Article 5. Annexation of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 5. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 5.

Outlying territory, whether incorporated or unincorporated, and whether contiguous or not, may be annexed to a district as provided in this article, except that no portion of any city shall be annexed unless consent of the governing body of the city is first obtained.

The board may by resolution fix a time and place for a hearing upon the question of the annexation of territory to a district. The resolution shall describe the boundaries of the territory proposed to be annexed.

The date set for the hearing on the proposed annexation shall be at least three weeks after the date of the adoption of the resolution setting the hearing.

The board shall cause notices of the hearing to be posted in at least three conspicuous places in the territory proposed to be annexed and in at least three conspicuous places in the district. However, if the territory proposed to be annexed is in more than one existing district the notices shall be posted in at least three conspicuous places in each district in which is situated any of the territory proposed to be annexed.

The notices shall be headed "notice of hearing" in letters not less than one inch in height and shall contain a description of the territory proposed to be annexed and a statement of the time and place of the hearing. In lieu of the description the boundaries of territory proposed to be annexed may be shown by means of a diagram printed upon the notice. The notices shall be posted not less than ten days prior to the date set for the hearing. In addition to the notices the board shall direct its clerk to publish a notice once a week for two successive weeks in the newspaper of general circulation circulated in the district and another in the territory proposed to be annexed that the board deems most likely to give notice of the hearing to the inhabitants of each.

At the time fixed for the hearing or at any time to which it is continued the board shall hear and pass upon the proposal and any objections that may be filed to the inclusion of any property in the proposed annexation. The board may, by order entered upon its minutes, determine that the territory proposed to be annexed or any part will be benefited by annexation and may order that the boundaries of the district be altered to include that territory.

If the territory annexed to the district comprises a portion of another district formed under the provisions of this chapter, or under the provisions of Chapter 26 (commencing at Section 5820), Part 3, Division 7 of the Streets and Highways Code, upon the annexation becoming complete the territory shall thereupon be withdrawn from the district of which it theretofore formed a part.

If the territory annexed to the district comprises all of another district, formed under the provisions of this chapter, or under the provisions of Chapter 26 (commencing at Section 5820), Part 3, Division 7 of the Streets and Highways Code, the theretofore existing district is thereupon dissolved. The funds of the dissolved district shall be transferred to the district to which all its territory has been annexed and all contracts or obligations of the dissolved district become the obligations of the district to which the territory has been annexed.

The exclusion of territory from one district and its annexation to another district shall not be effective until all outstanding contracts of the district from which it is excluded have expired or the contracts, with the consent of the parties, have been modified or canceled so as to relieve the district of further obligation to pay for future maintenance in the territory excluded, and until the funds remaining on hand upon the completion of the exclusion and annexation have been apportioned between the district to which the territory was annexed and the district from which it was excluded. The division of the funds shall be prorated in the proportion that the assessed value of the real property of the territory so excluded bore to the total assessed value of the real property in the district immediately prior to the exclusion.