Article 6. County Harbor Improvement of California Harbors And Navigation Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 6.

"Harbor," as used in this article, includes any bay, inlet, or other arm of the sea in which the tides of the Pacific Ocean ebb and flow, except such as are excluded from the application of this chapter by the provisions of Section 4049 of this code.

Any county may improve, develop, protect, and maintain one or more or all of the harbors within its boundaries, upon the conditions, in accordance with the procedure, and in the manner provided in this article and in the Public Contract Code.

Upon receiving a petition signed by persons who are both freeholders and electors in the county, equal in number to at least 15 per cent of the vote cast for the office of Governor at the last preceding election at which a Governor was elected, proposing that the matter of the improvement, development, protection and maintenance of one or more such harbors, naming them, be submitted to the electors of the county, the board of supervisors may appoint a harbor commission for the county in accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of this chapter, which provisions are incorporated herein to the extent that they are not inconsistent herewith.

With all diligence, the harbor commission shall proceed with surveys of the harbor or harbors intended to be improved, developed, or protected, the preparation of plans therefor and estimates of cost thereof, and shall report to the board of supervisors thereon, with its recommendations concerning the necessity, advantage, and benefit to be derived by the improvement, development, or protection of such harbor or harbors; all as provided in Article 2 of this chapter, which provisions are incorporated herein to the extent that they are not inconsistent herewith.

Upon receiving the report and recommendations of the Harbor Commission, the board of supervisors shall consider and determine the feasibility of the project or projects submitted, may call upon the commission for further surveys and reports and shall determine (1) what harbor or harbors, and by what specific project or projects, or parts thereof, it will be in the interest of the county to improve, develop, or protect, (2) for which thereof, if any, moneys should be provided by the issuance of bonds of the county and the amount of bonds required to be issued and sold therefor, and (3) for which thereof, if any, moneys should be raised by the levy of a special tax at a specified rate over a specified number of years not exceeding 20 years.

For such a purpose, the county may incur a bonded indebtedness, upon the conditions, in the manner and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by applicable provisions of law, including Sections 4088, 4088a and 4089 of the Political Code and Article 2 of this chapter.

Any tax for such a purpose may be levied only if a proposal therefor (specifying the purpose, the rate of tax, and the number of years for which the tax is to be levied) is submitted to the qualified electors of the county, at a general or special election, and is approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon. No such tax may be levied if it operates to increase the maximum rate of taxation otherwise prescribed for the county unless the proposal therefor is approved by two-thirds of the electors voting thereon. Any such proposal for a tax levy shall be submitted to the electors of the county, and the election thereon held, in conformity, as nearly as may be practicable, with the provisions of law applicable to the submission to the electors of a proposition for the issuance of bonds of the county and the conduct of an election thereon.

The work of improving, developing, or protecting the harbor, whether the moneys therefor are the proceeds of the sale of bonds of the county or of a tax levy, shall be done under the control and management of the harbor commission pursuant to applicable provisions of law, including the provisions of the Public Contract Code and the preceding articles of this chapter, which latter provisions are incorporated herein to the extent that they are not inconsistent herewith.

When the improvement, development, or protection of a particular harbor is completed, and the board of supervisors so find and determine, the management and control of that harbor vests in the board of supervisors. Thereafter the costs of maintaining the harbor is a county charge.

In managing and controlling a harbor, the board of supervisors has authority, upon such terms and conditions as the board shall prescribe, to grant franchises, permits and leases for the use of lands and facilities belonging to the county, and to prescribe the rate or rates of wharfage and other charges which are appropriate for the use of any of the facilities owned or services furnished or provided by the county. All revenues derived from such franchises, permits, leases, and charges, are available solely for payment of the cost of maintaining harbors that are under the control and management of the board of supervisors, except that the board may from time to time, out of any surplus of such revenues, transfer to the appropriate funds of the county such sums as in its judgment may be available for payment of principal and interest of county bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this article.

In any year a tax may be levied for the maintenance of the harbor or harbors in the county at a rate calculated to raise a sum of money equal to the amount of the excess, if any, of the amount of the estimated cost of such maintenance over the estimated amount of revenues (derived from such franchises, permits, leases, and charges) that are or will become available to defray such cost. The rate of such tax shall not in any year exceed fifteen cents ($0.15) per one hundred dollars ($100) of the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the county, unless a proposal for a specified higher rate for a particular year is submitted to the qualified electors of the county at a general or special election and is approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.