Bill Text: CA SCA12 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public safety services: local government.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-25 - Placed on inactive file on request of Senator Kehoe. [SCA12 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SCA12-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SCA 12 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Sections 1
and 4 of Article XIII A thereof, by amending Section 2 of Article
XIII C thereof, and by amending Section 18 of Article XVI thereof,
relating to public safety services funding.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 12, as introduced, Kehoe. Public safety services: local
government.
(1) The California Constitution prohibits any ad valorem tax on
real property from exceeding 1% of the full cash value of the
property, subject to certain exceptions.
This measure would create an additional exception to the 1% limit
on ad valorem tax on real property, for an ad valorem rate imposed by
a city, county, city and county, or special district to pay for
bonded indebtedness incurred to fund facilities, buildings, or
equipment used directly and exclusively to provide emergency services
to the public, or to fund the related acquisition or lease of real
property, if approved by 55% of the voters of the city, county, city
and county, or special district, as applicable.
(2) The California Constitution prohibits a city or county from
incurring any indebtedness exceeding in one year the income and
revenue provided in that year, without the assent of 2/3 of the
voters.
This measure would lower to 55% the voter approval threshold for a
city, county, or city and county to incur bonded indebtedness,
exceeding in one year the income and revenue provided in that year,
that is in the form of general obligation bonds to fund facilities,
buildings, or equipment used directly and exclusively to provide
emergency services to the public, or to fund the related acquisition
or lease of real property.
(3) Under the California Constitution, a local government may not
impose, extend, or increase any special tax unless that tax is
submitted to the electorate and approved by a 2/3 vote of the voters
voting on the measure.
This measure would, as an exception to this voter approval
threshold, allow a local government to impose, extend, or increase a
special tax for the purpose of funding for fire protection services,
and certain sheriff and police equipment and services, if that tax is
approved by a 55% vote of the voters voting on the measure. This
measure would prohibit the revenues derived from such a tax from
being expended to supplant any other funding source for these
purposes.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2009-10 Regular Session
commencing on the first day of December 2008, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
First-- That Section 1 of Article XIII A thereof is amended to
read:
SECTION 1. (a) The maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on
real property shall not exceed One 1
percent (1%) of the full cash value of
such that property. The one
1 percent (1%) tax to
shall be collected by the counties and
apportioned according to law to the districts within the counties.
(b) The limitation provided for in subdivision (a) shall not apply
to ad valorem taxes or special assessments to pay the interest and
redemption charges on any of the following:
(1) Indebtedness approved by the voters prior to July 1, 1978.
(2) Bonded indebtedness for the acquisition or improvement of real
property approved on or after July 1, 1978, by two-thirds of the
votes cast by the voters voting on the proposition.
(3) Bonded indebtedness incurred by a school district, community
college district, or county office of education for the construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities,
including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the
acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, approved
by 55 percent of the voters of the district or county, as
appropriate, voting on the proposition on or after the effective date
of the measure adding this paragraph. This paragraph shall apply
only if the proposition approved by the voters and resulting in the
bonded indebtedness includes all of the following accountability
requirements:
(A) A requirement that the proceeds from the sale of the bonds be
used only for the purposes specified in Article XIII A, Section 1(b)
(3), and not for any other purpose, including teacher and
administrator salaries and other school operating expenses.
(B) A list of the specific school facilities projects to be funded
and certification that the school district board, community college
board, or county office of education has evaluated safety, class size
reduction, and information technology needs in developing that list.
(C) A requirement that the school district board, community
college board, or county office of education conduct an annual,
independent performance audit to ensure that the funds have been
expended only on the specific projects listed.
(D) A requirement that the school district board, community
college board, or county office of education conduct an annual,
independent financial audit of the proceeds from the sale of the
bonds until all of those proceeds have been expended for the school
facilities projects.
(4) Bonded indebtedness incurred by a city, county, city and
county, or special district to fund the construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, or replacement of facilities, buildings, or
equipment used directly and exclusively to provide emergency services
to the public, or to fund the acquisition or lease of real property
for those facilities or buildings, approved by 55 percent of the
voters of the city, county, city and county, or special district, as
applicable, voting on the proposition on or after the effective date
of the measure adding this paragraph.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law or of this
Constitution, a school districts
district , community college districts
district , and county offices
office of education , city, county, city
and county, or special district may levy a 55 percent vote ad
valorem tax pursuant to the applicable provisions of
subdivision (b).
Second-- That Section 4 of Article XIII A thereof is amended to
read:
Section 4. Cities, Counties and special districts,
Except as otherwise provided by paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d) of Section 2 of Article XIII C,
a city, county, city and county, or special district, by a
two-thirds vote of the qualified electors of such district
its voters voting on the proposition , may
impose special taxes on such district a
special tax within that city, county, city and county, or special
district , except an ad valorem taxes
tax on real property or a transaction
transactions tax or sales tax on the sale of
real property within such City, County that
city, county, or special district.
