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2016 Municipal Finance Institute

30 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Join Best Best & Krieger LLP at the League of California Cities 2016 Municipal Finance Institute in Monterey, Calif.

BB&K Speakers:

William Priest and Sigrid Asmundson
“Show Me the Money! – Enhanced Revenue Options for Cities”
Various revenue enhancement options available to cities will be addressed. Hear a discussion of the legal procedures for adopting new or increased general and special taxes, special benefit property assessments and fees under applicable law (such as Proposition 218 and AB 1600). Current issues surrounding certain revenue sources, such as transient occupancy/hotel and utility user’s taxes in the “Internet world,” as well as recent decisions concerning water, sewer and other utility rates will be covered. Additionally, learn about the rules governing permissible versus impermissible use of public funds to inform the public and encourage voter participation.
Wednesday, Nov. 30
10:30 - 11:15 a.m.

When
Wednesday, Nov. 30 - Thursday, Dec. 1

Where
Monterey Marriott
350 Calle Principal
Monterey, CA 93940

For more information and to register, click here.

New California Legislation Targets Multifamily Residential Buildings for Water Conservation

19 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0800

In a move that could have significant implications for water purveyors, residential developers, and landlords and tenants throughout California, Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 7 into law. Intended to encourage water conservation in apartments and other multiunit developments, SB 7 requires the owner of any multiunit residential and/or mixed-use development constructed after January 1, 2018 to install individual or submeters that measure the quantity of water supplied to each individual unit.

Existing law directs every water purveyor to require—as a condition of new water service—the installation of a water meter to measure water service. SB 7 seeks to bring forth a new era in water conservation by expanding upon this standard in several key ways, including:

SB 7 requires the owner of a newly constructed multiunit residential, commercial or mixed-use structure to install and read submeters, unless the water purveyor either agrees to install and read the submeters or the purveyor is operating under an ordinance or regulation that currently requires individual metering.
SB 7 includes several key exemptions, including for: 1.) low-income housing developments; 2.) long-term health care facilities; 3.) time-share properties; 4.) residential care facilities for the elderly; and 5.) housing at schools and places of education.
SB 7 directs each water purveyor that sells, leases, furnishes or delivers water service to an applicable development for which an application for at least one water connection is submitted after January 1, 2018 to require a measurement of the water supplied to each resident dwelling unit as a condition of new water service.
SB 7 includes several provisions aimed at protecting consumers and tenants. Among them, SB 7 imposes certain requirements for maintaining submeters, billing for water service by property owners, and notice and disclosure requirements to tenants.

While SB 7’s requirements do not go into effect until January 1, 2018, interested parties should begin to prepare now for what could result in a significant investment of time and money in the coming years. Best Best & Krieger LLP advises numerous public and private entities on these and related issues throughout the state. If you have any questions about SB 7 or how it may impact your agency or project, please contact the attorney authors of this Legal Alert listed to the right in the firm’s Environmental Law & Natural Resources and Special Districts practice groups, or your BB&K attorney.

Please feel free to share this Legal Alert or subscribe by clicking here. Follow us on Twitter @BBKlaw.

Disclaimer: BB&K Legal Alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Right of Way Control & Compensation

17 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Gerry Lederer will speak at an eNATOA Webinar. With a growing percentage of cable subscribers dropping traditional video services, but keeping Internet services, it is predicted that franchise fees will be on the decline all the while carriers are generating more revenue from their facilities located in the public rights of way. This session will examine what options are available to local communities to receive fair compensation for the use of public land in the face of changing definitions and uses of communications services.

When
Monday, Oct. 17
11 a.m. - Noon (PDT) / 2 - 3 p.m. (EDT)

For more information or to register, click here.

Catalina Island Surrounded by Water yet Hammered by Drought

10 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0800

The Long Beach Press Telegram reports that, despite water restrictions being eased for the rest of California, Avalon businesses and residents must reduce their water use "by at least 40 percent or face hundreds of dollars in penalties." As of Sept. 6, Avalon's main reservoir level was so low (12 percent of capacity), that the island has been subjected to Stage 3 drough restrictions.

"From the local government perspective, Avalon city officials want Edison to invest in expanding its desalination and storage capacity. Avalon City Attorney Scott Campbell said during a presentation he delivered during the city’s Sept. 20 council meeting that additional storage capacity of 1 million to 2 million gallons would be a major improvement. 'That can get you through our weekend, or any bad thing if both (desalination) units go down,' he said."

