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HomeMy WebLinkAbout97-148RESOLUTION DIRECTING COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEDURES TO IMPOSE AN ANNUAL SERVICE CHARGE IN COUNTY SERVICE AREA 1 ,ZONE 1, SETTING PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER LEVYING SUCH CHARGE AND DIRECTING THE CONDUCT OF A PROPERTY OIVNER BALLOT PROCEEDING WHEREAS, County Service Area ]was formed in 1955 to provide street lighting services but the existing A.B. 8 revenue source is no longer adequate to do so, and the ballot proceeding held on June 24, 1997, to authorize a service charge was not successful; and WHEREAS, a -najority of the property owners within County Service Area 1, Zone 1, have signed a petition requesting the Board of Supervisors to hold another ballot proceeding to authorize a service charge, with the understanding that the annual cost for street lighting will not exceed $14.30 per parcel of real property; and WHEREAS, Government Code Section 25210.77a contains authority for the County of Butte to establish and collect a service charge for extended services provided through a county service area or zone; and WHEREAS, the Board of Superti~isors did, by ordinance adopt Butte County Code Section 21-85 et seq., establishing a procedure for annually levying and collecting such a charge on the tax roll; and WHEREAS, Article XII I D, Section 6 of the California Constitution, as adopted by passage of Proposition 218 on November 5, 1996, established procedures for levying a charge; and WHEREAS, a written report identifying each parcel of real property receiving a particular extended service, and the amount of the charge for each parcel far future years, has been filed with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and resides in the Property Tax Section of the Auditor's Office; and WHEREAS, the Board wishes to give notice of and to hold a public hearing to consider levying such new service charges for fiscal year 1998-99 and future years in accordance with the procedures specified in Article XIII D, Section 6, of the California Constitution. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, i . That a public hearing is set for January 13, 1998, at 10 a. m. to hear and consider all objections or protests, if any, and to adopt, revise, change, reduce or modify any charge as described in the report and thereafter, by resolution, to confirm the report and levy the charge, in an amount not exceeding $ I4.30 per parcel of real property per year for fiscal year 1998-99 and future fiscal years. 2. The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors is directed, to publish notice of the hearing, as required by Butte County Code Section 21-88, and the Clerk-Recorder /Registrar of Voters of the County of Butte is directed to mail the notice, as required by Section 6 (a) of Article XIII D of the California Constitution, to the record owner of each identified parcel upon which the new charge is proposed for levying. The notice shall include the amount of the proposed new charge, the basis upon which the amount of the proposed charge was calculated, the reason far the charge, and the date, time and location of the public hearing. 3. The Clerk-Recorder 1 Registrar of Voters of the County of Butte is directed to conduct a ballot proceeding in connection with the hearing held pursuant to section 2 above. The hearing notices mailed shall also include a ballot identifying the Assessor Parcel Number of the property and including spaces for the property owner to vote "Yes" to approve the charge or "No" to disapprove the charge and shall include information stating that the ballots shall be submitted to the Clerk-Recorder 1 Registrar of Voters as specified below. A "No" vote shall be treated as a protest against the charge. The ballot proceeding shall be conducted in substantial compliance with the following procedures and requirements: a. The ballot proceeding shat] be conducted on January 13, 1998, pursuant to the requirements of Section 6(c) and following procedures similar to those specified in Section 4 (d) and (e), of Article XIII D of the California Constitution, as specified below. b. The ballot proceeding shall be conducted in conjunction with the protest hearing and will be referred to as a "Property Owner Ballot Proceeding". c. The Auditor-Controller shall provide the Clerk-Recorder 1 Registrar of Voters with a certified copy of the portion of the current tax roll relating to the property to be charged. d. No less than forty-five (45) days prior to the hearing and election the Clerk-Recorder l Registrar of Voters shat) mail ballot proceeding materials, including the notice referred to in section 2 above, to the lega) owner of each parcel of real property subject to the charges within the County Service Area, as their names and addresses appear on the said tax roll. e. The ballot proceeding materials mailed to each owner shall identify the County Service Area, and shall include information regarding the purpose of the ballot proceeding, a ballot, and an addressed return envelope with postage prepaid. f One vote may be cast as to each parcel of real property. g. The person entitled to exercise the vote shall be the legal owner as identified on the current tax roll. h. The "owner of the property", or the authorized representative of the legal owner, may exercise the vote. I. Where there are multiple legal owners, only one of them may exercise the vote on behalf of the property. j. The person exercising the vote shall sign a declaration on the ballot, under penalty of perjury, stating that he or she is entitled to vote because he or she is a legal owner of the property, is authorized by the legal owner(s), or is a tenant who will be directly liable to pay the charge. k. Each ballot shall be returned to the Butte County Elections Department in a sealed envelope. The ballot may be mailed or personally delivered but must be received not later than the claw of the hearing on January 13, 1998. A ballot postmarked prior to but not received by the close of the hearing will not be counted. A ballot withdrawn prior to the close of the hearing will not be counted. ]. The Clerk-Recorder /Registrar of Voters may process the ballots upon receipt but shall not release any vote-count information before the hearing. m. The Clerk-Recorder /Registrar of Voters shall certify the ballot proceeding results to the Board of Supervisors immediately after the close of the hearing and shall request the Board of Supervisors to accept the results. n. The Clerk-Recorder i Registrar of Voters steal] retain the ballot(s) for six (6) months after the election. o. Upon acceptance of the election results by the Board of Supervisors, the charge, if approved by a majority vote of the property owners submitting ballots, will be approved as the maximum permissible charge. p. If the charge is not approved by a majority vote of the property owners submitting ballots, the Board directs the auditor not to place the charge on the 1998-99 or future tax bills. q, If the charge is approved, the Board may at a future time direct the Auditor to place the charge on the 1998-99 and future tax bills. Provided, however, that if the final budget adopted for the County Service Area is less than the proposed budget upon which the charge was based, then the Auditor is directed to make a corresponding reduction in the service charge to be placed on the tax bills. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, this lothday of November _ 1997 by the following vote: APES: Supervisors Beeler, Dolan, Roux, Josiassen and. Chair Davis NOES: None ABSENT: None ~~ NOT VOTING: None ,._ --- - ~`` r ~d Davis, Chair, Butte County Board of Supervisors ATTEST: JOHN BLACKLOCK, Chief Administrative Oi~icer and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors (c~al.ras)