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I o <br />assessments and fees and charges imposed as an incident of property ownership, other than <br />fees and charges for sewer, water, and refuse collection services. In addition, all assessments <br />and fees and charges imposed as an incident of property ownership, including sewer, water, <br />and refuse collection services, are subjected to various additional procedures, such as hearings <br />and stricter and more individualized benefit requirements and findings. <br />Proposition 218 also provides that the constitutional initiative power shall not be <br />prohibited or otherwise limited in matters of reducing or repealing any local taxes, assessments, <br />fees and charges. This provision with respect to the initiative power is not limited to taxes <br />imposed on or after November 6, 1996, the effective date of Proposition 218. However, on July <br />1, 1997, a bill was signed into law by the Governor of the State enacting Government Code <br />5854, which states: <br />Section 3 of Article XMC of the California Constitution, as adopted at the <br />November 5, 1996 general election, shall not be construed to mean that <br />any owner or beneficial owner of a municipal security, purchased before <br />or after that date, assumes the risk of, or in any way consents to, any <br />action by initiative measure that constitutes an impairment of contractual <br />rights protection by Section 10 of Article I of the United States <br />Constitution. <br />As a result, although no court has yet considered the relationship between Section 5854 <br />and Article MC, it is likely that Proposition 218 has not conferred on the voters the power to <br />repeal or reduce taxes, assessments, fees or charges if such reduction would interfere with the <br />City's payment of Lease Payments. <br />Unitary Property <br />AB 454 (Chapter 921, Statutes of 1986) provides that revenues derived from most <br />utility property assessed by the State Board of Equalization ( "Unitary Property "), commencing <br />with the 1988 -89 fiscal year, will be allocated as follows: (i) each jurisdiction will receive up to <br />102% of its prior year State - assessed revenue; and (ii) if county-wide revenues generated from <br />Unitary Property are less than the previous year's revenues or greater than 102% of the previous <br />year's revenues, each jurisdiction will share the burden of the shortfall or beneflt of the excess <br />revenues by a specified formula. This provision applies to all Unitary Property except <br />railroads, whose valuation will continue to be allocated to individual tax rate areas. <br />The provisions of AB 454 do not constitute an elimination of the assessment of any <br />State - assessed properties nor a revision of the methods of assessing utilities by the State Board <br />of Equalization. Generally, AB 454 allows valuation growth or decline of Unitary Property to be <br />shared by all jurisdictions in a county. <br />Future Initiatives <br />Article XIIIA, Article XIIIB, Proposition 62 and Proposition 218 were each adopted as <br />measures that qualified for the ballot through California's initiative process. From time to time <br />other initiative measures could be adopted, further affecting the City's revenues. <br />THE AUTHORITY <br />The Authority was formed on June 10, 1991 pursuant to the Act for the purpose of <br />implementing the construction, acquisition, maintenance and improvement of public facilities <br />-20- <br />