To read the entire article, which ran Oct. 1, 2016 in The Long Beach Press Telegram, click here.

New California Laws Impacting Public Agencies

18 Dec 2015 00:00:00 -0800

There were many bills passed by California lawmakers this year that will impact municipalities and other public agencies. Follow the link below to read more about the bills that are of specific importance to your work. Please contact us for further information about the bills you see here, or any legal matters with which you need assistance.

RECENT CHANGES

AB 1 - Drought: local governments: fines. Prohibits a city, county, or city and county from imposing a fine under any ordinance for a failure to water a lawn or having a brown lawn during a period for which the Governor has issued a proclamation of a state of emergency based on drought conditions.

AB 2 - Community revitalization authority. Authorizes certain local agencies to form a community revitalization authority within a community revitalization and investment area, as defined, to carry out provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law in that area for purposes related to, among other things, infrastructure, affordable housing and economic revitalization.

SB 21 - Political Reform Act of 1974: gifts of travel. Requires a nonprofit organization that regularly organizes and hosts travel for elected officials, as specified, and that pays for these types of travel for an elected state officer or local elected officeholder, to disclose the names of donors who, in the preceding year, both donated to the nonprofit organization and accompanied an elected officer or officeholder for any portion of the travel, as specified. The bill requires a person who receives a gift of a travel payment from any source to report the travel destination on his or her statement of economic interests. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

SB 34 - Automated license plate recognition systems: use of data. This bill imposes specified requirements on an "ALPR operator" as defined, including, among others, maintaining reasonable security procedures and practices to protect ALPR information and implementing a usage and privacy policy with respect to that information, as specified. The bill imposes similar requirements on an "ALPR end-user," as defined. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 57 - Telecommunications: wireless telecommunication facilities. Provides that a collocation or siting application for a wireless telecommunications facility is deemed approved if the city or county fails to approve or disapprove the application within the reasonable time periods specified in applicable decisions of the Federal Communications Commission, all required public notices have been provided regarding the application, and the applicant has provided a notice to the city or county that the reasonable time period has lapsed. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 69 - Peace officers: body-worn cameras. Requires law enforcement agencies to consider specified best practices when establishing policies and procedures for downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras, including, among other things, prohibiting the unauthorized use, duplication, or distribution of the data, and establishing storage periods for evidentiary and non-evidentiary data, as defined.

SB 88 - Water. Authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to order consolidation with a receiving water system where a public water system, or a state small water system within a disadvantaged community, consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. This bill also authorizes the Board to order the extension of service to an area that does not have access to an adequate supply of safe drinking water so long as the extension of service is an interim extension of service in preparation for consolidation.

SB 107 - Local government. Current law dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies as of Feb. 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies to wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies and to, among other things, make payments due for enforceable obligations and to perform obligations required pursuant to any enforceable obligation. This bill provides that any action by the Department of Finance, that occurred on or after June 28, 2011, carrying out the Department's obligations under the provisions described above constitutes a Department action for the preparation, development, or administration of the State budget and is exempt from the Administrative Procedures Act.

AB 169 - Local government: public records. If a local agency, except a school district, maintains an Internet resource, including, but not limited to an Internet website, Internet web page, or Internet web portal, which the local agency describes or titles as "open data," and the local agency voluntarily posts a public record on that Internet resource, then this bill requires the local agency to post the public record in an open format that meets specified requirements, including, among others, that the format is able to be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by a commonly used Internet search application.

AB 219 - Public works: concrete delivery. Current law defines "public works," for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages for public works projects, to include, among other things, the hauling of refuse from a public works site to an outside disposal location with respect to contracts involving any state agency. This bill expands the definition of "public works" for these purposes to include the hauling and delivery of ready-mixed concrete, as defined, to carry out a public works contract, with respect to contracts involving any state agency or any political subdivision of the State.

SB 239 - Local services: contracts: fire protection services. With certain exceptions, this bill permits a public agency to exercise new or extended services outside the public agency's jurisdictional boundaries pursuant to a fire protection contract, as defined, only if the public agency receives written approval from the local agency formation commission in the affected county. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 243 - Medical marijuana. Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the State Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the State Water Resources Control Board to promulgate regulations or standards relating to medical marijuana and its cultivation, as specified. The bill also requires various state agencies to take specified actions to mitigate the impact that marijuana cultivation has on the environment.

