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C~ty Councll Meetlng July 8, 1986, Santa Monlca, Callfornla
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1377 (CCS)
(Clty Councll Serles)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA SPECIFYING THE
POWERS AND PROCEDURES FOR THE FORMATION
OF ASSESSMENT DISTRICTS AND THE LEVYING
OF ASSESSMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
FINANCING IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CITY OF
S~~TA MONICA, AND CERTAIN SUPPLEMENTAL
PROVISIONS.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS.
SECTION 1. Flndlngs and De~ermlnatlons
The Clty COUDCll of
the C1ty of Santa Monlca hereby declares: It 1S necessary
and In the best lnterests of the cltlzens of the Clty of
Santa Monlca to authcrlze the Clty Councll to form assessment
dlstrlcts, and to levy assessments for needed publlC lmprove-
ments on the property WhlCh beneflts from those lmprovements.
SECTION 2. Constructlon governed by deflnltlons. Unless the
context otherWlse requlres, the deflnltlons contalned herelD
shall govern the constructlon of thlS ordlnance.
"Assessment dlstrlct". "Assessment dlstrlct" means the
area of land to be speclally beneflted by the lmprovements
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and to be assessed to pay the costs and expenses of the ~m-
provements and any damages caused by the lmprovements.
"ACquls~t~on". "Acqu~s~t~on"~ or any of lts var~ants~
means and ~ncludes one or more of the followlng:
(a) Any works, lmprovements, appl~ances or fac~ll-
tles author1zed to be made~ prov1ded or acqu1red w1th1n the
assessment d1str1ct and Wh1Ch are 1n eX1stence and lnstalled
ln place on or before the date of adopt1on of the resolutlon
of lntentlon for the formatlon of the assessment dlstr~ct and
any use or capaclty rlghts 1n any of the forego~ngi
(b) Any real property, rlghts-of-way, easements,
leases or lnterests 1n real property, acqu1red or to be ac-
qu1red by glft, purchase or em1nent domaln~ and WhlCh are
necessary or convenlent 1n connectlon w~th the construct1on
or operatlon of any work or lmprovernent authorlzed to be
acqulred o~ to be made or constructed by the C1ty w~th~n the
assessment d1str1ct except1ng therefrom any such real proper-
ty~ r1ghts-of-way, easements or lnterests 1n real property
shown upon any f1nal map flled wlth or subrn1tted to the Clty
Counc~l for acceptance and approval under the provlsions of
the Subdlvls10n Map Act (commenc1ng at Sectlon 66410 of the
Government Code) and offered for ded1cat1on to publ1C use by
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sald map or by any separate offer of ded~catlon theretofore
or thereafter made;
(c) The payment In full of all amounts necessary to
ellmlnate any monetary obllgatlons (In the form of an addl-
tlonal bUSlness llcense tax, an addltlonal ad valorem assess-
ment or otherwlse) prevlously ~mposed upon any assessment
parcel or person leaslng an assessment parcel lncluded ~n an
assessment d~strlct.
The cost of such payment shall be
lncluded ~n the new assessment on such parcel.
"Changes". "Changes" lncludes correct~ons, altera-
tlons, modlflcatlons, addl~lons, OffilSSlons, lncreases or
decreases.
"Cl ty" .
IfC~ty" means the Clty of Santa Monlca,
Cal~fornla.
"Clty clerk"
"Clty clerk" means the clerk of the
Clty.
".91ty Counell".
Councll of the Clty.
"C~ty Councl11l means the Clty
"Clty treasurer".
surer of the Cl~Y.
"Clty treasurer" means the trea-
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"County" .
les, Cal~forn~a.
"County" means the County of Los Ange-
"Improvement". IIImprovementll and any of lts varl-
ants lucludes all work and lmprovements, whether acqulred
lnstalled, or constructed, author~zed or undertaken by the
Clty WhlCh are for a publlC purpose or WhlCh are necessary or
lncldental to a publlC purpose.
