Article 1. Corporate Power of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 10. >> Part 14. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.
The district has perpetual succession and may adopt a seal
and alter it at its pleasure.
The district may sue and be sued, except as otherwise
provided by law, in all actions and proceedings, in all courts and
tribunals of competent jurisdiction.
All claims for money or damages against the district are
governed by Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title 1 of
the Government Code except as provided therein, or by other statutes
or regulations expressly applicable thereto.
Subject to the provisions of Article 7 (commencing with
Section 102330) or Article 8 (commencing with Section 102350) of this
chapter, the district may levy, and collect, or cause to be
collected, taxes for any lawful purpose, as provided by law.
Except as otherwise provided in this part, district
elections shall be called, held, and conducted as provided by law for
county elections. Except in cases of emergency or compelling public
need, as determined by the district, district elections, including
those held pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 102330) or
Article 8 (commencing with Section 102350), or Article 1 (commencing
with Section 102500) of Chapter 7, shall be held and consolidated
with city, county, or state elections, or any election held under the
Uniform District Election Law (Part 4 (commencing with Section
10500) of Division 10 of the Elections Code).
(a) The district shall annually submit its tentative or
proposed budget to the legislative body of each voting entity, within
the time and in the manner required in this section.
(b) The tentative or proposed budget and the final adopted budget
shall, at a minimum, include the following information for the
applicable fiscal year:
(1) The projected cost of service.
(2) The projected revenue from fares.
(3) The Transportation Development Act allocation for each member
entity that is reserved for the district for operating purposes, as
set forth in the finding of apportionment by the applicable
transportation planning agency.
(4) The projected revenue from any contract of the type described
in subdivision (b) of Section 102100.3.
(5) The projected revenue from any other local funds made
available to the district by a voting entity for the operation of
public transit service.
(6) The amount of the federal formula grant funds that was
available and eligible for use during the prior fiscal year for
operating purposes within the Sacramento urbanized area, including
funds for cities and counties that are not represented on the board.
(7) The amount of the federal formula grant funds described in
paragraph (6) that was allocated to entities other than the district.
(8) The amount obtained by subtracting the amount described in
paragraph (7) from the amount described in paragraph (6), which
amount represents the federal formula grant
funds that were available and eligible for use by the district
for operating purposes during the prior fiscal year.
(9) A projection of the revenue from any other source that will be
available to the district for operating purposes during the fiscal
year.
(10) The population of each voting entity, as measured by the
population statistics used by the applicable transportation planning
agency to allocate Transportation Development Act funds for the same
fiscal year for which the budget is adopted.
(c) The tentative or proposed budget shall be submitted to the
legislative body of each voting entity not less than 60 days prior to
its adoption by the board. It shall be submitted for review and
comment. The board may adopt the budget after submission to the
legislative body of each voting entity, but shall consider any
comments made by those legislative bodies on the budget.
(d) Concurrent with adoption of the budget, the board shall make
an affirmative finding that the proposed level of service, reflected
in the statement of proposed operation and level of service, to be
rendered in any voting entity, is commensurate with the level of tax
or financial support to be derived from each such voting entity. In
determining the level of service, the board shall consider user
benefits and community benefits, in terms of one or more of the
following factors: availability of service, patronage, population,
and capital improvements.
(e) The board shall adopt its budget at a public hearing held
after the submission of the tentative or proposed budget. Notice of
the time and place of the hearing shall be published pursuant to
Section 6061 of the Government Code and shall be made not later than
the 15th day prior to the date of the hearing.
The district shall also submit to the legislative body of
each voting entity with its tentative or proposed budget a statement
of its proposed operations and level of service for the period
covered by the budget, calling attention to any substantial or
significant changes or proposed changes in operations and level of
service within each voting entity and a draft of the vote allocation
called for by Section 102105.1. A legislative body may include with
its comments to the district on the budget, comments concerning the
proposed operations, level of service, and vote allocation, and the
board shall consider those comments prior to adopting the budget.