AB 266 - Medical marijuana. Enacts the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act for the licensure and regulation of medical marijuana and establishes, within the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, under the supervision and control of the director of Consumer Affairs. The bill would require the director to administer and enforce the provisions of the Act.

SB 272 - The California Public Records Act: local agencies: inventory. Requires each local agency, except a local educational agency, in implementing the California Public Records Act, to create a catalog of enterprise systems, as defined, to make the catalog publicly available upon request in the office of the person or officer designated by the agency's legislative body, and to post the catalog on the local agency's Internet website.

AB 277 (& SB 493) - Legislation narrows use of at-large elections to elect public officials. AB 277 codifies the holding in Jauregui v. City of Palmdale (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 781 to prohibit the use of at-large elections in a political subdivision if it would impair the ability of a protected class to elect their chosen candidates or otherwise influence the outcome of an election. The definition of “political subdivision” has been amended to expressly include a charter city, charter county, or charter city and county.

AB 313 - Enhanced infrastructure financing districts. Requires, after the adoption of a resolution of intention to establish a proposed district, the legislative body to send a copy of the resolution to the public financing authority. This bill would revise the duties of the public financing authority after the resolution of intention to establish the proposed district has been adopted, so that the public financing authority, instead of the legislative body, will perform the specified duties related to the preparation, proposal, and adoption of the infrastructure financing plan and the adoption of the formation of the district.

SB 331 – Public contracts: local agencies: negotiations. Enacts the Civic Reporting Openness in Negotiations Efficiency Act to establish specific procedures for the negotiation and approval of certain contracts valued at $250,000 or more for goods or services by cities, counties, cities and counties, or special districts that have adopted a civic openness in negotiations ordinance, defined as an ordinance imposing specified requirements as part of any collective bargaining process undertaken pursuant to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. The Act requires the designation of an independent auditor to review and report on the cost of any proposed contract.

SB 374 - Local agency design-build projects: transit districts. This bill specifies that the definition of a local agency authorized to use the design-build method of project delivery includes the San Diego Association of Governments. The bill defines projects, as it pertains to the San Diego Association of Governments, to include development projects adjacent, or physically or functionally related, to transit facilities developed by the association.

SB 383 – Civil actions: objections to pleadings. Requires a demurring party in certain civil actions, before filing the demurrer, to engage in a specified meet-and-confer process with the party who filed the pleading demurred to. This is for the purpose of determining whether an agreement can be reached as to the filing of an amended pleading that would resolve the objections to be raised in the demurrer. The bill prohibits a party from amending a complaint or cross-complaint more than three times in response to a demurrer filed before the case is at issue, except as specified.

AB 401 - Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program. Requires the State Water Resources Control Board, no later than Jan. 1, 2018, in collaboration with the State Board of Equalization and relevant stakeholders, to develop a plan for the funding and implementation of the Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program, which includes specified elements. The bill permits the board to consider existing rate assistance programs authorized by the commission in developing the plan and authorizes the plan to include recommendations for other cost-effective methods of offering assistance to low-income water customers.

AB 402 – Local agency services: contracts. Establishes a pilot program, until Jan. 1, 2021, for the Napa and San Bernardino commissions that permits those commissions to authorize a city or district to provide new or extended services outside both its jurisdictional boundaries and its sphere of influence under specified circumstances. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 415 - Voter participation. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, this law prohibits a political subdivision, as defined, from holding an election, other than on a statewide election date, if holding an election on a non-concurrent date has previously resulted in voter turnout for a regularly scheduled election in that political subdivision being at least 25 percent less than the average voter turnout within the political subdivision for the previous four statewide general elections, except as specified. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 493 (& AB 277) - Legislation narrows use of at-large elections to elect public officials. SB 493 authorizes the legislative body of a city with a population of fewer than 100,000 people to adopt an ordinance that requires the members of the legislative body to be elected by district without submitting the ordinance to the voters for approval.

SB 533 - Cities and counties: sales and use tax agreements. Repeals a specified prohibition of the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law and instead prohibits, on or after Jan. 1, a local agency from entering into any form of agreement that would result, directly or indirectly, in the payment, transfer, diversion, or rebate of Bradley-Burns local tax revenues to any person, as defined, for any purpose, if the agreement results in a reduction in the amount of Bradley-Burns local tax revenues that, in the absence of the agreement, would be received by another local agency and the retailer continues to maintain a physical presence within the territorial jurisdiction of that other local agency, with specified exceptions.

