Santa Ana Municipal Code § 20-14 Definitions

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "City of Santa Ana Special Tax Financing Improvement Code" and shall be referred to herein as the "code."

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

This code is adopted pursuant to section 200 of Article II of the Charter of the City of Santa Ana. In proceedings had pursuant to this code which are a municipal affair, any general laws referred to in this code are deemed a part of this code.

In the event that any proceedings had pursuant to this code shall be adjudged a state affair, it is declared to be the intention that the proceedings were had pursuant to any applicable general law or laws.

This code provides an alternative method of financing certain public and private capital facilities and municipal services. The provisions of this code shall not affect or limit any other provisions of law authorizing or providing for the furnishing of facilities or services or the raising of revenue for these purposes. The city may use the provisions of this code instead of or in conjunction with any other method of financing part or all of the cost of providing the authorized kinds of public and private capital facilities and municipal services.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

Any provision in this code which conflicts with any general law or act shall prevail over the other such provision in connection with any proceedings taken pursuant to this code.

In the event any portion of this code shall be declared illegal, unenforceable or unconstitutional, such provision shall be deemed severable from the rest of the provisions of this code.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

The city council may take any actions or make any determinations which it determines are necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this code and which are not otherwise prohibited by law.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

A community facilities district may be established under this code to finance any one (1) or more municipal services within an area including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Police protection services including, but not limited to, criminal justice services. Criminal justice services shall not be limited to providing services for jails, detention facilities and juvenile halls.

(b) Fire protection and suppression services and ambulance and paramedic services.

(c) Recreation program services, library services and the operation and maintenance of parks, parkways; open space, and museums and cultural facilities.

(d) Flood and storm protection services including, but not limited to, the operation and maintenance of storm drainage systems.

(e) Maintenance of sanitary sewer facilities and storm drainage facilities of the city including, but not limited to, sanitary sewer mains, laterals, manholes, pump stations and appurtenances of the city to convey, treat and dispose of sewage, and all storm drainage lines, mains, inlets, channels and all appurtenances of the system of the city designed to convey stormwaters by cleaning, repairing and removal of debris, rubbish and other solid waste.

(f) Any other municipal service which the city is authorized by law to provide.

For purposes of this code, municipal services that may be financed include the performance by employees of functions, operations, maintenance and repair activities.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

A community facilities district may also finance the purchase, construction, expansion, improvement or rehabilitation of any real or other tangible property with an estimated useful life of three (3) years or longer or may finance planning and design work which is directly related to the purchase, construction, expansion or rehabilitation of any real or tangible property. The facilities need not be physically located within the district. A district may finance the purchase of facilities whose construction has been completed before or after the adopted of the resolution of formation, if the facility is or was constructed pursuant to plans approved by the city and the facility is inspected by the city and found to be in compliance with applicable city building codes and standards. For example, a community facilities district may finance facilities including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Local park, recreation, parkway and open space facilities.

(b) Elementary and secondary school sites and structures.

(c) Libraries.

(d) The district may also finance the construction or undergrounding of natural gas pipeline facilities, telephone lines, facilities for the transmission or distribution of electrical energy, and cable television lines. The district may enter into an agreement with a public utility to utilize those facilities to provide a particular service and for the conveyance of those facilities to the public utility. Any reimbursement by the public utility made to the district shall be utilized to reduce or minimize the special tax levied within the district or improvement area, or to construct or acquire additional facilities within the district or improvement area, as specified in the resolution of formation.

(e) The district may also pay in full all amounts necessary to eliminate any fixed special assessment liens or to repay or defease any indebtedness secured by any tax, fee, charge or assessment levied within the area of a community facilities district or may pay debt service on that indebtedness.

(f) Improvements to or the rehabilitation of real property related to fire suppression and/or asbestos removal.

(g) Any other facilities, public or private, which the city is authorized by law to contribute revenue to, or construct, own or operate.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

(a) All or any part of the cost of any school facilities financed by a community facilities district may be shared by the state allocation board pursuant to Section 17718.5 of the California Education Code.

(b) If the state allocation board shares in any part of the cost of the school facilities, the ownership of those facilities and the real property upon which the facilities are located shall be transferred to the State of California. A copy of the deed by which the title is transferred shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property is located. In addition, the community facilities district shall take one (1) or more of the following actions:

(1) Reduce the amount of bonds authorized to be issued by the community facilities district.

