Local government: counties: unincorporated areas.

(1) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, sets forth the procedures for incorporations and changes of organizations of cities, including procedures for disincorporation. This bill would authorize the board of supervisors of a county in which a city that will be disincorporated pursuant to statute is located to vote to continue that city if, after receipt of an audit conducted by the State Auditor, the board of supervisors determines that the territory to be disincorporated is not expected to generate revenues sufficient to provide public services and facilities, maintain a reasonable reserve, and pay its obligations during the 5 years following disincorporation. The bill would require a city that is audited pursuant to these provisions to reimburse the State Auditor for the costs incurred to perform the audit, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) The Community Services District Law authorizes the organization and powers of a community services district, as specified, to provide for, among other things, the supply of water for any beneficial uses, fire protection services, police and law enforcement services, the financing of an area planning commission, the financing of a municipal advisory commission, and the acquisition, construction, improvement, and maintenance of streets or roads. This bill would create a community services district in the unincorporated area of a county if that unincorporated area of the county was previously a city that was disincorporated by statute and had, immediately prior to disincorporation, provided fire protection, water, telecommunications, gas, or electric utility services, or maintained streets or roads. The district would continue to provide those services within the territory in which the disincorporated city provided those services, and would be a successor in interest as to any contract entered into by the disincorporated city with respect to the provision of those services. The bill would, for a one-year period, limit the authority of the community services district to increase gas or electric utility rates within that territory. The bill would direct that the community services district would become the employer of nonmanagerial employees who were employed by the disincorporated city to provide any of the services described above, in accordance with any existing memorandum of understanding or other labor relations agreement, and would protect those employees from discharge absent a showing of just cause for termination, except as specified. The bill would specify that the board of supervisors for the county in which the disincorporated city was located would serve as the board of directors of the community services district. The bill would require the district or the county, as specified, to become the custodian of records of the disincorporated city, and would prohibit any officer or employee of a city, or a consultant under contract to a city, that is subject to being disincorporated from destroying those records or causing their destruction. The bill would provide that legislative acts of the board of directors of the district are not subject to initiative or referendum, and the board of directors of the district is not subject to recall. (3) The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of each city and county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city or county, as specified. This bill would provide that, as of the effective date of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute, the general plan of the disincorporated city constitutes the community plan of the county for the territory of the disincorporated city, and that the zoning ordinances in effect immediately prior to the disincorporation of the city, together with any conditional use permits or any approved legal conforming uses, likewise apply, as specified. The bill would also provide that any use of land authorized under the general plan and zoning ordinances immediately preceding the effective date of the city's disincorporation would continue to be authorized for a period of not less than 10 years, as specified. (4) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to establish, by resolution, a municipal advisory council for any unincorporated area in the county to advise the board on matters that relate to the unincorporated area, as specified. This bill would require the board of supervisors of the county in which a city that has been disincorporated by statute was located, within 45 days following the effective date of the disincorporation, to establish a municipal advisory council to operate within the territory of the disincorporated city, as specified. The bill would require the district to finance the operation of the municipal advisory council. By increasing the duties of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law authorizes the legislative body of any city or county to adopt an ordinance that, among other things, regulates the use of buildings, structures, and land, and to regulate the location, height, bulk, number of stories, the size of buildings and structures, and the size and use of lots, yards, courts, and other open spaces. This bill would require the board of supervisors in a county in which a city that has been disincorporated by statute was located, within 90 days of the effective date of the disincorporation, to form an expedited permit process for permits related to business, development, and health and safety that is comparable to the permit process previously in place for the territory of the disincorporated city. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to license, for revenue and regulation and to fix the license tax upon every kind of lawful business transacted in the unincorporated area of the county, as specified. This bill would require the board of supervisors of a county in which a city that has been disincorporated pursuant to statute was located to maintain, at the then-existing rates, any business license tax or business license fee of the disincorporated city that was in effect at the time of the disincorporation for a period of at least 5 years, as specified. The bill would authorize the board of supervisors to levy any additional business license tax or business license fee on the territory of the disincorporated city during the 5-year period following the effective date of the disincorporation, if an audit conducted by a 3rd-party auditor finds that additional revenues are needed in order to maintain needed services to the territory of the disincorporated city or to make required payments toward debt incurred by the city prior to disincorporation. (7) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to levy a utility user tax on the consumption of electricity, gas, water, sewer, telephone, telegraph, and cable television services in the unincorporated area of the county. This bill would, upon the effective date of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute, exempt utility users within the territory of the disincorporated city from any existing county utility user tax, and would prohibit the board from levying a utility user tax on utility users within that territory for a period of 5 years following the effective date of the disincorporation. Following this 5-year period, the bill would prohibit the board from levying this tax unless the voters of the unincorporated area of the county vote to apply the utility user tax to utility users within the territory of the disincorporated city on the same basis as it is then applied throughout the unincorporated area of the county. The bill would also authorize the board of supervisors to levy a utility user tax during the 5-year period following the effective date of the disincorporation, if an audit conducted by a 3rd-party auditor finds that additional revenues are needed in order to maintain needed services to the territory of the disincorporated city or to make required payments toward debt incurred by the city prior to disincorporation. (8) Existing law governs the procedures and requirements for retention and destruction of specified records of a city. This bill would prohibit any officer or employee of a city disincorporated by statute from destroying or authorizing the destruction of any record of the city. (9) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, requires the local agency formation commission to oversee the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to that act. This bill would authorize the local agency formation commission to commence oversight of the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute upon receipt of specified notice from the board of supervisors of the county in which a city disincorporated by statute is located. The bill would authorize the commission, upon request by the legislative body of the city, any resident of the city, an owner of property within the city, or any affected local agency, to adopt additional terms and conditions relating to the disincorporation of the city or the creation of the community services district. (10) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (11) The bill would become operative only if AB 46 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect.