Part 1. General Provisions of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 4. >> Part 1.

This division may be cited as the Special Assessment Investigation, Limitation and Majority Protest Act of 1931.

This division shall be liberally construed in order to effectuate its purposes.

As used in this division, "assessment roll" or "taxation assessment roll" when used with reference to a county, or district or other public corporation, means the taxation assessment roll of the county, and when used with reference to a city means the assessment roll of the county in which the city is located unless a correction factor is established for the purpose of determining true value as provided for in Part 8, in which event those terms mean the taxation assessment rolls of the city.

This division shall not prevent the acquisition of property for public use and the making of public improvements in a single proceeding if the law under which the acquisition and the improvement are to be made authorizes such acquisition and the making of such improvements in a single proceeding. Where a single proceeding covering both the acquisition and the improvement is contemplated, only a single proceeding covering both the acquisition and improvement need be taken under this division, and its provisions shall apply to such proceedings in the same manner as they apply to proceedings in which only the acquisition of property or the making of improvements is involved.

Proceedings under this division may be combined with proceedings under the Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section 5000)) or with proceedings under the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Division 12 (commencing with Section 10000)) in any manner which is convenient and economical.

(a) This division does not apply to irrigation districts, irrigation district improvement districts, fire districts, fire protection districts, or public cemetery districts, or to any proceeding otherwise subject to this division when one or more of the following situations exist:
  (1) The proceedings are undertaken by a district or public corporation within one year of its incorporation.
  (2) The improvement proceedings are by a chartered city, chartered county, or a county sanitation district which is governed ex officio by the board of supervisors of a chartered county, and the city, county, or district has complied with Section 19 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
  (3) All of the owners of more than 60 percent in area of the property subject to assessment for the proposed improvements have signed and filed with the clerk or secretary of the legislative body undertaking the proceedings a written petition for the improvements meeting the requirements of Section 2804.5.
  (b) As used in this section, "substantially described" means that additional improvements of the same or similar nature may not be provided unless the estimated cost of the improvements does not exceed 10 percent of the estimated cost of the improvements provided in the former report.
  (c) As used in this section, "owner of land" means only a person who, at the time the petition is filed with the clerk or secretary of the legislative body, appears to be the owner upon the assessor's roll or, in the case of transfers of land, or parts thereof, subsequent to the date upon which the last assessor's roll was prepared, appear to be the owner on the records in the county assessor's office which the county assessor will use to prepare the next assessor's roll. If any person signing the petition appears on the assessor's roll or the records in the county assessor's office as an owner of property as a joint tenant or tenant in common, or as a husband or wife, that property shall be counted as if all those persons had signed the petition.

The provisions of clause (3) of Section 2804 shall not apply to proceedings for the financing and improvement of streets and easements initiated under a contract entered into, or proposed to be entered into, between a subdivider and a city, city and county, or county pursuant to Section 66462 of the Government Code, unless the subdivider shall submit written evidence satisfactory to the legislative body and the legislative body shall find and determine that the total estimated amount of the proposed assessment will not exceed 75 percent of the estimated fair market value of the land proposed to be assessed after the proposed public improvements shall have been constructed. The finding and determination of the legislative body shall be final and conclusive in the absence of fraud.

If the proceedings are for the financing and improvement of streets and easements initiated under a contract entered into, or proposed to be entered into, between a city, city and county, or county pursuant to Section 66462 of the Government Code and lands which will be subject to assessment for the proposed improvement are encumbered or subject to any existing mortgage or deed of trust, for the purpose of clause (3) of Section 2804, "owners" shall include not only the persons specified in Section 2804 but also any mortgagee or beneficiary under any such existing mortgage or deed of trust. Upon the filing of a petition for any such improvement, the owners, as specified in Section 2804, shall furnish the clerk or secretary of the legislative body with their affidavit, and any additional evidence which the clerk or secretary may require, concerning the existence of all such mortgages or deeds of trust and the names of any mortgagees or beneficiaries thereunder.

Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 2804, this division applies to proceedings where a petition is signed by an owner of 40 percent or more in area of the property proposed to be subject to assessment, and where some or all of the other lots or parcels proposed to be subject to assessment are used primarily for residential purposes, unless the petition and waiver is also signed by owners of 50 percent in area of the property proposed to be subject to assessment which is not owned by the owner of 40 percent or more in area of the property proposed to be subject to assessment.