IlInstall".
"Install" 1ncludes construct, recon-
struct, extend, repalr, and malntaln.
"Owner ,.
"Ownerll means the person own1ng the fee,
o~ the person In whose name the legal tltle to the property
appears, by deed duly recorded In the County recorder's of-
flce of the County, or the person 1n possess1on of the prop-
erty or bUlldlngs under clalm of, or exercls1ng acts of
ownershlp over the same for hlmself, or as the executor,
admlnlstrator, guardlau, or conservator of the owner. If the
property 1S leased, the possesslon of the tenant or lessee
holdlng and OccupYlng such property shall be deemed to be the
possesslon of the owner.
SECTION 3. Llberal constructlon: Valldlty of proceedln9s:
~Xcluslve remedy. ThlS ordlnance, belng necessary for the
health, welfare and safety of the Clty and lts resldents,
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shall be l~berally construed In order to effectuate lts pur-
poses. No error, lrregularlty, ~nformal~ty, and no neglect
or om~SSlon of any off~cerf 1n any procedure taken under thlS
ordlnance, wh~ch does not dlrectly affect the Jur~sd~ctlon of
the C~ty Counc~l to order the work or ~mprovementf shall
avo~d or ~nval~date such proceedlng or any assessment there-
under. The excluslve remedy of any person affected or ag-
grleved thereby shall be by appeal to the Clty Counell.
Furthermore, the C~ty Councll hereby declares that thlS ordl-
nance 15 an exerClse of the power granted to the Clty by the
Clty Charter and the Constltutlon of the State of Callfornla
and 1S an exerClse by the Clty of ~ts power as to mun~clpal
affalrs and 1ts pollce powers, and thlS ord1nance shall be
Ilberally construed to uphold lts va12dlty under the laws of
the State.
SECTION 4. Publ1catlon or post1ng of n~tlce, resolut1on,
order[ or other matters. Whenever any notlce, resolutlon,
order, or other matter 15 requlred to be publ~shed or posted,
and the duty of postlng or publlshlng, or procurlng the same,
lS not spec~flcally en]olned upon any offlcer or person, the
Clty clerk shall publlSh or post or procure the publlcatlon
or postlng thereof, as the case may be. No step In any pro-
ceed1ng shall be Inva11dated or affected by any error or
mlstake or departure from the provls1ons of thlS sect~on as
to the offlcer or person post1ng or publlshlng[ or procur~ng
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the publlcatlon or postlng, of any notlce, resolutlon, order,
or other matter when the same lS actually publlshed or
posted.
SECTION 5 Fallure to mall notlce as not lnvalldatlng pro-
ceed1ngs. SubJect to appllcable State and Federal law, the
fallure of the Clty clerk to mall any notlce or the fallure
of any person to recelve the same shall not affect ~n any way
whatsoever the valldlty of any proceedlngs taken under thlS
ord1nance, nor prevent the Clty Counell from proceedlng wlth
any hearlng so notlced.
SECTION 6. Notlce other than that expressly provlded for
not regulred. No notlce, nor any publlcatlon of any notlce,
order, resolutlon, or other matter, other than that expressly
proVlded lU thls ordlnance shall be necessary to glve valld1-
ty to any of the proceedlngs provlded 1n th1S ordlnance.
SECTION 7. Reference to map on flle and open to publ1c
ln~pectlon Any resolutlon, not1ce, report, dlagram, or
assessment Wh1Ch lS regulred to contaln a descrlptlon of the
lmprove~ents, the boundarles of the assessment dlstrlct or
any zones thereln, or the Ilnes and dlmenslons of any parcel
of land, may, for a full and detalled descrlptlon thereof,
refer to any plan or map WhlCh 1S on flle wlth the Clty
clerk, the County audltor, or the assessor of the County and
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Wh1Ch lS open to publlC lnspectlon. The plan or map so re-
ferred to shall govern for all detal1s of the descrlptlon.