(2) Reduce the amount of any special tax which is levied within the community facilities district.

(3) Reduce the amount of outstanding bonds or provide for the defeasance of outstanding bonds.

(4) Shorten the period of time during which a special tax is levied within the community facilities district.

(c) The amount of savings achieved pursuant to the actions taken in accordance with subsection (b) shall be in an amount equal to the amount of costs shared by the state allocation board pursuant to Section 17718.5 of the California Education Code.

(d) The city council hereby finds and declares that this section 20-7 is intended to be in furtherance and not in derogation of education and school financing and thus an appropriate part of this code, despite the fact that education is a state affair.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

The city council may from time to time transfer moneys to a community facilities district or to a zone within a community facilities district, for the benefit of the district or zone, from any funds available to the city. The city council also may appropriate any of the city's available moneys to a revolving fund to be used for the acquisition of real or personal property, engineering or other services, or the construction of structures or improvements needed in whole or in part to provide one (1) or more of the facilities or services of a community facilities district.

The district may reimburse the city for any amount transferred or appropriated pursuant to this section 20-8, together with interest at the rate per annum as determined by the city council.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

(a) At any time either before or after the formation of a community facilities district, the city council may accept advances of funds or work-in-kind from any source including, but not limited to, private persons or private entities and may provide for the use of those funds or that work-in-kind for any authorized purpose including, but not limited to, paying any cost incurred by the city in creating a community facilities district. The city council may enter into an agreement with the person or entity advancing the funds or work-in-kind to repay all or a portion of the funds advanced, or to reimburse the person or entity for the value or cost, whichever is less, of the work-in-kind as determined by the city council, with or without interest, under all of the following conditions:

(1) The proposal to repay the funds or the value or cost of the work-in-kind, whichever is less, is included in the resolution of intention or the resolution of formation to establish the district, or in the resolution of consideration to alter the types of public facilities and services provided within an established district.

(2) Any proposed special tax or change in a special tax is approved by the qualified electors of the district pursuant to this code. Any agreement may specify that, if the qualified electors of the district do not approve the proposed special tax or change in a special tax, the local agency shall return any funds which have not been committed for any authorized purpose by the time of the election to the person or entity advancing the funds.

(3) Any work-in-kind accepted pursuant to this section shall have been performed or constructed pursuant to plans approved by the city, and the work-in-kind shall be inspected by the city and found to be in compliance with applicable city building codes and standards.

(b) Any such agreement shall not constitute a debt or liability of the city.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

This code shall be liberally construed in order to effectuate its purposes. No error, irregularity, and no neglect or omission of any officer in any procedure taken under this code, which does not directly affect the jurisdiction of the city council to order the installation of the facility or the provisions of service or the levy of special taxes, shall void or invalidate such proceeding or any levy for the costs of a facility or service.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

The failure of any person to receive a notice, resolution, order or other matter shall not affect in any way whatsoever the validity of any proceedings taken under this code or prevent the legislative body from proceeding with any hearing so notice.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

This code applies insofar as the city has the power to install or contribute revenue for any of the facilities or provide or contribute revenue for any of the services authorized under this code. The officers of the city who have similar powers and duties as the municipal officers referred to in this code shall have the powers and duties given by this code to the municipal officials. Where no similar officer exists, the city manager of the city shall appoint a person or designate an officer to perform the duties under this code.

The city may initiate proceedings pursuant to section 20-18 to include territory proposed for annexation to the city within a community facilities district, if a petition or resolution of application for the annexation of the territory to the city has been accepted for filing and a certificate of filing has been issued by the executive officer of the city formation commission at the time the proceedings to create the district are initiated. Those proceedings may be completed only if the annexation of the territory to the city is completed.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

(a) The city council may enter into a joint community facilities agreement with any other local agency pursuant to this section or into a joint exercise of powers agreement pursuant Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the California Government Code to exercise any power authorized by this chapter, if the city council adopts a resolution declaring that such a joint agreement would be beneficial to the residents of the city or the district.

(b) Notwithstanding Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the California Government Code, a contracting party may use the proceeds of any special tax or charge levied pursuant to this code or of any bonds or other indebtedness issued pursuant to this chapter to provide facilities or services which that contracting party is otherwise authorized by law to provide, even though another contracting party does not have the power to provide those facilities or services.

