Amended in Assembly April 14, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 746

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

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(Coauthors: Senators Hancock and Leno)

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February 25, 2015

An act to amend Sections 66703, 66704, 66704.05, and 66706 of the Government Code, relating to the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 746, as amended, Ting. San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority.

(1) Existing law, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Act, until January 1, 2029, establishes the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority to raise and allocate resources for the restoration, enhancement, protection, and enjoyment of wetlands and wildlife habitat in the San Francisco Bay and along its shoreline. The act establishes a governing board of the authority composed of specified members, including a member who is a resident of the San Francisco Bay area who serves as the chair. The act grants to the board all powers that are necessary to carry out the act, including, among other things, the power to levy specified benefit assessments, special taxes, and begin insert property-related end insert fees, and to issue revenue bonds. However, the act limits the total amount of indebtedness incurred pursuant to those provisions authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds from exceeding 10% of the authority’s total revenues in the preceding fiscal year. Existing law generally requires a district to reimburse the county elections official for the actual costs incurred in conducting an election for the district. However, the act authorizes, until January 1, 2017, the authority to reimburse only the incremental costs, as defined, that are incurred by the county elections official related to submitting a special tax measure to the voters.

This bill would delete the requirement that one member of the board, who serves as the chair, be a resident of the San Francisco Bay area and would instead require that member to be an elected official of a bayside city or county. The bill would also delete the limit on the authority’s total amount of bonded indebtedness based on prior fiscal year revenues. The bill would extend to January 1, 2019, the operation of the provision authorizing the authority to reimburse county elections officials for only the incremental costs of submitting a special tax measure to the voters, expanded to apply to other specified measures that would generate revenues for the authority. The bill would postpone to January 1, 2049, the repeal date for the act, and would make related conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local government officials with regard to implementation of the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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The act requires that the special taxes be levied, and submitted to the voters, consistent with specified provisions of the California Constitution.

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This bill would additionally require the special taxes to be levied, and submitted to the voters, consistent with the requirements of Article XIII A of the California Constitution.

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(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 66703 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

66703.  

(a) The authority shall be governed by a board
composed of seven voting members, as follows:

(1) One member shall be an elected official of a bayside city or
county with expertise in the implementation of Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 31160) of Division 21 of the Public
Resources Code and shall serve as the chair.

(2) One member shall be an elected official of a bayside city or
county in the North Bay. For purposes of this subdivision, the
North Bay consists of the Counties of Marin, Napa, Solano, and
Sonoma.

(3) One member shall be an elected official of a bayside city or
county in the East Bay. For purposes of this subdivision, the East
Bay consists of Contra Costa County and the portion of Alameda
County that is north of the southern boundary of the City of
Hayward, excluding the Delta primary zone.

(4) One member shall be an elected official of a bayside city or
county in the South Bay. For purposes of this subdivision, the
South Bay consists of Santa Clara County, the portion of Alameda
County that is south of the southern boundary of the City of
Hayward, and the portion of San Mateo County that is south of
the northern boundary of Redwood City.

(5) One member shall be an elected official of a bayside city or
county in the West Bay. For purposes of this subdivision, the West
Bay consists of the City and County of San Francisco and the
portion of San Mateo County that is north of the northern boundary
of Redwood City.

(6) Two members shall be elected officials of one or more of
the following:

(A) A bayside city or county.

(B) A regional park district, regional open-space district, or
regional park and open-space district formed pursuant to Article
3 (commencing with Section 5500) of Chapter 3 of Division 5 of
the Public Resources Code that owns or operates one or more San
Francisco Bay shoreline parcels.

(b) The Association of Bay Area Governments shall appoint
the members.

(c) Each member shall serve at the pleasure of his or her
appointing authority.

(d) A vacancy shall be filled by the Association of Bay Area
Governments within 90 days from the date on which the vacancy
occurs.

SEC. 2.  

Section 66704 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

66704.  

The authority has, and may exercise, all powers,
expressed or implied, that are necessary to carry out the intent and
purposes of this title, including, but not limited to, the power to
do all of the following:

(a) (1) Levy a benefit assessment, special tax levied pursuant
to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 50075) of Chapter 1 of
Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5, or property-related fee consistent
with the requirements of Articles begin insert XIII A, end insert XIII C begin insert , end insert and XIII D of the
California Constitution, including, but not limited to, a benefit
assessment levied pursuant to paragraph (2), except that a benefit
assessment, special tax, or property-related fee shall not be levied
pursuant to this subdivision after December 31, 2048.

(2) The authority may levy a benefit assessment pursuant to any
of the following:

(A) The Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing
with Section 5000) of the Streets and Highways Code).

(B) The Improvement Bond Act of 1915 (Division 10
(commencing with Section 8500) of the Streets and Highways
Code).

(C) The Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Division 12
(commencing with Section 10000) of the Streets and Highways
Code).

(D) The Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972 (Part 2
(commencing with Section 22500) of Division 15 of the Streets
and Highways Code), notwithstanding Section 22501 of the Streets
and Highways Code.

(E) Any other statutory authorization.

(b) Apply for and receive grants from federal and state agencies.

(c) Solicit and accept gifts, fees, grants, and allocations from
public and private entities.

