Bill Text: CA AB3147 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Fees for development projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-09 - Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and H. & C.D. [AB3147 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB3147-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 3147
| Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel |
February 21, 2020 |
An act to amend Sections 66013, 66014, and 66016 of, and to repeal Section 66022 of, the Government Code, relating to land use.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 3147, as introduced, Gabriel.
Fees for development projects.
The Mitigation Fee Act authorizes a local agency to charge a variety of fees, dedications, reservations, or other exactions in connection with the approval of a development project, as defined. Existing law prohibits a local agency from imposing fees for specified purposes, including fees for water or sewer connections, capacity charges, zoning variances or changes, use permits, and building inspections or permits, among others, that exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged, unless voter approval is obtained. Existing law, for specified fees, requires any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an ordinance, resolution, or motion adopting a new fee or service charge or modifying an existing fee or service charge to be commenced within 120 days of the effective date of the ordinance, resolution, or motion.
Exiting law also provides that, if an ordinance, resolution, or motion provides for an automatic adjustment in a fee or service charge and the adjustment results in an increase in the fee or service charge, that any action to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the increase to be commenced within 120 days of the increase.
This bill would delete the provisions requiring a judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an ordinance within 120 days of the effective date of the ordinance or increase, as applicable. The bill would instead require a judicial action or proceeding to be conducted in accordance with other procedures that, among other things, require a protest to be filed within 90 days after the imposition of the fees and an action to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the imposition of the fees to be filed within 180 days after delivery of a specified notice by the local agency. The bill would require revenues in
excess of actual cost to be used to reimburse the payor of the fee or service charge. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 66013 of the Government Code is amended to read:66013.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a local agency imposes fees for water connections or sewer connections, or imposes capacity charges, those fees or charges shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee or charge is imposed, unless a question regarding the amount of the fee or charge imposed in excess of the estimated reasonable cost of providing the services or materials is submitted to, and approved by, a popular vote of two-thirds of those electors voting on the issue.(b) As used in this section:
(1) “Sewer connection” means the connection of a structure or project to a public sewer system.
(2) “Water connection” means the connection of a structure or project to a public water system, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) “Capacity charge” means a charge for public facilities in existence at the time a charge is imposed or charges for new public facilities to be acquired or constructed in the future that are of proportional benefit to the person or property being charged, including supply or capacity contracts for rights or entitlements, real property interests, and entitlements and other rights of the local agency involving capital expense relating to its use of existing or new public facilities. A “capacity charge” does not include a commodity charge.
(4) “Local agency” means a local agency as defined in Section 66000.
(5) “Fee” means a fee for the physical facilities necessary to make a water connection or sewer connection, including, but not limited to, meters, meter boxes, and pipelines from the structure or project to a water distribution line or sewer main, and the estimated reasonable cost of labor and materials for installation of those facilities bears a fair or reasonable relationship to the payor’s burdens on, or benefits received from, the water connection or sewer connection.
(6) “Public facilities” means public facilities as defined in Section 66000.
(c) A local agency receiving payment of a charge as specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall deposit it in a separate capital facilities fund with other charges received, and account for the charges in a manner to avoid any commingling with other moneys of the local
agency, except for investments, and shall expend those charges solely for the purposes for which the charges were collected. Any interest income earned from the investment of moneys in the capital facilities fund shall be deposited in that fund.
(d) For a fund established pursuant to subdivision (c), a local agency shall make available to the public, within 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, the following information for that fiscal year:
(1) A description of the charges deposited in the fund.
(2) The beginning and ending balance of the fund and the interest earned from investment of moneys in the fund.
(3) The amount of charges collected in that fiscal year.
(4) An
identification of all of the following:
(A) Each public improvement on which charges were expended and the amount of the expenditure for each improvement, including the percentage of the total cost of the public improvement that was funded with those charges if more than one source of funding was used.
(B) Each public improvement on which charges were expended that was completed during that fiscal year.
(C) Each public improvement that is anticipated to be undertaken in the following fiscal year.
(5) A description of each interfund transfer or loan made from the capital facilities fund. The information provided, in the case of an interfund transfer, shall identify the public improvements on which the transferred moneys are, or will be, expended. The
information, in the case of an interfund loan, shall include the date on which the loan will be repaid, and the rate of interest that the fund will receive on the loan.
(e) The information required pursuant to subdivision (d) may be included in the local agency’s annual financial report.
(f) The provisions of subdivisions (c) and (d) shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) Moneys received to construct public facilities pursuant to a contract between a local agency and a person or entity, including, but not limited to, a reimbursement agreement pursuant to Section 66003.
