AgdaPkt 2013-05-20 Closed Cancelled and Special

Browse Search

7.A. - Page 59 Attachment 6 Appropriations subject to Article XIIIB generally include the proceeds of taxes levied by the State or other entity of local government, exclusive of certain State subventions and refunds of taxes. "Proceeds of taxes" include,but are not limited to, all tax revenues and the proceeds to an entity of government from (i) regulatory licenses, user charges, and user fees (but only to the extent such proceeds exceed the cost of providing the service or regulation), and (ii) the investment of tax revenues. Article XIIIB includes a requirement that if an entity's revenues in any year exceed the amounts permitted to be spent, the excess would have to be returned by revising tax rates or fee schedules over the subsequent two years. Certain expenditures are excluded from the appropriations limit including payments of indebtedness existing or legally authorized as of January 1, 1979, or of bonded indebtedness thereafter approved by the voters and payments required to comply with court or federal mandates which without discretion require an expenditure for additional services or which unavoidably make the providing of existing services more costly. Proposition 218 General. On November 5, 1996, California voters approved Proposition 218, the so-called "Right to Vote on Taxes Act." Proposition 218 added Articles XIIIC and XIIID to the State Constitution, which affect the ability of local governments to levy and collect both existing and future taxes, assessments, and property-related fees and charges. Proposition 218, which generally became effective on November 6, 1996, changed, among other things, the procedure for the imposition of any new or increased property-related "fee" or "charge," which is defined as "any levy other than an ad valorem tax, a special tax or an assessment, imposed by a [local government] upon a parcel or upon a person as an incident of property ownership, including user fees or charges for a property related service" (and referred to in this section as a "property-related fee or charge"). Specifically, under Article XIIID, before a municipality may impose or increase any property-related fee or charge, the entity must give written notice to the record owner of each parcel of land affected by that fee or charge. The municipality must then hold a hearing upon the proposed imposition or increase at least 45 days after the written notice is mailed, and, if a majority of the property owners of the identified parcels present written protests against the proposal,the municipality may not impose or increase the property-related fee or charge. Further, under Article XIIID, revenues derived from a property-related fee or charge may not exceed the funds required to provide the "property-related service" and the entity may not use such fee or charge for any purpose other than that for which it imposed the fee or charge. The amount of a property-related fee or charge may not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel, and no property-related fee or charge may be imposed for a service unless that service is actually used by, or is immediately available to, the owner of the property in question. In addition, Article XIIIC provides that "the initiative power shall not be prohibited or otherwise limited in matters of reducing or repealing any local tax, assessment, fee or charge. The power of initiative to affect local taxes, assessments, fees and charges shall be applicable to all local governments and neither the Legislature nor any local government charter shall impose a signature requirement higher than that applicable to statewide statutory initiatives." Judicial Interpretation of Proposition 218. After Proposition 218 was enacted in 1996, appellate court cases and an Attorney General opinion initially indicated that fees and charges levied for water and wastewater services would not be considered property-related fees and charges, and thus not subject to the requirements of Article XIIID regarding notice,hearing and protests in connection with any increase in the fees and charges being imposed. However, three -36-