AB 552 - Public works contracts: damages. Among other things, this bill provides that a public works contract, entered into on or after Jan. 1, that contains a clause expressly requiring a contractor to be responsible for delay damages, as defined, is not enforceable unless the delay damages have been liquidated to a set amount and identified in the public works contract. Under the bill, these provisions do not apply to specified state agencies. The bill also makes findings and declarations related to public contracts.

SB 555 - Urban retail water suppliers: water loss management. This bill requires each urban retail water supplier, on or before Oct. 1, 2017, and on or before Oct. 1 of each year thereafter, to submit a completed and validated water loss audit report for the previous calendar year or previous fiscal year as prescribed by rules adopted by the Department of Water Resources on or before Jan. 1, 2017, and updated as provided. The bill requires the Department to post all validated water loss audit reports on its website in a manner that allows for comparisons across water suppliers and to make these reports available for public viewing.

SB 570 - Personal information: privacy: breach. Current law requires a person, business, or agency that is required to issue a security breach notification to meet specific requirements, including that the notification be written in plain language. This bill additionally requires the security breach notification to be titled "Notice of Data Breach" and to present the information under prescribed headings. The bill prescribes a model security breach notification form, as specified.

AB 594 - Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign statements. Recasts the requirements for filing pre-election statements and repeals other reporting requirements, including supplemental pre-election statements and supplemental independent expenditure reports. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 622 - Employment: E-Verify system: unlawful business practices. Expands the definition of an unlawful employment practice to prohibit an employer or any other person or entity from using the E-Verify system at a time or in a manner not required by a specified federal law or not authorized by a federal agency memorandum of understanding to check the employment authorization status of an existing employee or an applicant who has not received an offer of employment, except as required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds.

SB 643 - Medical marijuana. Sets forth standards for a physician and surgeon prescribing medical cannabis and requires the Medical Board of California to prioritize its investigative and prosecutorial resources to identify and discipline physicians and surgeons that have repeatedly recommended excessive cannabis to patients for medical purposes or repeatedly recommended cannabis to patients for medical purposes without a good faith examination, as specified. The bill requires the Bureau of Medical Marijuana to require an applicant to furnish a full set of fingerprints for the purposes of conducting criminal history record checks.

SB 664 - Water: urban water management planning. This bill requires an urban water supplier to include within its plan, beginning Jan. 1, 2020, a seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan to assess the vulnerability of each of the various facilities of a water system and mitigate those vulnerabilities. This bill also authorizes an urban water supplier to comply with this requirement by submitting a copy of the most recently adopted local hazard mitigation plan or multi-hazard mitigation plan under specified federal law that addresses seismic risk.

AB 744 - Planning and zoning: density bonuses. Current law prohibits a city, county, or city and county from requiring a vehicular parking ratio for a housing development that meets specified criteria in excess of specified ratios. Notwithstanding the above-described provisions, this bill additionally prohibits, at the request of the developer, a city, county, or city and county from imposing a vehicular parking ratio, inclusive of handicapped and guest parking, in excess of .5 spaces per bedroom on a development that includes the maximum percentage of low- or very low-income units, as specified, and is located within 1/2 mile of a major transit stop, as defined, and there is unobstructed access to the transit stop from the development.

SB 761 - Advertising: Internet private residence rental listings: notice. Requires a hosting platform, as defined, to provide a specific notice to an occupant listing a residence for short-term rental on a hosting platform that states, among other things, that, if the occupant is a tenant, listing the room, home, condominium, or apartment may violate the lease or contract and could result in legal action by the landlord, including possible eviction.

AB 809 - Local initiative measures: ballot printing specifications. Current law requires that the ballots used when voting on a proposed county, city, or district ordinance submitted to the voters as an initiative measure have printed on them specified text relating to the proposed ordinance and dictates the placement of that text. This bill also requires that, if the ordinance proposes to impose a tax or raise the rate of a tax to be levied, the ballot include in the statement of the ordinance the amount of money to be raised annually and the rate and duration of the tax to be levied.

AB 848 - Alcoholism and drug abuse treatment facilities. Current law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities, as defined. This bill authorizes an adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility that is licensed under those provisions to allow a licensed physician and surgeon or other health care practitioner, as defined, to provide incidental medical services, as defined, to a resident of the facility at the facility premises under specified limited circumstances.

