Article 2. Formation of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 3. >> Chapter 8. >> Article 2.

The organization of a pest abatement district may be initiated by a petition, describing the exterior boundaries of the proposed district, and the nature of the pest or pests to be controlled or abated.

The petition shall state the basis on which the property in the district shall be taxed for district purposes. The petition may include a plan for zones of benefit or other proposal which would provide equity in financing the district's purposes.

The petition may fix the maximum rate of assessments that may be levied by the district.

The petition shall be signed by registered voters residing in the proposed district equal in number to ten per cent of the votes cast in the proposed district for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. The petition may consist of any number of separate instruments, which shall be duplicates, except for the signatures and addresses of the signers. Each person who signs the petition shall also state his address.

The petition shall be presented to the clerk of the county in which the land in the proposed district is situated. The clerk shall compare the signatures on the petition with the signatures of the registered voters on his records for the purpose of ascertaining whether the petition meets the signature requirements of this article.

If the petition lacks sufficient signatures the county clerk shall certify that fact, and at any time within sixty days thereafter additional signatures may be presented to supplement the signatures on the original petition. The additional signatures shall be compared by the clerk in the same manner as the original signatures. If sufficient additional signatures are not presented, proceedings under the petition shall be terminated, without prejudice to the right to file a new petition.

If the petition contains the requisite number of signatures the clerk shall make a certificate to that effect, and shall present the petition and his certificate to the board of supervisors.

If the board of supervisors finds that the petition has been properly presented, the board shall, by resolution, fix a time for hearing the petition, which shall be not less than two nor more than five weeks from the time of its presentation. It shall also publish a notice of the time and place of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the county, for not less than two weeks prior to the time of the hearing.

At the time of the hearing, or at any time to which it may be adjourned, the board of supervisors shall hear and consider all competent and relevant testimony or evidence offered in support of, or in opposition to, the formation of the district, and the proposed method of financing.

The board of supervisors may make such changes in the proposed boundaries of the district as it may consider advisable. It may exclude any land in the proposed district upon the application of the owner, or it may include any land outside and contiguous to the proposed district upon the application of the owner, if it determines that the exclusion or inclusion is proper.

If, upon the hearing, the board of supervisors determines that the public interest or welfare of the proposed territory and its inhabitants requires the formation of the district, it shall, by resolution, declare its findings and order that the territory within the boundaries determined by it is a district, under an appropriate name to be selected by it.

The clerk of the board of supervisors shall immediately record a certified copy of the order in the office of the county recorder in which the district is situated and also file a certified copy with the Secretary of State. The district is then formed as a pest abatement district, with all of the rights, privileges, and powers set forth in this chapter, and those necessarily incident thereto.

If at any time after the board of supervisors has entered its order for organization good cause appears therefor, the district board may, by a two-thirds vote of its members, adopt a resolution reciting the facts, declaring the advisability for a change of the district's name, and setting forth therein a new name for the district. A certified copy of such resolution shall be transmitted to the board of supervisors of the county in which the district is situated.

Upon receipt of the certified copy of the resolution the board of supervisors shall:
  (a) Enter an order changing the district's name to the name set forth in the resolution.
  (b) Record a certified copy of the order in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the district is situated.
  (c) File a certified copy of the order in the office of the Secretary of State.
  (d) File a certified copy of the order in the office of the State Board of Equalization. From and after the date of the filing of the certified copy with the Secretary of State the new name shall be the official name of the district.

Upon a petition adopted by a four-fifths vote of the district board, or upon its own motion following the notice the board of supervisors deems sufficient and a public hearing, the board of supervisors, may, with the concurrence of the district board, add to, or delete from, the list of pests which the district may control. The board of supervisors at the hearing may also consider, and make changes in, the method of district taxation, as authorized by Section 2822.5, as though a new district were being formed.