SECTION 8. El1m1nat10n of d1spar1ty ln level or Slze
between 1mprovement and pr2vate property' Add1t~on to
assessment. If the wr1tten consent of the owner of the prop-
erty 1S f1rst obtalned, work may be done on prlvate property
to ellm~nate any d~sparlty 1n level or Slze between the 1m-
provement and prlvate property, prov~ded that the Clty Coun-
cll determ1nes 1n the resolut10n of 1ntentlon to order the
lmprovement that It lS ln the publlC lnterest and more eco-
nomlcal to do such work on pr1vate property than to adJust
the work on publlC property to ellmlnate such d1spar1ty. The
actual cost of such work may be added to the assessment of
the lot on WhlCh the work 18 done.
SECTION 9. Power to acqu~re, 1nstall, etc., lmprovements;
ACqll1s1tlon of land and easements. Whenever the publ1C 1n-
terest or convenlence requ1res, the Clty Counc11 may acqu1re
or lnstall any or all of the works and ~mprovements ment10ned
1n the Improvement Act of 1911 (Dlv1s~on 7 (commenclng w1th
Sectlon 5000)), the Munlc1pal Improvement Act of 1913 (D1Vl-
510n 12 (comrnenclng wlth Sectlon 10000)), the Vehlcle Parklng
Dlstrlct Law of 1943 (Part 1 (commenclng wlth Sectlon 31S00)
of D1V1S10n 18), the Park1ng D~strlct Law of 1951 (Part 4
(commenclng wlth Sectlon 35100) of Dlv1s10n 18), the Park and
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Playground Act of 1909 (Chapter 7 (commenclng wlth Sectlon
38000) of Part 2 of DlV~Slon 3 of Tltle 4 of the Government
Code), the Pedestrlan Mall Act of 1960 (D1vls1on 13 (commenc-
lng w1th Sect10n 11000)), or any other works and 1mprove-
ments, and acgulre by glft, purchase, or emlnent domaln
proceedlngs, land, rlghts-of-way, leases, and easements nec-
essary for any such works and lmprovements.
SECTION 10. Format~on of malntenance dlstr2ct by Clty:
Appllcatlon of statutory provls1ons. In add1t~on, the Clty
may form a malntenance dlstrlct, 1n WhlCh event Chapter 26 of
Part 3 of D1V1Slon 7 of the Streets and Hlghways Code, ex-
ceptlng Sections 5850 to 5853, lncluslve, as now or hereafter
provlded, shall hereafter apply. In such event, the off1cers
referred to thereln shall be deemed to be the C1ty offlcers
performlng the same dutles.
SECTION 11. Resolutlon of lntentlon. Before orderlng any
1mprovement for which an assessment will be levied wlthln an
assessment d1strlct, the Clty Councl1 shall adopt a resolu-
tlon declarlng ltS lntentlon to do so, brlefly descrlblng the
proposed lmprovement and specifYlng the exterlor boundar1es
of the assessment dlstrlct, declarlng lts lntentlon to levy
an assessment for any such 1rnprovement, and declarlng 1tS
lntent10n to levy an assessment or a fee to operate, ma1nta1n
or repalr the lmprovement 1f 1t lntends to levy such an
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assessment or fee. The descrlptlons do not need to be
deta~led and shall be suff~Clent If they enable the eng1neer
to generally ldentlfy the nature, 10cat1on, and extent of the
lmprovements and the locatlon and extent of the assessment
dlstr1ct. The resolutlon may also contaln a brlef statement
of the lntentlon of the Clty Councll to enter lnto an agree-
ment wlth any other publlC agency, or publ1C utl11ty.
