Chapter 2. Reassessment Proceedings of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 11.5. >> Chapter 2.

Except as it may otherwise have determined pursuant to Section 8571.3, the legislative body of any city which has issued bonds which are outstanding under the act may, at any time, determine by resolution that the public interest or necessity requires the refunding of the issue of bonds, and declare its intention to refund the bonds and to levy reassessments as security for the refunding bonds.

Two or more issues of bonds issued under the act may be refunded in one proceeding under this division and only one issue of refunding bonds issued therefor, to be secured by all of the reassessments levied in lieu of the original assessments.

The proceedings for refunding two or more issues of bonds shall follow as nearly as may be the procedure for the refunding of one issue, with the modifications and changes in the resolutions, notices, reassessment list, bonds, auditor's report, summons, complaints, and all other proceedings as may be necessary or convenient in carrying through the proceedings, and the legislative body conducting the proceedings is hereby granted full jurisdiction, power, and authority to refund two or more issues of bonds issued under the act in one proceeding under this division and with only one issue of refunding bonds secured by all of the reassessments and to perform all acts, take all steps and proceedings, provide all notices, and do all acts and things necessary or convenient for the refunding that are not prohibited by the United States Constitution or the California Constitution.

The resolution referred to in Section 9520 shall direct a qualified person retained or employed pursuant to Section 9506 to prepare and file with the city clerk a report containing the following:
  (a) A schedule setting forth the unpaid principal and interest on the bonds to be refunded and the total amounts thereof.
  (b) The total estimated principal amount of the reassessment and of the refunding bonds and the maximum interest rate thereon, together with an estimate of cost of the reassessment and of issuing the refunding bonds, including all costs of issuing the refunding bonds, as defined by subdivision (a) of Section 9600.
  (c) The auditor's record kept pursuant to Section 8682 showing the schedule of principal installments and interest on all unpaid original assessments and the total amounts thereof.
  (d) The estimated amount of each reassessment, identified by reassessment number corresponding to the reassessment number on the reassessment diagram, together with a proposed auditor's record for the reassessment prepared in the manner described in Section 8682.
  (e) A reassessment diagram showing the assessment district and the boundaries and dimensions of the subdivisions of land within the district. Each subdivision, including each separate condominium interest as defined in Section 783 of the Civil Code, shall be given a separate number upon the diagram.

When the report provided for in Section 9523 is filed with the clerk, the clerk shall present it to the legislative body for consideration. The legislative body may modify it in any respect. The report as modified shall stand as the report for the purpose of all subsequent proceedings, except that it may be confirmed, modified, or corrected as provided in this chapter.

(a) If the legislative body finds that all of the following conditions are satisfied, it may approve and confirm the report prepared pursuant to Section 9523 and proceed to authorize, issue, and sell refunding bonds pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 9600):
  (1) That each estimated annual installment of principal and interest on the reassessment, as set forth pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 9523, is less than the corresponding annual installment of principal and interest on the portion of the original assessment being superseded and supplanted, as set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 9523, by the same percentage for all subdivisions of land within the district. Any amount added to the annual installments on the reassessment due to a delinquency in payment on the original assessment need not be considered in this calculation.
  (2) That the number of years to maturity of all refunding bonds is not more than the number of years to the last maturity of the bonds being refunded.
  (3) That the principal amount of the reassessment on each subdivision of land within the district is less than the unpaid principal amount of the portion of the original assessment being superseded and supplanted by the same percentage for each subdivision of land within the district. Any amount added to a reassessment because of a delinquency in payment on the original assessment need not be considered in this calculation.
  (b) Any reassessment that is approved and confirmed pursuant to this section shall not be deemed to be an assessment within the meaning of, and may be ordered without compliance with the procedural requirements of, Article XIII D of the California Constitution.

If the legislative body is unable to make the findings required by Section 9525, it may proceed with refunding and reassessment by preliminarily approving the report and by fixing a time and place for hearing on the report and on the proposed refunding and reassessment.

Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication, pursuant to Section 6062a of the Government Code, in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city or, if there is no newspaper published in the city, then in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county in which the city is located, and by mailing in the time and manner required by Section 10306; or, if the reassessment will not be in the same or lesser amount than the original assessments, in the manner set forth in Section 54954.6 of the Government Code. The notice shall set forth the fact and date of the adoption of the resolution of intention and of the filing of the report and all of the following:
  (a) A statement of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing on the resolution of intention and report.
  (b) A statement of the total estimated cost of the proposed reassessment and refunding.
  (c) The amount, as shown by the report, to be reassessed against the particular parcel covered by the notice.
  (d) A statement that any person interested may file a protest in writing as provided in this division.
  (e) A reference to the resolution of intention and report on file in the office of the city clerk for particulars. Any consents of landowners required by the state or federal constitutions shall be obtained in the time, form, and manner required by Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 9180) of Division 11, the terms of which are hereby referred to and incorporated herein by reference.

Any person interested in any of the property to be reassessed may file a written protest against the proposed refunding or the amount reassessed against that person's or any other property, as shown in the statement, at, or at any time prior to, the time fixed for the hearing on the refunding and assessment. The protest shall specifically set forth the nature thereof. Failure to file a written protest shall be a waiver of any right which the person may have or claim.

Any person who files a protest shall have full opportunity to be heard thereon.

At the time and place fixed for the hearing, the legislative body shall hear any complaints or objections that may be made concerning the proposed refunding, the amount of unpaid assessments, or the amounts of proposed reassessments as to any of the parcels of land to be reassessed.

At the hearing, no objections to the regularity of the proceedings with reference to the making of the improvements or the validity or the amount of any assessment levied in the original proceedings shall be considered. All other objections to any reassessment shall be deemed waived unless presented at the time and in the manner specified in this chapter.