AB 851 - Local government: organization: disincorporations. Current law authorizes a local agency that is conducting proceedings for the incorporation of a city, formation of a district, change of organization, a reorganization, a change of organization of a city, or a municipal reorganization to propose the adoption of a special tax on behalf of the affected city or district in accordance with this procedure. This bill additionally authorizes a local agency conducting proceedings for the disincorporation of a city to propose the adoption of a special tax on behalf of an affected city in accordance with the above-described procedure.

AB 852 - Public works: prevailing wages. Expands the definition of "public works," for the purposes of provisions relating to the prevailing rate of per diem wages, to also include any construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under private contract on a project for a general acute care hospital, except on a project for a rural general acute care hospital with a maximum of 76 beds, when the project is paid for, in whole or in part, with the proceeds of conduit revenue bonds, as defined, that were issued on or after Jan. 1, 2016. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 856 - Invasion of privacy. Expands liability for physical invasion of privacy to additionally include a person knowingly entering into the airspace above the land of another person without permission, as provided.

AB 901 - Solid waste: reporting requirements: enforcement. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. This bill revises specified provisions by, among other things, 1.) requiring recycling and composting operations and facilities to submit specified information directly to the Department, rather than to counties, 2.) requiring disposal facility operators to submit tonnage information to the Department, and to counties only on request, and 3.) deleting the requirement for counties to submit that information to cities, regional agencies and the Department.

AB 952 - Local government: vacancies. Provides that if a city council fills a vacancy in an elective office by appointment, and that vacancy occurred in the first half of the term of office and at least 130 days prior to the next general municipal election, the person appointed to fill the vacancy holds office until the next general municipal election at which a person is elected to fill that vacancy, and thereafter, until the person elected is qualified.

AB 953 - Law enforcement: racial profiling. Enacts the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which, among other changes, revises the definition of racial profiling to instead refer to racial or identity profiling, and makes a conforming change to the prohibition against peace officers engaging in that practice.

AB 990 - Political Reform Act of 1974: advertisement disclosures. The Political Reform Act of 1974 imposes various disclosure statement requirements with respect to advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure. This bill requires that disclosure statements be printed in no less than 14-point bold, sans serif type font. The bill requires that an advertisement supporting or opposing a candidate that is paid for by an independent expenditure include a disclosure statement with specific content and, if the advertisement is mailed, it requires that the disclosure statement be located within a quarter of an inch of the recipient's name and address and be contained within a box that meets prescribed criteria.

AB 1020 (& AB 1461) - Expanded options for voter registration. AB 1020 authorizes persons to pre-register to vote in an election if that person is at least 16 years of age and makes other voter registration changes applicable to local elections officials.

AB 1077 - Mutual water companies: open meetings. Prohibits a mutual water company from meeting solely in an executive session without holding a meeting. The bill requires notice of a meeting to be given to an eligible person at least four days prior to the meetings. The bill also requires a board of directors of a mutual water company to allow an eligible person to personally attend a meeting of the board, if the eligible person gave the board at least 24 hours advance written notice of his or her intent to personally attend the meeting.

AB 1119 - Public utilities: municipal corporations: rights of way. Requires a municipal corporation, before using any street, alley, avenue or highway within any other municipal corporation or county, to request of the municipal corporation or county that has control over the street, alley, avenue or highway to agree with it upon the location of the use and the terms and conditions to which the use shall be subject. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 1164 - Water conservation: drought tolerant landscaping. Prohibits a city, including a charter city, county, and city and county, from enacting or enforcing any ordinance or regulation that prohibits the installation of drought tolerant landscaping, synthetic grass or artificial turf on residential property, as specified. The bill additionally states that this is an issue of statewide concern. This bill contains other related provisions.

AB 1191 – Quimby Act: fees. This bill defines the term "fee," as used in the Quimby Act with regard to the expenditure of fees, to include any interest income generated from a fee charged and collected pursuant to that Act. The bill provides that these provisions are declaratory of current law.

AB 1194 - Mental health: involuntary commitment. Under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, when a person, as a result of mental health disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, he or she may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody and placed in a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation. This bill provides that, when determining if a person should be taken into custody pursuant to specified provisions, the individual making that determination shall consider available relevant information about the historical course of the person's mental disorder if the individual concludes that the information has a reasonable bearing on the determination, and that the individual shall not be limited to consideration of the danger of imminent harm.