SECTION 12. Payment of cost and expenses out of general fund
authorlzed. In the resolut1on of lntent10n the Clty Councll
may order as a contrlbutlon that a speclfled portlon or per-
centage of the cost and expenses of the lrnprovement shall be
pald out of the general fund of the City or from any other
fund as the Clty Councll may deslgnate.
SECTION 13. Call for report. In the resolutlon of lntentlon
the Clty Councll shall refer the proposed lmprovement to the
Clty englneer, or to such other offlcer of the C1ty, or com-
petent person employed by the Clty for the purpose, as the
Clty Counc1l may name ln the resolutlon, and d1rect such
offlcer or person to make and file w1th the Clty clerk a
report 10 wrltlng In the event, however, that a person has
prepared or commenced such a report prlor to the adopt10n of
the resolutlon of lntentlon, the Clty Councl1 may conflrm and
ratlfy the preparatlon of the report by such person and order
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such person to flle such wrltten report w~th the C~ty clerk
at the tlme of complet~on.
SECTION 14. Contents of report. The report of the offlcer
or person to whom the ~mprovement lS referred by the C~ty
Councll shall conta~n all of the follow2ng:
(a) Plans and spec~flcatlons of the proposed lmprovement ~f
the 1mprovement lS not already lnstalled. Such plans
and speclflcatlons do not need to be detalled and are
sufflClent 1f they show or descr1be the general nature,
locatlon, and extent of the lmprovements. If the as-
sess~ent dlstrlct 18 dlVlded lnto zones, the plans and
speclflcatlons shall lndlcate the class and the type of
lmprovements to be prOVIded for each zone. The plans or
speclflcatlons may be prepared as separate documents, or
e1ther or both may be lncorporated In the report as a
comblned document.
(b) A general descrlptlon of works or appllances already
Installed and any other property necessary or convenlent
for the operatlon of the Improvement, lf the works,
appllances, or property are to be acqulred as part of
the lmprovernent.
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(c) An est~mate of the cost of the lmprovement and of the
cost of lands, rlghts-of-way, easements, leases and
lncldental expenses In connect10n Wlth the 1mprovement
(lncludlng, but not Ilmlted to expenses relatlng to the
flnanclng of the lmprovement, the assessment proceedlngS
and the levy and collectlon of the assessment). If the
Clty Councll ln the resolut1on of lntentlon ordered that
pr1vate utl11ty damages be lncluded 1n the assessment,
the report shall conta1n an est1mate of such prlvate
utlllty damages. If the Clty Councll ln the resolutlon
of 1ntentlon declared lts lntentlon to levy an assess-
ment or fee for the operatlon, ma2ntenance, or repalr,
of the l~provements, the report shall conta1u an
estlmate of the amount of th1S assessment for each of
the flrst flve years durlng WhlCh the assessment would
be levled.
(d) A dlagram ShOW1Ug, as they eXlsted at the tlme of the
passage of the resolutlon of lntentlon, all of the
followlng:
(1) The exterlor boundarles of the assessment dlstrlct.
(2) The boundarles of any zones wlthln the assessment
dlstrlct.
(3) The llnes and dlmenslons of each parcel of land
w1thln the assessment dlstrlct.
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Each parcel, ~nclud~ng each separate condomln~um 1nter-
est, as deflned In Sectlon 783 of the C1V1l Code, shall
be glven a separate number upon the dlagram. The dia-
gram may refer to the county assessor's maps for a de-
tal led descr1pt~on of the llnes and dlmens10ns of any
parcels, ln WhlCh case those maps shall govern for all
detal1s concernlng the llnes and dlmenSlons of the
parcels.
e) A proposed assessment for the costs and expenses of the
proposed lmprovement upon the several parcels of land 1n
the dlstr~ct 10 proportlon to the estlmated special
beneflts to be recelved by each parcel, respectlvely,
from the 1mprovement. Such proposed assessment may be
collected In lnstallments Wlth or w~thout 1nterest on an
annual basls, seml-annual basls, or any other bas1s
determlned to be approprlate under the clrcumstances.
