2006 Significant Legislation

October 2, 2006

 

TO:  People Interested in Local Government, Public Finance, and Land Use

FROM:  Senator Christine Kehoe

SUBJECT: Local Government Bills During 2006

Local Finance

Land Use Planning & Development

Redevelopment

Local Powers & Governance

LAFCOs & Boundary Changes

 

Now that the deadline has passed for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign or veto the bill that legislators sent to him in 2006, I wanted you to know about some of the more interesting bills affecting local governments and the communities that they serve.  Listed below are some key bills regarding public finance, land use, and local governance.

 

LOCAL FINANCE

 

SB 486 (Migden) declares that money from the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) for special education doesn’t count as an offset for state aid for Licensed Care Facilities.  Status: Vetoed.

SB 1060 (Campbell) grants blanket authority to local agencies within the same county to exchange property tax revenues for sales and use tax revenues.  Status: Died in the Assembly Local Government Committee.

SB 1317 (Torlakson) allocates the unitary property tax revenues from new electrical energy plants, substations, and transmission lines.  Status: Signed; Chapter 872, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1432 (Lowenthal) revises the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act in several ways, including the power to finance affordable housing.  Status: Vetoed.

SB 1754 (Lowenthal) allows local officials to use up to $500 million of the schools’ share of property tax increment revenues to pay for public works and affordable housing.  Status: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1602 (Laird) allocates Vehicle License Fee (VLF) revenues to newly-incorporated cities and for city annexations.  Status: Signed; Chapter 556, Statutes of 2006.

AB 1717 (Lieber) creates the State-County Property Assessment and Revenue for Education Program (PARE) to help counties pay for administering their property tax systems.  Status: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2670 (Aghazarian) applies to state-assessed railroad property the same countywide property tax allocation system used for all other state-assessed unitary property.  Status: Signed; Chapter 791, Statutes of 2006.

AB 2951 (Goldberg) allows public agencies to charge utility rates to other public agencies based on the same criteria that apply to comparable nonpublic consumers.  Status: Signed; Chapter 866, Statutes of 2006.

 

LAND USE PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

 

SB 1059 (Escutia) spells out the procedures that the California Energy Commission must use to designate transmission corridor zones for future high-voltage electric transmission lines.  Status: Signed; Chapter 638, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1523 (Alarcón) requires cities and counties to prepare economic impact reports before they approve or disapprove the construction of superstore retailers.  Status: Vetoed.

SB 1627 (Kehoe) directs cities and counties to administratively approve the placement of telecommunications equipment that meets specified requirements on structures where equipment already exists. Status: Signed; Chapter 676, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1676 (Ducheny) increases the notice that subdividers must give tenants about condominium conversions.  Status: Died on the Assembly Floor.

AB 797 (Wolk) allows Williamson Act rescissions within the Delta Protection Commission’s planning areas.  Status: Signed; Chapter 547, Statutes of 2006.

AB 802 (Wolk) requires cities and counties to add more flood hazard information and policies to the safety elements of their general plans.  Status: Died in the Senate Rules Committee.

AB 1665 (Laird)* combines the provisions of five separate Assembly bills into one comprehensive package of flood protection requirements.  Status:  Died in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

AB 1881 (Laird) requires cities and counties to adopt and enforce the revised version of the State Department of Water Resources’ model water efficient landscape ordinance.  Status: Signed; Chapter 559, Statutes of 2006.

AB 1899 (Wolk) requires subdivisions to meet 100-year and 200-year flood protection standards and requires the State Reclamation Board’s review of local subdivision decisions.  Status: Died in the Senate Rules Committee.

AB 2867 (Torrico) requires cities and counties to give subdivision notices to mineral rights owners.  Status: Signed; Chapter 363, Statutes 2006.

REDEVELOPMENT

 

SB 53 (Kehoe) requires redevelopment plans to spell out how, when, and where redevelopment officials will use their eminent domain powers and requires redevelopment officials to document “blight” before extending the time period for using eminent domain.  Status: Signed; Chapter 591, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1206 (Kehoe) tightens the statutory “blight” definition, increases state oversight, and makes it easier to challenge redevelopment decisions.  Status: Signed; Chapter 595, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1210 (Torlakson) requires redevelopment officials to document “blight” before extending the time period for using eminent domain and changes the procedures for taking condemned property.  Status: Signed; Chapter 594, Statutes of 2006.

AB 773 (Mullin) increases the referendum petition period for redevelopment decisions from 30 days to 90 days.  Status: Signed; Chapter 161, Statutes of 2006.

AB 782 (Mullin) repeals the antiquated subdivision exception to the statutory “blight” definition.  Status: Signed; Chapter 113, Statutes of 2006.

AB 1893 (Salinas) codifies the Ruffo decision, banning redevelopment spending on city halls.  Status: Signed; Chapter 98, Statutes of 2006.

LOCAL POWERS & GOVERNANCE

 

SB 1121, SB 1122, and SB 1123 (Senate Local Government Committee) are the annual Validating Acts.  Status: SB 1121 was signed as Chapter 237, SB 1122 was signed as Chapter 174, and SB 1123 was signed as Chapter 175; all Statutes of 2006.

SB 1196 (Senate Local Government Committee) is the annual Local Government Omnibus Act, making 27 relatively minor and noncontroversial changes to the state laws affecting local agencies’ powers and duties.  Status: Signed; Chapter 643, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1268 (Cedillo) requires cities, counties, and redevelopment agencies to report about their economic development subsidies.  Status: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 1359 (Torlakson) imposes safety standards for locating and marking subsurface installations, such as pipes and cables.  Status: Signed; Chapter 651, Statutes of 2006.

SB 1431 (Cox) allows cities, counties, and many special districts to use design-build contracting.  Status: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 159 (Salinas) eliminates the landownership qualification requirements for the directors of most irrigation districts that deliver domestic water supplies.  Status: Signed; Chapter 847, Statutes of 2006.

AB 1962 (Berg) allows the Yurok Tribal Council to join a joint powers agreement for Klamath River fisheries and water issues.  Status: Vetoed.

AB 2753 (De La Torre) bans city elective officials who are involved in recall elections from spending city funds until the election results are final.  Status: Signed; Chapter 193, Statutes of 2006.

AB 2762 (Levine) allows 16 tribal governments to join the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) joint powers agreement.  Status: Vetoed.

AB 2987 (Núñez)* allows telephone companies to enter into the cable television market through a new state franchise process.  Status: Signed; Chapter 700, Statutes of 2006.

LAFCOs & BOUNDARY CHANGES

 

AB 2223 (Salinas) extends until 2014 the time limit for using expedited procedures for cities to annex unincorporated islands.  Status: Signed; Chapter 351, Statutes of 2006.

AB 2259 (Salinas) extends until 2013 the authority for LAFCOs to review and comment on the extension of services into previously unserved territory.  Status: Signed; Chapter 460, Statutes of 2006.

AB 3074 (Assembly Local Government Committee) makes nine changes to the state laws governing local boundaries, including the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act.  Status: Signed; Chapter 172, Statutes of 2006.

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The fastest way to get copies of these bills and the Committee’s analyses, other analyses, histories, voting records, and any veto messages is from the California Legislature’s official website:www.leginfo.ca.gov.  You can also order a free printed copy of any bill by writing directly to the Bill Room, State Capitol (Room B-32), Sacramento CA 95814-4906.

More information about the Committee’s work, including detailed references on land use, redevelopment, LAFCOs, and links to useful websites is available on the Committee’s own website:www.sen.ca.gov/locgov.


* Bill was not heard by the Senate Local Government Committee.

* Bill was not heard by the Senate Local Government Committee.