AB 1222 - Tow trucks. Current law makes it a misdemeanor for the owner or operator of a tow truck to stop at the scene of an accident or near a disabled vehicle for the purpose of soliciting an engagement for towing services, either directly or indirectly, or to furnish any towing services, unless summoned to the scene, requested to stop, or flagged down by the owner or operator of a disabled vehicle, or requested to perform the service by a law enforcement officer or public agency pursuant to that agency's procedures. This bill applies those provisions to a towing company.

AB 1303 - Subdivision Map Act: map expiration dates. Extends, by 24 months, the expiration date of any approved tentative map or vesting tentative map that was approved on or after Jan. 1, 2002, and not later than July 11, 2013, within a county that meets certain criteria, except as specified. The bill additionally requires the extension of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map or vesting tentative map, or parcel map for which a tentative map or vesting tentative map was approved on or before Dec. 31, 2001, upon application by the subdivider at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the map, as specified.

AB 1358 – School facilities: design-build contracts. Current law authorizes the governing board of a school district, until Jan. 1, 2020, and upon a determination by the governing board of the school district that it is in the best interest of the school district, to enter into a design-build contract for both the design and construction of a school facility if that expenditure exceeds $2.5 million, as provided. This bill makes those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2016, and as of that date, instead authorizes, until Jan. 1, 2025, a school district, with the approval of the governing board of the school district, to procure design-build contracts for public works projects in excess of $1 million, awarding the contract to either the low bid or the best value, as provided.

AB 1431 - Local Agency Public Construction Act: job order contracting. The Local Agency Public Construction Act authorizes job order contracting, as provided, by the Los Angeles Unified School District, until Dec.31, 2020. This bill repeals the provisions relating to the LAUSD and instead authorizes job order contracting in a similar manner for school districts until Jan. 1, 2022.

AB 1461 (& AB 1020) - Expanded options for voter registration. AB 1461 requires the Secretary of State and Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California New Motor Voter Program. Under this program, the DMV is required to electronically provide to the Secretary of State the records of a person issued an original or renewal driver’s license or state identification card. That person is automatically registered to vote unless s/he affirmatively declines to be registered to vote or is deemed to be ineligible to vote.

AB 1533 - Infrastructure financing. The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act makes findings and declarations, provides definitions and authorizes the board to take various actions in connection with the bank, including the issuance of bonds, as specified. This bill, among other things, revises the definition of economic development facilities to include facilities that are used to provide goods movement and defines goods movement-related infrastructure. The bill revises the definition of port facilities to specifically reference airports, landports, waterports and railports.

AB 1544 - Political Reform Act of 1974: behested payments. The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including campaign contributions, as defined. This bill provides that the provision relating to payments made by a government agency exclusively governs a payment by a governmental agency that is made principally for legislative or governmental purposes at the behest of a candidate who is an elected officer, and consequently the payment is not subject to the reporting requirement that applies generally to payments made for legislative, governmental, or charitable purposes.

For more information, contact the authors of this Legal Alert listed at right in the firm’s Public Finance practice group, or your BB&K attorney.

Disclaimer: BB&K legal alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Private Access to Public Rights-of-Way

29 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0800

BB&K attorneys Gail Karish and Matthew Schettenhelm presented Lorman Education Services’ “Private Access to Public Rights-of-Way.” During this webinar, the audience learned to increase their proficiency in the private use of rights-of-ways and were provided a useful introduction to the challenges facing local governments as more private providers seek to use the public rights-of-way for a variety of purposes. Public officials, private service providers and lawyers benefited from understanding the variety of existing and emerging users and uses, the options available for securing access to public rights-of-way and the duties and liabilities related to their use.

When
Oct. 29, 014
10 – 11:30 a.m. (PST)

Legislation Broadening Infrastructure Financing Districts Signed by Gov. Brown

06 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0800

Four bills affecting infrastructure financing districts, a funding mechanism for infrastructure and development projects that benefit the broader community, were recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. IFDs, created in 1990, have garnered renewed interest after the dissolution of redevelopment in California as a way for cities to capture the resulting increase in property tax revenues generated by the affected area (tax increment financing). The legislative intent to provide an alternative means for local communitiesto finance public infrastructure and improvements, in the wake of the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, is explicitly noted in these bills:

SB 628 by Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) allows local agencies to create enhanced infrastructure financing districts to finance specified infrastructure projects and facilities, and reduces the statutory threshold for voter approval of an EIFD’s issuance of tax increment bonds from two-thirds to 55 percent. An EIFD’s lifespan is also significantly extended from 30 years to a period of no more than 45 years from the date on which the issuance of bonds is approved. An EIFD authorizes the issuance of bonds to finance capital public infrastructure projects with tax increment financing.

