HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04211987 - 1.69 TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Phil Batchelor Contra
County Administrator
Costa
DATE: April 14, 1987 County
SUBJECT:
Legislation: Assembly Bill 1823 (Lancaster)
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(.S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION•
Adopt a position in support of AB 1823 by Assemblyman Lancaster
on the condition that the bill be amended as noted below.
BACKGROUND:
Under current law, there are two different methods of dealing
with protests to the imposition of an assessment for fire
suppression service depending on whether the governing body
considering the assessment is a city, a county, or a special
district.
For a city or county fire service, the actions of the governing
body are as follows:
Level of Protests Governing Body Action
Less than 50 Assessment may be imposed
without an election
More than 50, but Assessment can only be imposed
less than 1/3 by placing the matter on the
ballot--requires 2/3 yes vote,
otherwise it must be abandoned
Over 1/3 The imposition of the assess-
ment must be abandoned
For a special district which provides fire service, such as is
the case with the fire districts governed by the Board of
Supervisors, the rules are as follows:
Level of Protests Governing Body Action
Less than 5% Assessment may be imposed
without an election
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _ YES SIGNATURE:
i
- RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
X APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S 1:
ACTION OF BOARD ON April 21 . 1987 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES. AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County Administrator ATTESTED APR 2 1 1987_'
Chief, Consolidated Fire District PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Jackson/Barish & Associates SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
D. J. Smith Associates
Assemblyman Bill Lancaster.
BY
M382/7-83 - ,DEPUTY
Page 2
Level of Protests Governing Body Action
More than 50, but The assessment can only be
less than 50% imposed by placing the matter
on the ballot--simple majority
required--otherwise, the
assessment must be abandoned
More than 50% The imposition of the assess-
ment must be abandoned
Assemblyman Lancaster has introduced AB 1823 which make the
process for dealing with protests the same in cities, counties,
and special districts. However, it makes one change which we
believe should be amended. AB 1823 does three things:
1. Removes the ability of the governing body to
impose the assessment without an election regardless
of how few protests are received.
2 . Specifies that if less than 1/3 protests are received,
the proposed assessment must be placed on the ballot.
3 . Specifies that only a simple majority is required to
enact the assessment.
Making the procedures the same in all jurisdictions makes sense.
However, requiring that the proposed assessment be placed on the
ballot even if not one single protest is received seems
unnecessary, time-consuming, and expensive. The current
procedure where, the governing body can impose the assessment if
less than 5% protests are received makes sense in terms of the
efficient administration of the fire district, and still requires
an election if more than 5% protests are received.
We would suggest that the Board of Supervisors support AB 1823,
but only if it is amended to maintain the ability of the
governing body to impose the assessment when less than 5%
protests are received.