BILL NUMBER: AB 2817 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 645
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 16, 2004
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 9, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salinas
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Diaz)
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Sections 100601, 100601.5, 100602.4, 100602.8,
100602.10, 100602.13, 100603, 100605, 100613, 100614, and 100616 of,
and to repeal Sections 100602.2, 100602.3, 100602.5, 100602.6, and
100602.7 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2817, Salinas. Transportation: benefit assessment districts.
Existing law authorizes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority to establish benefit assessment districts relative to its
rail lines. Existing law requires an election to be held regarding
the proposal to form a benefit district if certain voters in the
boundaries of the proposed benefit district file a petition with the
board of directors of the authority within 30 days after the
conclusion of a required public hearing, as specified. Existing law
requires the board, if it proposes to levy a special benefit
assessment on real property in the benefit district, to comply with
specified notice, protest, and hearing procedures. Existing law also
requires the board to submit the proposition of levying an
assessment to those voters of the benefit district pursuant to
specified requirements. Existing law authorizes the board to levy
the assessment if the proposition is approved by the voters at the
election.
This bill would delete the provisions requiring an election to
form a benefit district and to levy a special benefit assessment.
The bill would authorize the board to levy the assessment if there is
no majority protest to its imposition. The bill would make various
related changes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 100601 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100601. (a) Whenever the board finds that property adjacent to,
or in the vicinity of, one or more rail transit stations, or proposed
rail transit stations, of the authority receives or will receive
special benefit by reason of the location or operation of one or more
of those rail transit stations, the board may, by resolution adopted
by a two-thirds vote of its members, provide for notice and hearing
on its intention to establish one or more special benefit districts
and levy a special benefit assessment on real property therein for
the purpose of financing, in whole or in part, the acquisition,
construction, development, joint development, operation, maintenance,
or repair of one or more rail transit stations and rail transit
related facilities located within the benefit district.
(b) In connection with the levy of a special benefit assessment,
the board shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing
procedures set forth in Section 53753 of the Government Code.
(c) The resolution may provide that the proposed benefit district
will contain separate zones, which may consist of either contiguous
or noncontiguous areas of land within the district. The proposed
benefit district and each proposed zone, if any, therein shall be an
area adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, one or more rail transit
stations or proposed rail transit stations. The boundaries of the
benefit district and of each zone, if any, therein shall be drawn so
as to reflect, as accurately as possible, the areas in which special
benefits are conferred by reason of the proximity and operation of
one or more rail transit stations.
(d) A notice stating the time and place of the hearing, and
setting forth the boundaries and purpose of the proposed benefit
district, shall be published prior to the time fixed for the hearing
pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code.
(e) For purposes of this chapter, "benefit district" means a
special benefit assessment district established pursuant to this
chapter, the area of which shall not lie more than one-half mile from
the center point of any rail transit station or proposed rail
transit station.
(f) For purposes of this chapter, "transit related facilities"
means land, buildings, and equipment, or any interest therein,
whether or not the operation thereof produces revenue, which has, as
its primary purpose, the operation of the rail transit system or the
providing of services to the passengers of the rail transit system,
but does not mean any land, buildings, or equipment, or interest
therein, which is used primarily for the production of revenue not
arising from the operation of the rail transit system.
SEC. 2. Section 100601.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100601.5. (a) The resolution shall state, as appropriate, the
maximum and minimum rate of assessment, the amount of the special
benefit assessment and the purposes for which it is to be levied, the
estimated cost of accomplishing the purposes, and the dates or
approximate intervals at which the assessment shall be levied. The
resolution shall also state that the exterior boundaries of the
benefit district are set forth on a map on file with the secretary of
the authority, which map shall govern for all purposes as to the
extent of the benefit district and zones, if any, therein and that
the area set forth on the map shall thereupon constitute and be known
as "Benefit District No. ____ of the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority," or as "Benefit Zone ____ of the Benefit
District No. ____ of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority,"
as designated by the board.
(b) A copy of the resolution shall be included with the notice
given pursuant to Section 53753 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. Section 100602.2 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 100602.3 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 5. Section 100602.4 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100602.4. (a) Where any parcel in the benefit district is owned
in joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or any other multiple ownership,
the owners of that parcel may designate in writing which one of the
owners shall be deemed the owner of the parcel for purposes of
submitting an assessment ballot pursuant to Section 53753 of the
Government Code. In the absence of a designation, the provisions of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 53753 of the Government
Code shall apply.
(b) The legal representative of a corporation or an estate owning
real property in the benefit district may act on behalf of the
corporation or the estate.
(c) (1) For purposes of this chapter, "legal representative" means
an official of a corporation owning real property in the benefit
district.
(2) For purposes of this chapter, "legal representative" also
means a guardian, conservator, executor, or administrator of the
estate of the holder of title to real property in the benefit
district who is all of the following:
(A) The person is appointed under the laws of this state.
(B) The person is entitled to the possession of the estate's real
property.
(C) The person is authorized by the appointing court to exercise
the particular right, privilege, or immunity which he or she seeks to
exercise.
SEC. 6. Section 100602.5 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 7. Section 100602.6 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 100602.7 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 100602.8 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100602.8. If there is no majority protest to the imposition of an
assessment, the board may levy the assessment in accordance with the
resolution adopted pursuant to Section 100601.
SEC. 10. Section 100602.10 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100602.10. Notice of each hearing upon the petition for exclusion
or reduction shall be given in accordance with subdivision (d) of
Section 100601. Notice shall also be mailed at least 30 days prior
to the hearing to all record owners of each identified parcel within
the boundaries of the benefit district or zone.