A petition for improvements for purposes of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 2804 shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
  (a) A statement, in clear and simple English, that the landowner is waiving certain rights to protest against and stop the formation of the proposed assessment district.
  (b) A brief description of the proposed project.
  (c) An estimate of the total cost of the proposed project to be financed by the proposed assessment district.

This division shall not apply to bonds issued or to be issued to provide money with which to acquire, construct or complete any public improvement, work, or public utility, or where such bonds have been voted by a majority or two-thirds vote, as may be required by the law under which the bonds are issued or to be issued, of the qualified electors of any district or other persons entitled to vote at the election upon the proposition of issuing such bonds.

This division shall not apply to any maintenance district proceedings or to any assessment levied for the maintenance of any improvements, but it shall apply to all other special assessment districts and proceedings within the scope of Section 2820, regardless of the particular law under which any such proceeding may be undertaken and regardless of whether the special assessment made will be specific or a special assessment tax upon lands wholly or partially according to the assessed value of such lands.

As used in this division with reference to land "parcel" includes lot.

None of the provisions of this division shall apply to proceedings heretofore or hereafter commenced for the construction or acquisition, or the construction and acquisition, of sanitary sewers, sewage disposal works, and storm water drains, including the acquisition of sewer and storm water drain rights-of-way and easements necessary in connection with such improvement, when such proceedings have been recommended by the health officer of the city or county in which such proceedings are instituted as necessary as a health measure, if such recommendation is given in writing and spread upon the minutes of the legislative body conducting such proceedings, and such necessity is found to exist by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members thereof. The findings and determinations made by the legislative body pursuant to this section shall be final and conclusive upon all persons in the absence of actual fraud.

This division does not apply to proceedings commenced before or after January 1, 1985, for the construction or acquisition, or both, of facilities for the production, treatment, storage, and distribution of water, which supply potable water for domestic, municipal, commercial, or industrial use, including the acquisition of rights-of-way and easements necessary in connection with the facilities, when the proceedings have been recommended by the health officer of the city or county in which the proceedings are instituted as necessary as a health measure, if the recommendation is submitted in writing and included in the minutes of the legislative body conducting the proceedings, and the necessity is found to exist by a resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members thereof. The findings and determinations made by the legislative body, pursuant to this section, is final and conclusive upon all persons in the absence of actual fraud.

This division does not apply to proceedings, whether commenced before or after January 1, 1985, for repairing, restoring, rebuilding, rehabilitating, or modernizing existing public facilities when there are over 12 resident voters within the area proposed to be assessed and when the engineer of the jurisdiction undertaking assessment proceedings has determined that the work is necessary for reasons of public safety or to avoid substantially larger future costs due to deterioration and obsolescence of the public facilities involved. The determination shall be given in writing and included in the minutes of the legislative body conducting the assessment proceedings, and this section shall apply only if the necessity is found to exist by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members thereof. The findings and determinations made by the legislative body pursuant to this section shall be final and conclusive upon all persons in the absence of actual fraud.

This division does not apply to proceedings commenced before or after January 1, 1985, for the construction or acquisition, or both, of flood control and drainage works, including the acquisition of rights-of-way and easements necessary in connection with those improvements, if the chief engineer of a city, county, or flood control district exercising flood control powers over the majority of the area to be protected by the proposed flood control or drainage works finds the works to be necessary to protect life and property from injury and damage from flooding as a result of a 100-year design storm and that finding is made in writing and spread upon the minutes of the legislative body conducting the proceedings, and if that necessity is also found to exist by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members thereof. The finding made by the legislative body pursuant to this section shall be final and conclusive upon all persons in the absence of actual fraud.

As used in this division "legislative body" shall include the governing body of any district or other public corporation authorized by law to construct such public improvements.

None of the provisions of this division shall apply to proceedings hereafter commenced for the construction of sidewalks when required for the safety of pupils attending the schools, or for the construction of improvements to or traffic safety facilities for railroad crossings when required for the safety of pupils attending schools or farmworkers or other workmen, within a city or county and the necessity for such requirement is found to exist by the legislative body of such city or county conducting said proceedings, expressed by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members thereof. The findings and determinations made by the legislative body pursuant to this section shall be final and conclusive upon all persons in the absence of actual fraud.

This division shall not apply to the proceedings of the legislative body of any entity in granting to the legislative body of another entity the power and authority to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction within its boundaries. However, the legislative body of the entity granted such power and authority shall comply with this division as to all property proposed to be assessed or with such provisions of Part 1 hereof as may be applicable.