Such proposed assessment may be ln the form of a formu-
la, so long as each owner may reasonably determlne the
max~mum and w~nlrnum amount of the assessment wh1ch may
be levled on such owner pursuant to the formula. The
report shall also 1nclude the approxlmate times and for
how long any lnstallments for the assessment will be
lev1ed, lf appllcable. The assessment shall refer to
the parcels by thelr respectlve numbers as asslgned
pursuant to subsectlon (d) of thlS Sect~on.
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SECTION 15. Presumptlon that faC21ltles lnd2cated 1n plan
wIll benef1t underdeveloped propertIes. In preparlng the
report 1n WhlCh assessments are apportloned pursuant to
subdlVlslon (e) of Sectlon 14, the off1cer or person to whom
the lmprovement lS referred by the Clty Councll may presume
that facll1tles WhlCh are requlred to meet the needs of fu-
ture owners of an area, as lndlcated by a general or speclf1c
plan for the area, wIll beneflt undeveloped and underdevel-
oped property wlthln the area. If the C1ty CouncIl adopts
the report, that presumptlon shall be concluslve.
SECTION 16. Speclflcatlon and descr1pt1on of boundar1es of
dlstrlct. The exterl0r boundar1es of the assessment distr1ct
may be speclfled and descrIbed as provlded 1n the Improvement
Act of 1911.
SECTION 17. Assessment of land: Credlt for ded1catlons and
lmprovements In determlnlng the amount of the assessment,
credlt may be glven for dedlcatlons and for lmprovements
constructed at prIvate expense
SECTION 18. Conslderatlon of report: Modlflcatlon. When
the report provlded for In Sectlons 13 and 14 lS fIled wIth
the CIty clerk, he/she shall present It to the Clty CounCl1
for conslderat1on. The Clty Counell may modIfy It In any
respect. The report as modlfled shall stand as the report
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for the purpose of all subsequent proceedlngs except that lt
may be conf1rmed, modlfled, or corrected as provlded 1n thlS
ordlnance
SECTION 19 Hearlng of protests. After passlng on the re-
port, the c~ty Counell by resolutlon shall appolnt a t~me and
place for hear~ng protests to the proposed lrnprovement and
shall dlrect the Clty clerk to glve notlce of the hearlng as
provlded In th1S ardlnance, and shall deslgnate a dally or
weekly newspaper publlshed and clrculated ln the C1ty In
WhlCh the notlce shall be publlshed. The hearlng shall be
held not less than 30 days after the passage of such
resolutlon.
SECTION 20. Notlce of Improvement. Post2ng. After the
passage of the resolutlon of lntent1on, the flllng of the
report, and the settlng of the tIme and place for hear1ng
protests, the Clty clerk shall cause notIces of the passage
of the resolutlon to be posted. The notlces shall be posted
consplcuously on all the open streets wlthln the dlstr~ct, at
not more than 300 feet apart on each street so posted, but no
less than three ln all.
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SECTION 21. Contents of not~ce.
The notlces shall:
(a) Be headed nNot1ce of lmprovement,n ~n letters of not
less than one 1nch In helght.
(b) In leglble characters state the fact and date of passage
of the resolutlon of 1ntentlon, the fl11ng of the re-
port, and the tlme and place set for hearlng of
protests.
(c) Brlefly descrlbe the lmprovement proposed to be made or
acqulred.
(d) Refer to the resolutlon of ~ntent~on and report for
further partlculars.
(e) Contaln the name and telephone number of a local depart-
ment or agency des~gnated by the CIty CouncIl to answer
lnqlllrles regardIng the protest proceed~ngs.
SECTION 22. Publlcatlon of notlce. The Clty clerk shall
also cause a notlce SlIDllar In substance to the notice de-
scrlbed 1n SectIon 21 to be publIshed ~n the City pursuant to
SectIon 6066 of the Government Code. The notlces shall be
posted and flrst publlshed at least 20 days before the date
set for hearIng of protests.
