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2007 California Government Code Article 1. General Provisions
CA Codes (gov:25210.1-25210.9c)
GOVERNMENT CODESECTION 25210.1-25210.9c
25210.1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that unprecedented growth in the unincorporated areas of a great many counties of California, particularly since 1940, has created many new and difficult problems of government. As a result of large population growth and intensive residential, commercial and industrial development in such areas, extended governmental services are needed in such areas. The Legislature recognizes the duty of counties as instrumentalities of State Government to adequately meet the needs of such areas for extended governmental services and also recognizes that such areas should pay for the extended services which are provided. The residents and property owners of such areas are entitled to have made available to them reasonable alternative methods of providing or securing the extended services they require and to choose among the alternatives a method best suited to their local circumstances. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide an additional alternative method for the furnishing of extended governmental services within such areas adequate to meet the needs of such areas and to provide for the levy of taxes within such areas in an amount sufficient to pay for extended services provided or additional extended services to be provided. 25210.1a. Land devoted primarily to agricultural, timber, or livestock uses and being used for the commercial production of agricultural, timber, or livestock products may be included in a county service area only if that land is contiguous to other land which is included within the described exterior boundaries of the county service area, and only if the board of supervisors finds that the land will be benefited by any of the types of services proposed to be provided within the area. That land may, however, be included in the county service area, if the owner requests its inclusion. 25210.2. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "County Service Area Law." 25210.3. This chapter provides an alternative method for providing governmental services by counties within unincorporated areas. This chapter shall not affect or limit any other provisions of law authorizing or providing for the furnishing of governmental services within unincorporated areas. When any proceedings are commenced under this chapter, for the establishment of a county service area or for providing additional types of services within an established county service area, this chapter and no other provisions shall apply to the proceedings. Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 54900) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code shall apply to all of these proceedings and the term "district" as used in that Chapter 8 shall be deemed to include a county service area for the purposes of that chapter only. 25210.3a. No proceedings for the establishment of a county service area may be instituted until the approval of the local agency formation commission is first obtained pursuant to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5. 25210.3b. Territory may be annexed to, or detached from, a county service area and a county service area may be dissolved, consolidated, or reorganized. All proceedings therefor shall be taken under and pursuant to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, Division 3 (commencing with Section 56000) of Title 5. 25210.3c. A county service area may destroy a record pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60200) of Division 1 of Title 6. 25210.4. A county service area may be established under this chapter to provide any one or more of the following types of extended service within such area: (a) Extended police protection. (b) Structural fire protection. (c) Local park, recreation or parkway facilities and services. (d) Any other governmental services, hereinafter referred to as miscellaneous extended services, which the county is authorized by law to perform and which the county does not also perform to the same extent on a countywide basis both within and without cities, if: (1) The board of supervisors determines that such services should be provided on an extended basis within a county service area; or (2) Such services are specified in a request or a petition for the initiation of proceedings for the formation of a county service area or in a request or a petition for the initiation of proceedings for the furnishing of additional types of services within a county service area. (e) Extended library facilities and services. (f) Television translator station facilities and services, if: (1) The number of station facilities to be erected by the service area will not exceed six. (2) The number of television channels provided by the service area will not exceed 10. (g) Low-power television services. At the time of the adoption of the resolution of intention to establish a county service area the board of supervisors shall specify the type or types of services which are proposed to be provided within the area pursuant to this chapter. 25210.4a. "Miscellaneous extended services," as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, all of the following: (1) Water service, including the acquisition, construction, operation, replacement, maintenance, and repair of water supply and distribution systems, including land, easements, rights-of-way, and water rights. (2) Sewer service, including the acquisition, construction, operation, replacement, maintenance, and repair of sewage collection, transportation, and disposal systems, including land, easements, and rights-of-way. (3) Pest or rodent control. (4) Street and highway sweeping. (5) Street and highway lighting, including the acquisition, construction, replacement, maintenance, and repair of a street or highway lighting system, including land, easements, and rights-of-way. (6) Refuse collection. (7) Garbage collection. (8) Ambulance service. (9) Planning for a part of the county by a planning agency established pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 65100) of Chapter 3 of Title 7. (10) Soil conservation and drainage control. (11) Animal control. (12) Services provided by a municipal advisory council established pursuant to Section 31010. (13) Transportation services. (14) Geologic hazard abatement on public or private property or structures where the board of supervisors determines that it is in the public interest to abate geologic hazards. "Geologic hazard," for purposes of this subdivision, means an actual or threatened landslide, land subsidence, soil erosion, earthquake, or any other natural or unnatural movement of land or earth. (15) Road maintenance. Street, highway, and bridge construction, improvement and maintenance, including related drainage facilities and structures, necessary design and engineering services, and the acquisition of land, easements, and rights-of-way needed for the work. Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 20120) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code is applicable to the furnishing of extended services pursuant to this paragraph. (16) Interments pursuant to the Public Cemetery District Law, Part 4 (commencing with Section 9000) of Division 8 of the Health and Safety Code. 25210.4b. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 25210.4, a county service area may be established in a county of the 46th class or a county of the 56th class to provide, as an extended service, an unlimited number of television translators and an unlimited number of television channels. In addition, such a county service area may provide as extended service the amplification and rebroadcast of an unlimited number of FM radio signals. 25210.4c. A county service area including the entire unincorporated area of the county may be established to provide any or all of the services authorized in Sections 25210.4 or 25210.4a within such area of the county notwithstanding that the services proposed to be provided within the service area are being provided to the entire unincorporated area at the same or similar level to that proposed, provided the board of supervisors finds that the services proposed to be provided within such service area are not being provided to the same extent on a countywide basis both within and without cities. 25210.4d. In any county which exceeds 20,000 square miles in area, a county service area, in addition to all other types of service which it is empowered to provide, may provide flood or inundation protection services; and any such county service area formed prior to the effective date of this section may provide such services without taking proceedings for the extension of authorized services pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 25210.30) of this chapter. As used in this section, "flood or inundation protection services" shall include, but shall not be limted to, the acquisition, purchase, construction, repair, and maintenance of dams and of all land, easements, structures, facilities, and equipment necessary or convenient therefor when the same are intended to protect persons or property from flooding or inundation which might occur in the event of the failure of an existing privately owned dam. No indebtedness may be incurred by a county service area for the purposes of this section except in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 (commencing with Section 25211.1) of this chapter. Any county service area utilizing the provisions of this section to provide flood or inundation protection services and which establishes a zone of benefit therefor, may not provide water service within such zone of benefit. 25210.4e. In Lassen County, a county service area, in addition to other services which it is empowered to provide, may purchase electrical energy generated within the boundaries of the county, and enter into contracts for the sale of such energy at wholesale rates to any public agency or public utility engaged in the sale or use of electrical energy. 25210.4f. (a) In Orange County, a county service area, in addition to other services which it is empowered to provide, may exercise the powers of a harbor improvement district pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 5800) of Division 8 of the Harbors and Navigation Code and the Orange County Flood Control District pursuant to Chapter 723 of the Statutes of 1927 and as subsequently amended. Notwithstanding Sections 25210.10 and 25210.10a, the county service area may include all of the territory, both incorporated and unincorporated, within the County of Orange without the adoption of resolutions of consent adopted by the legislative bodies of the cities. These services and facilities shall be deemed "miscellaneous extended services." (b) In the event one or more special districts, one of which is a harbor improvement district or a district formed pursuant to Chapter 723 of the Statutes of 1927 governed by a county board of supervisors, is dissolved, the county may form a county service area or areas to include both the incorporated and unincorporated territory of the former district or districts. The county may exercise the same powers and continue to provide the facilities and services of the former district or districts under the authority and in the manner provided in either the statutes governing the county or those governing the district which formerly provided those facilities and services, including, but not limited to, the authority to adopt ordinances pursuant to Section 5900 of the Harbors and Navigation Code and Section 3 of the Orange County Flood Control Act (Chapter 723 of the Statutes of 1927), and the authority to adopt flood plain regulations under Section 8414 of the Water Code. (c) The provisions of Sections 25210.10, 25210.10a, and 25210.90 shall not apply to the county service area or service areas referred to in this section. 25210.4g. (a) In San Bernardino County, a county service area, in addition to all other types of service that it is empowered to provide, may provide open-space and habitat conservation services, including the acquisition and preservation of land for the purposes of protecting unique, sensitive, threatened, or endangered species, or historical or culturally significant lands that are deemed to be in need of protection by the county board of supervisors. These services and facilities shall be deemed "miscellaneous extended services." (b) For purposes of this section, the service charge authority in Section 25210.77a does not apply. (c) For any county service area or zone thereof formed pursuant to this section, any setback or buffer requirements to protect the open-space or habitat areas shall be owned and maintained by the county service area so as not to infringe on the customary husbandry practices on any neighboring agricultural or timber operations. 25210.5. As used in this chapter, "structural fire protection" includes protection against all fires occurring within a county service area except those for which protection is provided pursuant to Section 25642, and shall include fire prevention, hazard abatement, and enforcement of the Uniform Fire Code as adopted by the State Fire Marshal in Section 1.09 of Title 19 of the California Code of Regulations. 25210.6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter (commencing with Section 25210.1), the board of supervisors may levy and collect taxes for capital outlay purposes within a county service area. The board may also levy and collect taxes for the accumulation of a reserve fund for capital outlay purposes. 25210.6a. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, the board of supervisors may levy and collect a special tax in any county service area or zone within a county service area, pursuant to the procedures prescribed in Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 50075) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1, to fund any one or more services which may be provided under this chapter. (b) "Special tax," as used in this section, means any special tax which applies uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within the county service area or zone. 25210.7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the board of supervisors may levy and collect taxes for any appropriation for contingencies to be used for expenses for maintenance and operation of any services within a county service area. 25210.8. Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, the board of supervisors may establish zones within any county service area with tax rates, service charges, benefit assessments, fire suppression assessments, or connection charges varying with the extent of benefit to each zone derived from services provided to the property within each zone or with the availability of other funds within a zone. 25210.9. Any water, sewer, or garbage service fees which remain unpaid for a period of 60 or more days after the date upon which they were billed may be collected thereafter by the county as provided herein. (a) Once a year the board of supervisors shall cause to be prepared a report of delinquent fees. The board shall fix a time, date and place for hearing the report and any objections or protests thereto. (b) The board shall cause notice of the hearing to be mailed to the landowners listed on the report not less than 10 days prior to the date of the hearing. (c) At the hearing the board shall hear any objections or protests of landowners liable to be assessed for delinquent fees. The board may make such revisions or corrections to the report as it deems just, after which, by resolution, the report shall be confirmed. (d) The delinquent fees set forth in the report as confirmed shall constitute special assessments against the respective parcels of land and are a lien on the property for the amount of such delinquent fees. A certified copy of the confirmed report shall be filed with the county auditor for the amounts of the respective assessments against the respective parcels of land as they appear on the current assessment roll. The lien created attaches upon recordation, in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property is situated, of a certified copy of the resolution of confirmation. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary county ad valorem property taxes are collected and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for such taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of county ad valorem property taxes shall be applicable to such assessment, except that if any real property to which such lien would attach has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has been created and attaches thereon, prior to the date on which the first installment of such taxes would become delinquent, then the lien which would otherwise be imposed by this section shall not attach to such real property and the delinquency fees, as confirmed, relating to such property shall be transferred to the unsecured roll for collection. This remedy is in addition to all other means available for collection. (e) If the person who appears as the owner of the respective parcels of land on the current assessment roll is different from the person to whom the bills for water, sewer or garbage service fees were sent, the provisions of this section shall apply only if (1) Copies of any unpaid bills for water, sewer or garbage service fees and (2) Copies of any notice of hearing of a report of delinquent fees were mailed to such person who appears as the owner of the respective parcels of land. 25210.9a. The board of supervisors may from time to time transfer moneys to a county service area or to a zone within a county service area, for the benefit of the service area or zone, from any available funds of the county. Any moneys so transferred may be used for the payment of any currently payable expenses incurred by reason of the establishment of any extended services within the service area or zone prior to December 1 of the first fiscal year in which a tax may be levied for extended services within the service area or zone. The rate of interest earned by such moneys shall be determined by the board of supervisors. 25210.9b. The board of supervisors shall in the first fiscal year in which a special tax upon the taxable property therein may be levied for any extended service in and on behalf of a county service area or a zone within a county service area, levy a special tax upon the taxable property therein for the purposes of the service area or zone, and shall include in the levy a sum sufficient to repay to the county the amounts transferred to the said service area or zone pursuant to Section 25210.9a. The amounts borrowed, with interest, shall be retransferred to the proper county fund or funds from the first available receipts from said special levy in said service area or zone. Notwithstanding the above, the board of supervisors, may, by a four-fifths resolution no later than the time of the first levy, extend the repayment of the transferred funds over a period of not to exceed three consecutive years, in which event said levy and each subsequent levy shall include a sum sufficient to repay the amount specified by the board of supervisors for the year of the levy. 25210.9c. (a) Pursuant to a resolution adopted by a four-fifths vote of all the members of its board of supervisors, a county may appropriate any of its available moneys to a revolving fund not to exceed two million dollars (,000,000) to be used for the acquisition of real or personal property, environmental impact studies, fiscal analysis, engineering services, salaries, wages, services, supplies, or the construction of structures or improvements needed in whole or in part to provide one or more extended services to a county service area located wholly within the county. The revolving fund shall be reimbursed from service fees, connection charges, tax revenues, or other moneys available from the service area, and no sums shall be disbursed from the fund until the board has, by resolution, established the method by and the term, not exceeding 10 years, within which the county service area is to reimburse the fund. The service area shall reimburse the fund for any amount disbursed to the service area within 10 years after disbursement, together with interest at the current rate per annum received on similar types of investments by the county as determined by the county treasurer. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara or the County of Tulare may disburse money from the revolving fund to county service areas without complying with the requirement for reimbursement.
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