(2) Charges that are used to pay existing debt service or which are subject to a contract with a trustee for bondholders that requires a different accounting of the charges, or
charges that are used to reimburse the local agency or to reimburse a person or entity who advanced funds under a reimbursement agreement or contract for facilities in existence at the time the charges are collected.
(3) Charges collected on or before December 31, 1998.
(g) Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the ordinance, resolution, or motion imposing a fee or capacity charge subject to this section shall be brought pursuant to Section 66022. 66020.
(h) Fees and charges subject to this section are not subject to the provisions of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66000), but are
subject to the provisions of Sections 66016, 66022, 66020, and 66023.
(i) The provisions of subdivisions (c) and (d) shall only apply to capacity charges levied pursuant to this section.
SEC. 2.
Section 66014 of the Government Code is amended to read:66014.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a local agency charges fees for zoning variances; zoning changes; use permits; building inspections; building permits; filing and processing applications and petitions filed with the local agency formation commission or conducting preliminary proceedings or proceedings under the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5; the processing of maps under the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act, Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7; or planning services under the authority of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 65100) of Division 1 of Title 7 or under any other authority; those fees may not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged, unless a question regarding the amount of the fee charged in excess of the estimated reasonable cost of providing the services or materials is submitted to, and approved by, a popular vote of two-thirds of those electors voting on the issue.(b) The fees charged pursuant to subdivision (a) may include the costs reasonably necessary to prepare and revise the plans and policies that a local agency is required to adopt before it can make any necessary findings and determinations.
(c) Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the ordinance, resolution, or motion authorizing the charge of a fee subject to this section shall be brought pursuant to Section 66022.
66020.
SEC. 3.
Section 66016 of the Government Code is amended to read:66016.
(a) Prior to levying a new fee or service charge, or prior to approving an increase in an existing fee or service charge, a local agency shall hold at least one open and public meeting, at which oral or written presentations can be made, as part of a regularly scheduled meeting. Notice of the time and place of the meeting, including a general explanation of the matter to be considered, and a statement that the data required by this section is available, shall be mailed at least 14 days prior to the meeting to any interested party who files a written request with the local agency for mailed notice of the meeting on new or increased fees or service charges. Any written request for mailed notices shall be valid for one year from the date on which it is filed unless a renewal request is filed. Renewal requests for mailed notices shall be filed on or before April 1 of each year. The legislative body may establish a reasonable annual charge for sending notices based on the estimated cost of providing the service. At least 10 days prior to the meeting, the local agency shall make available to the public data indicating the amount of cost, or estimated cost, required to provide the service for which the fee or service charge is levied and the revenue sources anticipated to provide the service, including General Fund revenues. Unless there has been voter approval, as prescribed by Section 66013 or 66014, no local agency shall levy a new fee or service charge or increase an existing fee or service charge to an amount which exceeds the estimated amount required to provide the service for which the fee or service charge is levied. If, however, the fees or service charges create revenues in excess of actual cost, those revenues shall be used to(b) Any action by a local agency to levy a new fee or service charge or to approve an increase in an existing fee or service charge shall be taken only by ordinance or resolution. The legislative body of a local agency shall not delegate the authority to adopt a new fee or service charge, or to increase a fee or service charge.
(c) Any costs incurred by a local agency in conducting the meeting or meetings required pursuant to subdivision (a) may be recovered from fees charged for the services which were the subject of the meeting.
(d) This section shall apply only to fees and charges as described in Sections 51287, 56383, 65104, 65456, 65584.1, 65863.7, 65909.5, 66013, 66014, and 66451.2 of this code, Sections 17951,
19132.3, and 19852 of the Health and Safety Code, Section 41901 of the Public Resources Code, and Section 21671.5 of the Public Utilities Code.
(e) Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the ordinance, resolution, or motion levying a fee or service charge subject to this section shall be brought pursuant to Section 66022. 66020.
SEC. 4.
Section 66022 of the Government Code is repealed.(a)Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an ordinance, resolution, or motion adopting a new fee or service charge, or modifying or amending an existing fee or service charge, adopted by a local agency, as defined in Section 66000, shall be commenced within 120 days of the effective date of the ordinance, resolution, or motion.
If an ordinance, resolution, or motion provides for an automatic adjustment in a fee or service charge, and the automatic adjustment results in an increase in the amount of a fee or service charge, any action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the increase shall be commenced within 120 days of the effective date of the increase.
(b)Any action by a local agency or interested person under this section shall be brought pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(c)This section shall apply only to fees, capacity charges, and service charges described in and subject to Sections 66013, 66014, and 66016.