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SECTION 23. Effect of fallure to post. No proceedlng shall
be held lnvalld for fallure to post notlces on any street or
streets lf the sectlons hereln relatlng to notlces have been
substantlally complled Wlth.
SECTION 24 Notlce to property owners: Effect of fal1ure to
mall notlce. At least 20 days before the date set for hear-
lng of protests, the Clty clerk shall mall, postage prepald,
notlces of L~e adoptlon of the resolutlon of lntentlon and
the fll1ng of the report to all persons oWhlng real property
proposed to be assessed whose names and addresses appear on
the last eguallzed assessment roll for C1ty taxes or who are
known to the Clty elerk. The fallure of the Clty clerk to
mall the notlce to any property owner or the fa1lure of any
property owner to recelve the notlce shall not affect the
valldlty of any proceedlngs taken under thlS ordlnance. If
property assessed by the State under Sectlon 14 of Artlcle
XIII of the Const1tutlon lS proposed to be assessed, such
notlce shall be mal led to every owner of such property at the
address thereof shown on the last board roll transm1tted to
the county audltor.
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SECTION 25. Contents of notlce to property owners. The
notlce shall conta1n:
(a) A statement of the tlme, place, and purpose of the hear-
lng on the resolut~on of lntentlon and report.
(b) A statement of the total estImated cost of the proposed
lmprovement.
(c) The amount (or the formula pursuant to WhICh the amount
of the assessment wIll be determlned), as shown by the
report, to be assessed agaInst the partlcular parcel
covered by the not~ce, and whether the assessment w111
be collected on a lump sum basls, on an annual basls, or
whether the assessment shall be payable ln lnstallrnents
In some ether manner, and the apprOXlmate tImes and for
how long the Installments wl11 be collected, If
appl~cable.
(d) A statement that any person lnterested may fIle a pro-
test ln wrltlng as provIded 1n thIS ordlnance.
(e) The name and telephone number of a local department or
agency deslgnated by the CIty Councll to answer lnqul-
rles regardlng the protest proceedlngs.
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SECTION 26. bff2dav2t of C2ty clerk. Upon the completlon of
the ma111ng of the notlces, the C~ty clerk shall f~le Wlth
the Clty Councll an affldavlt settlng forth the tlme and
manner of the compllance wlth the regu~rements of th~s
ord~nance for publ~shlng, post~ng, and mal11ng notlces.
SECTION 27. Fll1ng of protest: EVldence of property owner-
sh2p: Dutles of Clty clerk. After the C~ty Counc~l passes
on the report pursuant to Sect10n 18, any lnterested person
may object to the proposed lmprovement, the extent of the
assessment dlstr~ct, or to the proposed assessment by f~llng
a wr~tten protest w~th the Clty clerk on or before the tlme
set for the hearlng. The protest shall contaln a descr~ptlon
of the property In WhlCh each s~gner thereof 1S ~nterested
suff~c~ent to ldentlfy the property, and, If the slgners are
not shown on the last equallzed assessment roll as the owners
of the property, the protest shall contaln or be accompanled
by wr~tten eVldence that the slgners are the owners of the
property The C~ty clerk shall endorse on each protest the
date of lts rece~pt, and, at the tlme appo~nted for the
hearlng, the C~ty clerk shall present to the Clty Councl1 all
protests flIed wlth hlrn or her.
