines
various terms for these purposes.
This bill would modify the definition of water to mean water from
any source. The bill would also make legislative findings and
declarations in this regard.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The provisions of the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation
Act (Article 4.6 (commencing with Section 53750) of Chapter 4 of Part
1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code) shall be
liberally construed to effectuate its purposes of limiting local
government revenue and enhancing taxpayer consent.
(b) This act is in furtherance of the policy contained in Section
2 of Article X of the California Constitution and the policy that the
use of potable domestic water for nonpotable uses, including, but
not limited to, cemeteries, golf courses, parks, highway landscaped
areas, and industrial and irrigation uses, is a waste or an
unreasonable use of the water within the meaning of Section 2 of
Article X of the California Constitution if recycled water is
available.
(c) This act is declaratory of existing law.
SEC. 2. Section 53750 of the Government Code is amended to read:
53750. For purposes of Article XIII C and Article XIII D of the
California Constitution and this article:
(a) "Agency" means any local government as defined in subdivision
(b) of Section 1 of Article XIII C of the California Constitution.
(b) "Assessment" means any levy or charge by an agency upon real
property that is based upon the special benefit conferred upon the
real property by a public improvement or service, that is imposed to
pay the capital cost of the public improvement, the maintenance and
operation expenses of the public improvement, or the cost of the
service being provided. "Assessment" includes, but is not limited to,
"special assessment," "benefit assessment," "maintenance assessment,"
and "special assessment tax."
(c) "District" means an area that is determined by an agency to
contain all of the parcels that will receive a special benefit from a
proposed public improvement or service.
(d) "Drainage system" means any system of public improvements that
is intended to provide for erosion control, for landslide abatement,
or for other types of water drainage.
(e) "Extended," when applied to an existing tax or fee or charge,
means a decision by an agency to extend the stated effective period
for the tax or fee or charge, including, but not limited to,
amendment or removal of a sunset provision or expiration date.
(f) "Flood control" means any system of public improvements that
is intended to protect property from overflow by water.
(g) "Identified parcel" means a parcel of real property that an
agency has identified as having a special benefit conferred upon it
and upon which a proposed assessment is to be imposed, or a parcel of
real property upon which a proposed property-related fee or charge
is proposed to be imposed.
(h) (1) "Increased," when applied to a tax, assessment, or
property-related fee or charge, means a decision by an agency that
does either of the following:
(A) Increases any applicable rate used to calculate the tax,
assessment, fee, or charge.
(B) Revises the methodology by which the tax, assessment, fee, or
charge is calculated, if that revision results in an increased amount
being levied on any person or parcel.
(2) A tax, fee, or charge is not deemed to be "increased" by an
agency action that does either or both of the following:
(A) Adjusts the amount of a tax, fee, or charge in accordance with
a schedule of adjustments, including a clearly defined formula for
inflation adjustment that was adopted by the agency prior to November
6, 1996.
(B) Implements or collects a previously approved tax, fee, or
charge, so long as the rate is not increased beyond the level
previously approved by the agency, and the methodology previously
approved by the agency is not revised so as to result in an increase
in the amount being levied on any person or parcel.
(3) A tax, assessment, fee, or charge is not deemed to be
"increased" in the case in which the actual payments from a person or
property are higher than would have resulted when the agency
approved the tax, assessment, fee, or charge, if those higher
payments are attributable to events other than an increased rate or
revised methodology, such as a change in the density, intensity, or
nature of the use of land.
(i) "Notice by mail" means any notice required by Article XIII C
or XIII D of the California Constitution that is accomplished through
a mailing, postage prepaid, deposited in the United States Postal
Service and is deemed given when so deposited. Notice by mail may be
included in any other mailing to the record owner that otherwise
complies with Article XIII C or XIII D of the California Constitution
and this article, including, but not limited to, the mailing of a
bill for the collection of an assessment or a property-related fee or
charge.
(j) "Record owner" means the owner of a parcel whose name and
address appears on the last equalized secured property tax assessment
roll, or in the case of any public entity, the State of California,
or the United States, means the representative of that public entity
at the address of that entity known to the agency.
(k) "Registered professional engineer" means an engineer
registered pursuant to the Professional Engineers Act (Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code).
( l ) "Vector control" means any system of public
improvements or services that is intended to provide for the
surveillance, prevention, abatement, and control of vectors as
defined in subdivision (k) of Section 2002 of the Health and Safety
Code and a pest as defined in Section 5006 of the Food and
Agricultural Code.
(m) "Water" means any system of public improvements intended to
provide for the production, storage, supply, treatment, or
distribution of water from any source.