SEC. 11. Section 100602.13 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
100602.13. Upon the hearing on an exclusion or reduction petition
by the board, or upon the record of hearing by a hearing officer,
the board shall order the petition be denied when the petitioner has
not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that in an exclusion
petition the real property is not benefited or in a reduction
petition that the assessment exceeds the benefit to the property.
SEC. 12. Section 100603 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
100603. (a) Following formation of the benefit district or
concurrently therewith, if the board deems it necessary to incur a
bonded indebtedness for the acquisition, construction, development,
joint development, completion, operation, maintenance, or repair of
one or more rail transit stations and related rail transit facilities
located within the benefit district, the board may provide, by
resolution, that the bonded indebtedness shall be payable from
special benefit assessments levied within the benefit district. The
resolution shall be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the members of
the board, and shall declare and state all of the following:
(1) That the board intends to incur an indebtedness, by the
issuance of bonds of the authority, for the benefit district which
the board has formed, or intends to form, within a portion of the
authority.
(2) The purposes for which the proposed debt is to be incurred,
which may include all costs and estimated costs necessary or
convenient for, incidental to, or connected with, the accomplishment
of the purposes, including, without limitation, engineering,
inspection, legal, fiscal agent, financial consultant, bond and other
reserve funds, working capital, bond interest estimated to accrue
during the construction period, if any, and for a period not
exceeding three years thereafter, and the expenses of all proceedings
for the authorization, issuance, and sale of the bonds.
(3) The estimated cost of accomplishing the purposes and the
amount of the principal of the indebtedness to be incurred.
(4) That a general description of the benefit district and of each
zone, if any, therein and maps showing the exterior boundaries
thereof are on file with the secretary of the authority and available
for inspection by any interested person.
(5) That special benefit assessments for the payment of the bonds,
and the interest thereon, have been, or are proposed to be levied in
the benefit district or zones therein in accordance with the
procedures and approval process set forth in Section 4 of Article
XIII D of the California Constitution.
(6) The extent to which, if at all, all or a portion of the
revenues of the authority are to be used to pay the principal of,
interest on, and sinking fund payments for, the bonds, including the
establishment and maintenance of any reserve fund therefor.
(7) The time and place set for hearing on the proposed issuance of
the bonds.
(8) That, prior to levying a special benefit assessment, the board
shall comply with the notice, protest, and hearing procedures set
forth in Section 53753 of the Government Code.
(9) The maximum term the proposed bonds shall run before maturity,
which shall not exceed 40 years from the date of the bonds or any
series thereof.
(10) The maximum rate or rates of interest to be paid, which shall
not exceed 12 percent per annum.
(11) That the pledge of special benefit assessment revenues to the
bonds authorized by this section has priority over the use of any of
those revenues for pay-as-you-go financing, except to the extent
that this priority is expressly restricted by any of the authority's
agreements with bondholders.
(b) The notice stating the time and place of the hearing on the
proposed issuance of bonds shall be published prior to the time fixed
for the hearing pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code.
SEC. 13. Section 100605 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
100605. Special benefit assessments for the payment of the
principal of, and interest on, bonds issued for a benefit district or
zone shall be levied in the benefit district or zone at rates that
are sufficient in the aggregate, together with revenues already
collected and available, to pay the principal of, and interest on,
all bonds the authority issued for the benefit district or zone.
Other revenues of the authority shall be used for the payment of the
principal of, and interest on, the bonds only to the extent set forth
in any agreement of the authority for the benefit of bondholders.
Special benefit assessments in the benefit district and zones, if
any, therein shall be calculated in accordance with the requirements
set forth in Section 4 of Article XIII D of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 14. Section 100613 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
100613. (a) The board shall not change the purposes, the
estimated cost, the boundaries of the benefit district or zones, if
any, therein, or the amount of bonded debt to be incurred until after
it gives notice of its intention to do so, stating each proposed
change in the purpose and stating, if applicable, that the exterior
boundaries proposed to be changed are set forth on a map on file with
the secretary of the authority. The notice shall also specify the
time and the place set for hearing.
(b) The notice shall be published prior to the time set for the
hearing pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code.
(c) The notice shall also be mailed at least 30 days prior to the
hearing to all owners of real property affected by the proposed
change whose names and addresses appear on the last equalized
assessment roll or are otherwise known to the board of supervisors of
the county in which the benefit district is located or to the
authority. Provided, however, that any proposed increases to a
special benefit assessment may not be made unless all notice,
protest, and hearing procedures set forth in Section 53753 of the
Government Code have been followed.
SEC. 15. Section 100614 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
100614. At the time and place fixed for a hearing on changes, or
at any time and place to which the hearing is adjourned, the board
shall proceed with the hearing. At the hearing, interested persons
may appear and present matters material to the changes set forth in
the notice.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the board shall, by resolution,
determine whether to make any or all of the changes set forth in the
notice. The determinations made in the resolution are conclusive and
final.
SEC. 16. Section 100616 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
100616. Any action or proceeding which contests, questions, or
denies the validity or legality of the formation of any benefit
district or zone, the issuance of any bonds therefor pursuant to this
chapter, or any proceedings relating thereto, shall be commenced
within six months from the date of the formation; otherwise, the
formation of the benefit district or zone, the issuance of the bonds,
and all proceedings relating thereto shall be held to be in every
respect valid, legal, and incontestable.