EIFDs can be used to finance every type of public infrastructure, as well as other types of capital projects. Eligible projects include transportation, transit, water treatment, flood control and storm water quality management, industrial facilities for private use, affordable housing, childcare facilities, libraries, parks, public facilities, energy, solid waste disposal and environmental impact mitigation. EIFDs also have the power to finance the re-use of former military bases, fund transit projects, and construct and rehabilitate affordable housing units.

EIFDs may also utilize any powers under the Polanco Redevelopment Act, which would allow the EIFD to take actions necessary to remedy or remove a release of hazardous substances within the EIFD’s boundaries.

Among the prerequisites for forming an EIFD, cities with former redevelopment agencies must have received a finding of completion from the Department of Finance, and resolved all outstanding litigation matters.

SB 614 by Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Vacaville) allows a local agency, until Jan. 1, 2025, to use tax increment financing in a newly formed or reorganized IFD to fund improvements or upgrades to structures, roads, sewer or water facilities, or other infrastructure that serves a disadvantaged unincorporated community. A community qualifies as a “disadvantaged unincorporated community” if the annual median household income is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income.

AB 229 by Assemblymember John Perez (D-Los Angeles ) authorizes a city to form an IFD to finance projects on a former military base and dedicate any portion of its funds from the Redevelopment Agency Property Tax Trust Fund to the district. The bill also allows districts to finance projects in former RDA areas.

AB 2292 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) authorizes cities to create IFDs that can issue bonds to pay for public capital facilities or projects for broadband. Before AB 2292, city-wide fiber optic networks could qualify for IFD financing in some cases, even though it was not specifically included in the definition of eligible projects for communitywide infrastructure. The bill expands the definition of public capital facilities to specifically include broadband and any communications network facilities that enable high-speed Internet access.

If you have any questions about IFDs, tax increment financing or economic development, please contact one of the attorney authors of this legal alert listed at right in the firm’s Municipal Law practice group, or your BB&K attorney. For more discussion and updates on IFDs, please visit BBKnowledge.com and subscribe to BB&K Legal Alerts.

How to Land Projects in California

12 Sep 2014 00:00:00 -0800

Until recently, California’s state-level economic development cupboard was looking a little bare — its 400 redevelopment agencies were dissolved in February 2012, property tax increment financing has been discontinued and Enterprise Zones are being phased out. That’s why some cities and towns in the Golden State are rethinking the business-attraction tools they still have at their disposal, on the local level, and are applying innovative solutions to landing the projects that they want in their jurisdictions.

New forms of public-private partnerships allow for non-redevelopment municipal assistance to produce local jobs, increase economic opportunities in industrial, manufacturing and retail sectors and deliver other public benefits to help boost the local economy. In addition, California has started several new tax credit programs that have just completed their inaugural round of awardees.

In June, the newly formed California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) Committee approved $28.9 million in tax credits for29 companies expanding CCTC Committee are projected to help these companies create almost 6 , 000 jobs and generate more than $2 billion in investments across California. Awardees include: Samsung Semiconductor, Petco Animal Supplies, Amazon Fulfillment Services, Macys.com, Hyundai Capital America, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., and iHerb, Inc.

Awardees are exempt from paying state income taxes in the amount awarded. An additional $ 150 million in tax credits will be allocated next fiscal year, and companies not selected in the first round are eligible to reapply once the next application period opens.

Projects are evaluated based on the factors required by statute, including total jobs created, total investment, average wage, economic impact, strategic importance and more. A total of 396 companies applied and requested more than $ 500 million in credits.

The California Competes Tax Credit is part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Economic Development Initiative (GEDI), which he signed legislation to enact last year. The GEDI also includes a hiring credit for areas of high unemployment and poverty that went into effect on January 1, and a sales and use tax exemption for the purchase of manufacturing, biotech and R&D equipment that was available to companies as of July 1.

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as California’s single point-of-contact for economic development and job creation efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners, including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government and much more.

State Boosts Local Economic Development Efforts

The state’s passage of SB 470 in 2013 was a step to display the intent of the Legislature to promote economic development on a local level so that communities can enact local strategies to increase jobs, create economic opportunity and generate tax revenue for all levels of government.