The determination of the legislative body upon all objections or protests shall be final and conclusive.

The hearing may be continued from time to time by order entered in the minutes, but shall be concluded within 30 days from the date originally fixed.

At the hearing, the legislative body may review and correct the amount of any reassessments upon any parcel of land.

If the legislative body finds that protests against the proposed refunding or the proposed reassessments are signed by the owners of more than one-half of the area of the land proposed for reassessment, all further proceedings under the resolution of intention to refund are barred, and no new resolution of intention for the same refunding may be passed within six months after the decision of the legislative body on the hearing, unless the protests are overruled by an affirmative vote of four-fifths of the members of the legislative body. The legislative body may confirm, modify, or correct the proposed assessment.

At the conclusion of the hearing, in the absence of a majority protest pursuant to Section 9534.5, the report and the reassessment as originally made, or as reviewed and corrected, shall be approved and confirmed by resolution entered upon the minutes.

When the reassessment, as made or as reviewed and corrected, has been confirmed by the legislative body, it shall be recorded in the office of the superintendent of streets.

When recorded with the superintendent of streets and upon compliance with the provisions of Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 3100), the reassessment shall become a lien upon the various parcels of land assessed.

Except as otherwise provided in this section and in Sections 9546, 9547, and 9548, assessments originally levied, and all penalties and interest accrued thereon, which are included within the reassessments, shall be deemed superseded and supplanted by the reassessments. If, and to the extent that, the reassessments do not include unpaid installments of assessments originally levied and the penalties and interest thereon, the lien of the original assessments is not superseded and supplanted. For purposes of this section and Section 9539, "unpaid installments" means those installments which are delinquent and those which are or may be posted to the tax roll for the fiscal year during which the reassessment is confirmed.

Except as provided in Section 9548, the lien of the reassessments shall be given superiority and priority as of the date that the original assessments became a lien upon the property reassessed. The lien of unpaid installments of the assessments originally levied and the penalties and interest thereon, and the lien of any remaining portion of the original assessments not securing refunded bonds, are equal in priority to the lien of the reassessments.

Reassessments and each installment thereof and the interest and penalties thereon shall be a lien against the parcels of land on which made until the same are paid, but for a period not exceeding the time within which an action might be brought on the last series of refunding bonds issued upon the security of the unpaid reassessments.

Unmatured installments, interest, and penalties on unpaid reassessments shall not be deemed to be within the terms of any general warranty of title as to any parcel against which a reassessment is made.

When refunding bonds are issued, the reassessments and any reassessments which may be issued thereon or in lieu thereof, together with interest thereon, shall remain and constitute a trust fund for the redemption and payment of the refunding bonds and the interest thereon.

A copy of the resolution of the legislative body confirming the reassessments upon the security of which the refunding bonds are issued shall be filed in the office of the auditor.

The auditor shall keep a record in his office showing the several installments of principal and interest on the reassessments which are to be collected in each year during the term of the bonds.

The reassessments and interest thereon shall be collected on the assessment roll and are subject to reassessment, amendment, and prepayment, and are otherwise subject to all of the provisions of the act in the same manner and subject to the same remedies on default and to the payment of interest and penalties on the enforcement thereof as were the original assessments which were superseded and replaced by the reassessments. For these purposes, the applicable provisions of Parts 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.1, 13, 14, and 15 of Division 10 are hereby referred to and incorporated herein by reference.

The legislative body of any city which has issued bonds which are outstanding under this division, the original authorized aggregate principal amount of which was less than the aggregate principal amount of the original assessment which was levied as security therefor, and which intends to issue additional bonds to be secured by that original assessment to provide for and finance the construction and installation of further improvements, may, at any time, determine by resolution that the public interest or necessity requires the refunding of the bonds which are outstanding, the levy of a reassessment as security for the refunding bonds, and the continuation of the original assessment as to the unpaid principal amount thereof which shall be security for the additional bonds to be issued, and may declare its intention to so proceed by a resolution adopted pursuant to Section 9520. The resolution shall, in addition to declaring the intention of the legislative body to refund the bonds which are outstanding and to levy reassessments as security for the refunding bonds, also declare the intention of the legislative body to issue additional bonds on the basis of the original assessment and to continue the original assessment in an amount sufficient to provide security for the additional bonds to be issued. The resolution shall require that the report prepared pursuant to Section 9523 contain the unpaid principal amount of each original assessment in excess of the amount thereof which will be superseded and supplanted by the principal amount of the corresponding reassessment, which shall be security for the additional bonds to be issued.

If the legislative body elects to proceed pursuant to Section 9546, Sections 9523 to 9545, inclusive, shall apply to the reassessments to be levied. Upon confirming the reassessment, the legislative body shall, in the resolution adopted pursuant to Section 9535, order that the lien of the original assessment continue as to the portion of the unpaid principal amount thereof which will be security for the additional bonds which are to be issued on the basis thereof.

If the legislative body elects to proceed pursuant to Section 9546, upon confirmation of the reassessment as provided in Section 9535 and in compliance with Sections 9536 and 9537, the lien of the reassessment supersedes and supplants the lien of the original assessment as to the portion of the unpaid principal amount thereof which was security for the bonds which are to be refunded, but the lien of the original assessment continues as to the portion of the unpaid principal amount thereof which is security for the additional bonds which are to be issued on the basis thereof until the expiration of four years after the due date of the last installment on the reassessment. The lien of the reassessment and the lien of the continued portion of the original assessment have equal priority as to the date the original assessment became a lien upon the property assessed. The notice of reassessment filed pursuant to Section 3114 shall be entitled "Notice of Reassessment and Continuation of Assessment" and shall specify the relationship between the reassessment and the continuing amount of the original assessment.