Chapter 4. Powers And Duties Of The District of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 4. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 4.

The district shall have perpetual succession and may do all of the following:
  (a) Sue and be sued in all actions and proceedings in all courts and tribunals of competent jurisdiction.
  (b) Adopt a seal and alter it at pleasure.
  (c) Take by grant, purchase, gift, devise, lease, or otherwise, and hold, use and enjoy, and lease, or otherwise dispose of, real and personal property of every kind and description within or without the district necessary to the full and convenient exercise of its powers.
  (d) Cause assessments to be levied, as provided in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8601) to pay any obligation of the district and to accomplish the purposes of the district in the manner provided in this part.
  (e) Make contracts, and employ, except as otherwise provided in this part, all persons, firms, and corporations necessary to carry out the purposes and the powers of the district, and at any salary, wage, or other compensation as the board of directors shall determine.
  (f) Eradicate, remove, or prevent the spread of any and all citrus pests.
  (g) Enter into or upon any land included within the boundaries of the district for the purpose of inspecting and treating the citrus trees and other host plants and fruit growing on them.
  (h) Perform any and all acts either within or outside the district necessary or proper to fully and completely carry out the purposes for which the district was organized.

Every district formed pursuant to this part has all of the powers prescribed by Section 8551 and other sections of this part, including the power to eradicate, remove, or prevent the spread of each and every citrus pest, regardless of any language in the petition for formation for any district or in any of the proceedings leading to formation which might seem to limit the power of the district to the control or eradication of one or more citrus pests in particular.

(a) A district may pay limited compensation to the owner of any citrus tree infected with citrus tristeza virus which is removed by the district or by the owner within 15 days after written notice of the infection to the owner by the district. The limited compensation shall not exceed the following payment schedule, with the age of the tree being conclusively established as of the time written notice of the infection is first given to the owner.
  (b) The schedule of payments is as follows:

Age of trees Maximum payment 1 year............... $ 5.00 per tree 2 years.............. 7.50 per tree 3 years.............. 10.00 per tree 4 years.............. 14.00 per tree 5 years.............. 17.50 per tree 6 years.............. 20.75 per tree 7 years or older..... 25.00 per tree

(c) For the purposes of this section, the holder of the record title of the real property on which the trees are located shall be considered to be the owner of the citrus trees to whom written notice of infection is given.
  (d) The written notice referred to in subdivision (a) shall be a written or printed document labeled "Notice of Infection," addressed to the owner and informing the owner of the existence of the infected trees, their location, and that they should be removed forthwith.
  (e) For the purposes of determining the age of infected citrus trees under this section, trees shall be considered one year old as of the January 1st succeeding the calendar year in which they are planted, and shall be deemed one year older on the January 1st of each succeeding year.

In order to expedite the elimination of the source of citrus tristeza virus, if it appears to the board that the cost of testing, indexing, or retesting trees to determine infection may exceed the cost of removal, plus the payment of limited compensation, a district may, with the consent of the owner, remove and pay limited compensation pursuant to Section 8553 for trees which have not been determined to be infected with citrus tristeza virus.

Any payment made to the owner or owners of citrus trees removed pursuant to Section 8553 or 8554 shall in no event exceed the sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per geographical acre.

The commissioner of the county in which the district is located shall, upon request of the board and without fee or charge, supervise and direct, in accordance with the best known and accepted methods as determined by the board, all activities undertaken by the district for the control or eradication of citrus pests.

The board shall, immediately after its qualification, formulate an effective plan based on the best known and accepted methods for the control and eradication of the citrus pests within the district.

After the final adoption of the plan, the board shall make or cause to be made an estimate of the cost of operating the plan for the next fiscal year beginning not sooner than 90 days thereafter.

Within 30 days after the receipt of the estimate, the board shall adopt a preliminary budget of expenditures for such fiscal year.

Upon the adoption of the preliminary budget, the board shall fix a time and place for holding a hearing thereon. The hearing shall not be less than 20 days, nor more than 40 days, after the adoption of the preliminary budget.

The board shall give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the preliminary budget by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.

The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.

The notice shall contain all of the following:
  (a) A summary of the proposed budget and shall refer to the original on file with the board for further particulars.
  (b) State that it is the intention to raise the amount of money required to meet the proposed budget by levying an assessment upon the assessed value of the citrus trees within the district in accordance with this part.
  (c) A statement of the day, hour, and place, when and where any and all persons interested may appear and object to the adoption of the budget or to any item in it.

At any time not later than the hour set for hearing objections to the proposed budget, any owner of citrus acreage in the district may make written protest against the budget or any item in it.

At the time set for hearing protests, the board shall proceed to hear and pass upon all protests so made and its decision on the protests shall be final and conclusive.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the board shall by resolution entered on its minutes make such changes in the proposed budget as it finds are proper and advisable. The tentative budget as so changed or modified shall be the budget of the district for the forthcoming fiscal year.

There may be added to the budget for the first fiscal year of the operation of the district an amount not in excess of 20 percent of the total amount of the budget to cover the preliminary expenses of the district and for the expenses of operation up to the beginning of the first fiscal year.

For each fiscal year subsequent to the first year of operation of the district, the board shall adopt the final budget therefor in the same manner and at the same time that the budget for the first fiscal year was adopted.