(c) The agreement entered into pursuant to this section 20-13 may provide for the division of responsibility to provide any of the facilities or services among the entries entering into the agreement. The agreement shall provide for the allocation and distribution of the proceeds of any special tax levy among the parties to the agreement.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this article shall govern the construction of this code.

Clerk means the city clerk of the city.

Community facilities district or district means a district established pursuant to this code for the sole purpose of financing facilities and/or services.

Cost means the expense of constructing or purchasing the facility and of related land, right-of-way, easements, including incidental expenses, and the cost of providing authorized services, including incidental expenses.

Debt means any binding obligation to repay a sum of money, including obligations in the form of bonds, certificates of participation, long-term leases, loans from government agencies, or loans from banks, other financial institutions, private businesses or individuals.

Incidental expense includes all of the following:

(1) The cost of planning and designing facilities to be financed pursuant to this code, including the cost of environmental evaluations of those facilities.

(2) The costs associated with the creation of the district, issuance of bonds, determination of the amount of taxes, collection of taxes, payment of taxes, or costs otherwise incurred in order to carry out the authorized purposes of the district.

(3) Any other expenses incidental to the management, administration, completion and inspection of the construction and/or acquisition of the facilities.

Landowner or owner or owner of land means any person shown as the owner of land on the last equalized assessment roll or otherwise known to be the owner of the land by the city clerk. Notwithstanding the foregoing, "landowner" or "owner" or "owner of land" means, with respect to any land which is the subject of a condemnation action, the person entitled to possession of the land. The city council has no obligation to obtain other information as to the ownership of the land, and its determination of ownership shall be final and conclusive for the purposes of this code. The city or any other public agency is not a landowner or owner of land for purposes of this code, unless the land owned by the city or any public agency or any leasehold therein would be subject to a special tax levied pursuant to this code, as provided in sections 20-15 or 20-16.

Legislative body means the legislative body or governing board of any local agency and, with respect to the city, shall mean the city council.

Local agency means any city or county, whether general law or chartered, special district, school district, joint powers entity created pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1, or any other municipal corporation, district or political subdivision of the state.

Rate means a single rate of tax or a schedule of rates.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

If property not otherwise exempt from a special tax levied pursuant to this code is acquired by a public entity through a negotiated transaction or by gift or devise, the special tax shall, notwithstanding section 20-54, continue to be levied on the property acquired and shall be enforceable against the public entity that acquired the property.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, any public agency other than a city, county or school district may subject property owned by it to the levy of special taxes, if it shall certify to the city council: (a) its agreement to do so; (b) that it intends to dispose of such property by transfer to a nongovernmental agency at some time in the future; and (c) that it agrees to cooperate in the sale of the property if necessary to obtain funds to pay any special taxes levied upon such property.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

If property subject to a special tax levied pursuant to this code is acquired by the city or any public entity or entities through eminent domain proceedings, the obligation to pay the special tax shall be treated, pursuant to Section 1265.250 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, as if it were a special annual assessment. For this purpose, the present value of the obligation to pay a special tax to pay the principal and interest on any indebtedness incurred by the district prior to the date of apportionment determined pursuant to Section 5082 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code shall be treated the same as a fixed lien special assessment.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)

(a) If a public agency owning property, including property held in trust for any beneficiary, which is exempt from a special tax pursuant to section 20-54 grants a leasehold or other possessory interest in the property to a nonexempt person or entity, the special tax shall, notwithstanding section 20-54, be levied on the leasehold or possessory interest and shall be payable by the owner of the leasehold or possessory interest.

(b) When entering into a lease or other written contract creating a possessory interest that may be subject to taxation pursuant to subsection (a), the public agency shall include or cause to be included in the contract a statement that the property interest may be subject to special taxation pursuant to this chapter, and that the party in whom the possessory interest is vested may be subject to the payment of special taxes levied on the interest. Failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall not, however, invalidate the contract.

(c) If the special tax on any possessory interest levied pursuant to subsection (a) is unpaid when due, the tax collector may use those collection procedures which are available for the collection of assessments on the unsecured roll.

(Ord. No. NS-2033, § 2, 11-20-89)