Third-- That Section 2 of Article XIII C thereof is amended to
read:
SEC. 2. Local Government Tax Limitation.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Constitution:
(a) All taxes A tax imposed by any
local government shall be deemed to be is
either a general taxes tax
or a special taxes tax
. Special purpose districts A special
purpose district or agencies agency
, including a school districts
district , shall have has no
power to levy a general taxes tax
.
(b) No A local government
may shall not impose, extend, or increase any
general tax unless and until that tax is submitted to the electorate
and approved by a majority vote of its voters voting on the
proposition . A general tax shall is
not be deemed to have been increased if it
is imposed at a rate not higher than the maximum rate so approved.
The election required by this subdivision shall be consolidated with
a regularly scheduled general election for members of the governing
body of the local government, except in cases of emergency declared
by a unanimous vote of the governing body.
(c) Any general tax imposed, extended, or increased, without voter
approval, by any local government on or after January 1, 1995, and
prior to the effective date of this article, shall continue to be
imposed only if that general tax is approved by a majority
vote of the voters voting in an election on the issue of the
imposition, which election shall be is
held within two years of the effective date of this article
no later than November 6, 1998, and in
compliance with subdivision (b).
(d) No (1) Except as
otherwise provided by paragraph (2), a local
government may shall not impose,
extend, or increase any special tax unless and until that tax is
submitted to the electorate and approved by a
two-thirds vote of the voters voting on the
proposition . A special tax shall not be deemed to
have been increased if it is imposed at a rate not higher than the
maximum rate so approved .
(2) A local government may, with the approval of 55 percent of its
voters voting on the proposition, impose, extend, or increase a
special tax to provide funding for any or all of the following
purposes:
(A) Fire protection services, including, but not limited to, the
purchase and maintenance of fire suppression equipment, or of
interoperable communications equipment for use by fire personnel.
(B) The purchase and maintenance of interoperable communications
equipment for use by police and sheriff personnel.
(C) Sheriff or police services provided within its jurisdiction in
response to an emergency declared by the Governor or the President
of the United States.
(3) The revenues derived from the imposition, extension, or
increase of a special tax pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be
expended to supplant any other funding source for any of the purposes
described by that paragraph.
(4) A special tax is not deemed to have been increased if it is
imposed at a rate not higher than the maximum rate approved for that
tax in the manner required by law.
Fourth-- That Section 18 of Article XVI thereof is amended to
read:
SEC. 18. (a) No county, city, town, township, board of
education, or school district , shall incur any
indebtedness or liability in any manner or for any purpose exceeding
in any year the income and revenue provided for such year,
without the assent of that year, unless both of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The indebtedness or liability is ap
proved by two-thirds of the voters of the public
entity voting at an election to be held for that purpose, except
that with respect to any such public entity which is
authorized to incur indebtedness for public school purposes, any
proposition for the incurrence of indebtedness in the form of general
obligation bonds for the purpose of repairing, reconstructing or
replacing public school buildings determined, in the manner
prescribed by law, to be structurally unsafe for school use, shall be
adopted upon the approval of a majority of the voters of the public
entity voting on the proposition at such election; nor unless before
as otherwise provided by subdivision (b).
(2) Before or at the time of
incurring such the indebtedness ,
provision shall be is made for
the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on
such the indebtedness as it falls due,
and to provide for a sinking fund for the payment of the principal
thereof, on or before maturity, which shall not exceed forty
40 years from the time of contracting the
indebtedness.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), on
Indebtedness may be incurred under each of the following
circumstances:
(1) In the case of a public entity
enumerated in subdivision (a) that is authorized to incur
indebtedness for public school purposes, any proposition to incur
indebtedness in the form of general obligation bonds for the purpose
of repairing, reconstructing, or replacing public school buildings
determined, in the manner prescribed by law, to be structurally
unsafe for school use, shall be adopted upon the approval of a
majority of the voters of the public entity voting on the proposition
at an election.
(2) On or after the
effective date of the measure adding this subdivision
November 8, 2000 , in the case of any school district,
community college district, or county office of education, any
proposition for the incurrence of indebtedness in the form of general
obligation bonds for the construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the
furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or
lease of real property for school facilities, shall be adopted upon
the approval of 55 percent of the voters of the district or county,
as appropriate, voting on the proposition at an election. This
subdivision paragraph shall apply
only to a proposition for the incurrence of
indebtedness in the form of general obligation bonds for the purposes
specified in this subdivision paragraph only
if the proposition meets all of the accountability
requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 1 of
Article XIII A.
(c)
(3) On or after the effective date of
the measure adding this paragraph, in the case of any city, county,
or city and county, any proposition to incur indebtedness in the form
of general obligation bonds to fund the construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of facilities,
buildings, or equipment used directly and exclusively to provide
emergency services to the public, or to fund the acquisition or lease
of real property for those facilities or buildings, shall be
adopted upon the approval of 55 percent of th e
voters of the city, county, or city and county, as applicable, voting
on the proposition at an election.
(d)
(c) When two or more propositions for incurring any
indebtedness or liability are submitted at the same election, the
votes cast for and against each proposition shall be counted
separately, and when two-thirds or a majority or 55 percent of the
voters, as the case may be, voting on any one of those propositions,
vote in favor thereof, the proposition shall be deemed adopted.
