Bill Text: CA AB483 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Local government: taxes, fees, assessments, and charges: definitions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-10-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 552, Statutes of 2013. [AB483 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB483-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 483	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 13, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 26, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ting
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Atkins   and Ian Calderon   ) 
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Hueso
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2013

   An act to add Section 53758 to the Government Code, relating to
local government, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 483, as amended, Ting. Local government: taxes, fees,
assessments, and charges: definitions.
   Article XIII C of the California Constitution generally requires a
majority vote of the electorate for a local government to impose,
extend, or increase any general tax and a 2/3 vote of the electorate
to impose, extend, or increase any special tax, and permits the use
of the initiative to affect local taxes, assessments, fees, and
charges. Article XIII C of the California Constitution also defines a
local tax and sets out the categories of charges that are excluded
from that definition.  Article XIII  
  D of the California Constitution generally
requires that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to property
owners for approval or rejection after the provision of written
notice and the holding of a public hearing.  Existing law,
the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific
procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with
 Articles   Article XIII C  and
XIII     D  of the
California Constitution, and defines various terms for these
purposes.
   This bill would  add a provision to the Proposition 218
Omnibus Implementation Act to  additionally define the terms
"specific benefit," and "specific government service" for purposes of
 the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act 
 Article XIII     C of the California
Constitution  .
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) Business improvement districts and tourism marketing districts
are important to California's economy, and provide a number of
tourism-related services to California's tourism industry, including
marketing of assessed businesses, tourism promotion, and special
events to attract tourists.  
   (b) Business improvement district and tourism marketing district
assessment revenues are intended only to provide benefits or services
directly to those businesses paying the assessment, and business
improvement district and tourism marketing district assessment
revenues cannot be diverted to support general governmental programs.
 
   (c) The purpose of this bill is to clarify that business
improvement district and tourism marketing district assessments are
not taxes within the meaning of Article XIII C of the California
Constitution merely because they might generate indirect, secondary
benefits for nonpayors, provided that those indirect, secondary
benefits occur incidentally and without cost to the payors of the
assessment. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 53758 is
added to the Government Code, to read:
   53758.  For purposes of  Articles   Article
 XIII C  and XIII    
D  of the California Constitution and this article:
   (a) "Specific benefit" means a benefit that is provided directly
to a payor and is not provided to those not charged. 
Ancillary or other benefits to nonpayors may be created in the course
of providing the specific benefit to payors. A benefit is not
excluded from classification as a "specific benefit" by reason of a
complete or partial exemption from the levy, charge, or exaction
imposed for that benefit, provided that a levy, charge, or exaction
paid for that benefit is used to provide that benefit only to the
payor.   A specific benefit is not excluded from
classification as a "specific benefit" merely because an indirect
benefit to a nonpayor occurs incidentally and without cost to the
payor as a consequence of providing the specific benefit to the
payor. 
   (b) "Specific government service" means a service that is provided
by  an agency   a local government 
directly to the payor and is not provided to those not charged. 
A specific government service is not excluded from classification as
a "specific government service" merely because an indirect benefit to
a nonpayor occurs incidentally and without cost to the payor as a
  consequence of providing the specific government service
to the payor.  A "specific government service" may include, but
is not limited to,  safety,  maintenance,
landscaping, marketing, events,  capital improvements,
 and promotions.  A service is not excluded from
classification as a "specific government service" by reason of a
complete or partial exemption from the levy, charge, or exaction
imposed for that service, provided that a levy, charge, or exaction
paid for that service is used to provide that service only to the
payor.  
   (c) The local government bears the burden of proving by a
preponderance of the evidence that a levy, charge, or other exaction
imposed for a specific benefit or specific government service is not
a tax, that the amount is no more than necessary to cover the
reasonable costs to the local government in providing the specific
benefit or specific government service, and that the manner in which
those costs are allocated to a payor bear a fair or reasonable
relationship to the specific benefits or specific government services
received by the payor. 
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
   In order to ensure compliance with the California Constitution it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.