(d) Issue revenue bonds for any of the purposes authorized by
this title pursuant to the Revenue Bond Law of 1941 (Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 54300) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title
5).

(e) Incur bond indebtedness, subject to the following
requirements:

(1) The principal and interest of any bond indebtedness incurred
pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid and discharged prior to
January 1, 2049.

(2) For purposes of incurring bond indebtedness pursuant to
this subdivision, the authority shall comply with the requirements
of Article 11 (commencing with Section 5790) of Chapter 4 of
Division 5 of the Public Resources Code except where those
requirements are in conflict with this provision. For purposes of
this subdivision, all references in Article 11 (commencing with
Section 5790) of Chapter 4 of Division 5 of the Public Resources
Code to a board of directors shall mean the board and all references
to a district shall mean the authority.

(f) Receive and manage a dedicated revenue source.

(g) Deposit or invest moneys of the authority in banks or
financial institutions in the state in accordance with state law.

(h) Sue and be sued, except as otherwise provided by law, in
all actions and proceedings, in all courts and tribunals of competent
jurisdiction.

(i) Engage counsel and other professional services.

(j) Enter into and perform all necessary contracts.

(k) Enter into joint powers agreements pursuant to the Joint
Exercise of Powers Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
6500) of Division 7 of Title 1).

(l) Hire staff, define their qualifications and duties, and provide
a schedule of compensation for the performance of their duties.

(m) Use interim or temporary staff provided by appropriate state
agencies or the Association of Bay Area Governments. A person
who performs duties as interim or temporary staff shall not be
considered an employee of the authority.

SEC. 3.  

Section 66704.05 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

66704.05.  

(a) If the authority proposes a measure pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (e) of Section 66704 that will generate revenues,
the board of supervisors of the county or counties in which the
measure is proposed shall call a special election on the measure.
The special election shall be consolidated with the next regularly
scheduled statewide election and the measure shall be submitted
to the voters in the appropriate counties, consistent with the
requirements of begin delete Article XIII C or end delete begin insert Articles XIII end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert A, XIII end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert C, and end insert XIII D
of the California Constitution, as applicable.

(b) (1) The authority is a district, as defined in Section 317 of
the Elections Code. Except as otherwise provided in this section,
a measure proposed by the authority that requires voter approval
shall be submitted to the voters of the authority in accordance with
the provisions of the Elections Code applicable to districts,
including the provisions of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
9300) of Division 9 of the Elections Code.

(2) Because the authority has no state revenues as of the
effective date of this paragraph, the appropriations limit for the
authority shall be originally established based on receipts from the
initial measure that would generate revenues for the authority
pursuant to subdivision (a), and that establishment of an
appropriations limit shall not be deemed a change in an
appropriations limit for purposes of Section 4 of Article XIII B of
the California Constitution.

(c) The authority shall file with the board of supervisors of each
county in which the measure shall appear on the ballot a resolution
of the authority requesting consolidation, and setting forth the
exact form of the ballot question, in accordance with Section 10403
of the Elections Code.

(d) The legal counsel for the authority shall prepare an impartial
analysis of the measure. The impartial analysis prepared by the
legal counsel for the authority shall be subject to review and
revision by the county counsel of the county that contains the
largest population, as determined by the most recent federal
decennial census, among those counties in which the measure will
be submitted to the voters.

(e) Each county included in the measure shall use the exact
ballot question, impartial analysis, and ballot language provided
by the authority. If two or more counties included in the measure
are required to prepare a translation of ballot materials into the
same language other than English, the county that contains the
largest population, as determined by the most recent federal
decennial census, among those counties that are required to prepare
a translation of ballot materials into the same language other than
English shall prepare the translation and that translation shall be
used by the other county or counties, as applicable.

(f) Notwithstanding Section 13116 of the Elections Code, if a
measure proposed by the authority pursuant to this article is
submitted to the voters of the authority in two or more counties,
the elections officials of those counties shall mutually agree to use
the same letter designation for the measure.

(g) The county clerk of each county shall report the results of
the special election to the authority.

(h) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10520 of the Elections Code,
for the first election at which the authority proposes a measure
pursuant to subdivision (a) or (e) of Section 66704 that would
generate revenues, the authority shall reimburse each county in
which that measure appears on the ballot only for the incremental
costs incurred by the county elections official related to submitting
the measure to the voters.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “incremental costs” include
all of the following:

(A) The cost to prepare, review, and revise the impartial analysis
of the measure that is required by subdivision (d).

(B) The cost to prepare a translation of ballot materials into a
language other than English by any county, as described in
subdivision (e).

(C) The additional costs that exceed the costs incurred for other
election races or ballot measures, if any, appearing on the same
ballot in each county in which the measure appears on the ballot,
including both of the following:

(i) The printing and mailing of ballot materials.

(ii) The canvass of the vote regarding the measure pursuant to
Division 15 of the Elections Code.

(3) This subdivision is repealed on January 1, 2019.

SEC. 4.  

Section 66706 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

66706.  

This title shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2049, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2049, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that the San
Francisco Bay Restoration Authority has not assumed any existing
duties from another local or state government entity and has
received no state or local government revenues not counted toward
another entity’s appropriations limit. Therefore, the authority has
no associated appropriations limit pursuant to Article XIII B of the
California Constitution as of the date of enactment of this bill.

SEC. 6.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.