Moreover, SB 470 provides local governments with new tools, at no cost to the state, that allow local governments to use their funds in a manner that promotes economic opportunity and to continue certain powers afforded to redevelopment agencies, with respect to properties owned by a city which were acquired to be sold or leased for economic opportunity purposes, as defined in the bill.

Traditionally, California cities have used state-authorized programs to assist development, such as the establishment of capital investment incentives to attract large manufacturing facilities. Cities are also authorized to create special bodies, such as industrial development authorities and community facilities districts, as a means of accessing different financing, including lease revenue, industrial development, private activity and special tax bonds and certificates of participation. However, more and more cities are starting to look for other innovative ways to assist new development.

In California, general law cities derive their power to assist private development from the state Constitution’s “police ” as well as specific state statutory authority.

Charter cities (such as Los Angeles, Sacramento, Visalia and San Diego) also have authority as to “municipal affairs” in any area not preempted by the state.

Tax-Sharing Package Approved For Heavy Equipment Auctioneer

Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA), headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the world’s largest seller of used heavy equipment, with more than 1,400 full-time employees worldwide, went in search of a new location in California’s Great Central Valley. After a review of many potential communities in several counties, Ritchie Bros. decided to pursue a deal with the City of Tulare. What resulted was a forward looking economic development incentive agreement and development agreement outlining the company’s use of a site in the City of Tulare and calculation of the sales tax sharing over a 20-year period.

In exchange for developing the new location in the City of Tulare and meeting certain taxable sales tiers, the City agreed to a completely “performance based” incentive package that includes disbursement of various percentages of sales tax actually received by the City to Ritchie Bros. Ritchie Bros. agreed to invest not less than $10 million for land, infrastructure and buildings, retain specified numbers of employees for the location and various other ongoing commitments to benefit the City, tourism and local businesses. In addition, the auction site would be available for City, civic and school functions for other events throughout the year when the site is not in active use.

The direct community benefit include more jobs, new sales tax, and new visitors to the multiple-day auctions several times per year. In addition, there is tremendous economic “spin off” to other business in the City of Tulare to businesses related to heavy equipment. All of this was documented in an Economic Benefit Analysis presented to the City.

Toxic Site Is Re-Purposed

One particular example highlights the flexibility and power of a public-private partnership at the local level without any redevelopment tax increment. Primestor Development Inc., a certified minority business enterprise, is nearing completion this month of Azalea, a 370,000 sq.-ft. (34,300-sq.-m.) regional mall on a 30-acre (12-hectare) former brown field site in the City of South Gate, just south of Downtown Los Angeles. At the grand opening in August, the regional mall was 97-percent leased with a single and intentional vacancy awaiting the “right” tenant.

This new shopping center was assisted by the City’s innovative incentive structure and the infrastructure financing and fee waiver agreement. The City not only transferred adjacent parcels and constructed offsite improvements, but also provided project financing and will participate in project construction cost savings and excess developer return.

The developer is providing substantial public amenities, including a public plaza available for exclusive City events up to six times per year, and a City Hall annex. The developer also agreed to pay prevailing wages and institute a local-hiring preference plan, as well as provide a marketing budget for the public plaza and fund a repair and replacement reserve. The developer also agreed to pay the City for its expenses related to the project.

Municipal Powers Remain Intact

Azalea and the Ritchie Bros. Auction site are important projects in post-redevelopment California. Many local jurisdictions are realizing that they in fact have significant authority and potential monetary and non-monetary resources to assist in the revitalization of downtown districts, create value in suburban neighborhoods and renew aging infrastructure. Though local governments are prohibited from making outright gifts of public funds, cities can provide financial assistance, including loans, grants, subsidies and tax incentives and revenue sharing, if the program supports an identifiable public purpose and benefits the community.

Along with new authority for local agencies in SB 470, the State in AB 562 has also placed a new requirement on cities to issue a report about any project receiving any type of “economic development subsidy” of $100,000 or more and its benefits to the public before approving the subsidy. Moreover, prevailing wage laws continue to challenge the structuring of incentives and subsidies.

The State and cities are again recognizing that their involvement can make a big difference in the feasibility and value of an economic development project. Success requires a collaborative relationship between the city and the developer and a willingness to utilize the state tools and available local authority.

Seth Merewitz is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Best Best & Krieger LLP and leads the firm’s Public-Private Partnership/Joint Venture Practice Group. He can be reached at 213-787-2567 or seth.merewitz@bbklaw.com

This article originally appeared in the October 2014 of Site Selection magazine. Reprinted with permission.