Imperial County Municipal Code Ch. 12.20 Highway Lighting District Assessments

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a procedure for making and collecting assessments in highway lighting districts providing highway lighting services in the unincorporated territory of the county of Imperial, subject to approval by the voters at an election, or elections to be held.

(Prior code § 26500)

This chapter is adopted pursuant to the Highway Lighting District Act, as amended, (Streets and Highways Code Section 19000 et seq.).

(Prior code § 26501)

A. The board of supervisors shall establish the amount of the annual assessment to be collected each year by estimating the cost of providing highway lighting in the highway lighting district furnishing such services and deducting therefrom the amount of estimated funds available to the highway lighting district from sources other than such assessments to provide highway lighting services. The total amount of the annual assessment shall be apportioned among all of the parcels of real property within the highway lighting district furnishing highway lighting. The written report, to be filed as provided hereinbelow, shall establish a benefit factor to be assigned to each parcel of real property on the basis of its category of use. The total number of benefit factors in the highway lighting district shall be divided into the total of the annual assessment to determine the basic benefit unit cost for the highway lighting district. The benefit factor for each parcel of real property shall be multiplied by the basic benefit unit cost to determine the amount to be collected from each parcel.

B. Whenever the board of supervisors intends to 1evy assessments under this chapter, it shall first have a written report containing a description of each parcel within the district and the amount of the assessment for each such parcel, prepared and filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors, and the clerk shall fix a time, date, and place for a hearing upon the reports. Prior to the date of the hearing, a notice of the hearing shall be published pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. In addition, at least three copies of the notice shall be posted in public places within each highway lighting district affected.

C. At the hearing, the board of supervisors shall hear and consider all protests. At the conclusion of the hearing the board of supervisors may adopt, revise, change, reduce, or modify any assessment and shall make its determination upon each assessment described in the report and thereafter, by ordinance, shall confirm the assessments; provided, however, that the board of supervisors shall not impose an assessment upon a federal or state governmental agency or another local agency.

D. When the assessments have been confirmed, the board of supervisors of the county shall, at the time of levying county taxes, levy an assessment on each parcel of real property within each highway lighting district on the basis of the estimated benefit to the parcel in accordance with the confirmed assessment.

E. The confirmed assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as a general tax levy for county purposes; except that, if for the first year such assessment is levied the real property on which the assessment is levied 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 county taxes would become delinquent, the confirmed assessment shall not result in a lien against the real property but shall be transferred to the unsecured roll.

(Prior code § 26502)

The board of supervisors shall place before the voters of each highway lighting district by election or elections the question whether a district shall be authorized to levy assessments. If the majority of those voting approve of such authority, then, assessments may thereafter be made for ensuing years upon the basis of confirmed reports for each highway lighting district concerned. If the majority of those voting disapproves of such authority, no assessments shall be made within any district where such authority has been so disapproved and no subsequent ordinance levying assessments for any succeeding fiscal year shall be adopted by the board of supervisors without the prior approval of the voters of the district, by a majority vote of those voting at a special district or county-wide election or by a ballot mailed to each property owner or registered voter of the district as provided in Government Code Section 54717

(Ord. 1341 § 39, 2001: prior code § 26503)