SECTION 28. Walver of rlght to protest. Any wrltten protest
not made at the tlme and ln the manner prov~ded ln Sect~on 27
shall be deemed to be wa~ved voluntarlly by any person who
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ffilght have made such protest and such person shall be deemed
to have consented to the proposed lmprovement, the extent of
the assessment dlstrlct, the proposed assessment and any
other act, determInatlon, or proceedlng on WhlCh protest
could be made:
SECTION 29. Correctlon of error or lnformallty. The Clty
Counell may remedy, reVlse, and correct any error or lnfor-
mallty In any act, determlnatlon, or proceedlng of the C~ty
CounCll or any off1cer of the Clty. The Clty Counc1l may
confIrm, aMend, alter, modIfy, or correct the assessment and
dlagra~ ln such manner as to lt shall be Just and may In-
struct and dlrect the offIcer or person makIng the same to
correct them In any partIcular.
SECTION 30. Wlthdrawal of protest. If the protest lS
agalnst the proposed Improvement and the CIty CounCl1 fInds
that the protest lS made by the owners of more than one-half
of the area of the land to be assessed for the Improvements,
and protests are not Wlthdrawn so as to reduce the protest to
less than a maJority, no further proceedlngs shall be taken
for a perIod of one year from the date of the decls10n of the
C1ty CounCIl on the hearlng, unless the protests are over-
ruled by an affIrmatlve vote of four-flfths of the members of
the CIty Councll pursuant to Its powers under Artlcle 16,
Sectlon 19 of the Callfornla ConstItutIon. Any person maklng
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a protest may w~thdraw the protest, 1n wrltlng, at any tlme
pr~or to the conclUSlon of the protest hearlng. The C1ty
Councll may conflrm, modlfy, or correct the proposed
assessment.
SECTION 31. MaJor~ty protest: Determlnatlon of ownershlp
of slgners: EVldence consldered. If It shall be necessary,
10 order to flnd whether a ma]Orlty protest eXlsts, to deter-
mlhe whether any or all of the slgners of wrltten protests
are the "owners" of property to be assessed, the Clty Cauncll
shall make such determ1natlon from the last equallzed assess-
ment roll, any wrltten eVldence submltted wlth a wrltten
protest and any other eVldence recelved at the hearlng. The
Clty Councll shall be under no duty to obtaln or conslder any
other eVldence as to ownershlp of property and lts determl-
natlon of ownershlp shall be flnal and conclus1ve.
SECTION 32. Protests: Conflrmat2on of assessment. When
upon the hearlng the proposed assessment lS conflrmed as
flled, as modlfled, or as corrected, by resolutlon the Clty
Councll shall order the proposed lmprovement to be made or
acqulred, and declare ltS actlon upon the report and assess-
ment. The resolutlon shall be flnal as to all persons, and
the assessment thereby levled upon the respectlve subdlVl-
Slons of land In the assessment dlstrlct.
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SECTION 33. Authorlty for C1ty Counc~l to make changes
before complet~on of proceed~ngs; Boundarles not to be
~hanged to lnclude terrltory not benef~ted. Unless the power
to proceed shall have ceased at the conclus~on of the hearlng
on the proposed lmprovement because of a maJor~ty protest, at
any t~me before completlon of the improvement proceedings,
the Clty Councl1 may make changes In, to or from the bounda-
rles of the proposed assessment dlstr~ct, the lmprovement
ordered to be made or acqu~red, the assessment (lnclud~ng the
amounts of any of the 1ndlv~dual assessments there~n), or 1n
the proceedlngs, or any act, determ~nat~on or provls1on made,
or permltted to be made, by the Clty Counc~l under and pursu-
ant to thlS ordlnance, WhlCh act, determlnat~on or proVlsl0n
does not affect the Jurlsdlct~on of the C~ty Councl1 to order
the ~mprovement. The Clty Counell shall not change the
boundarles to ~nclude any terrltory Wh1Ch wll1 not, 1n ltS
Judgment, be speclally beneflted by the lmprovewent
SECTION 34. Changes to be made on notice and hear~ng:
EXceptlons. All changes shall be made on notlce and hearlng
as hereln provlded, except changes may be made;
(a) At the hearlng on the report, WhlCh;
(l) W~thout substantlally alterlng the lmprovement,
reduce the amount of the assessment or make no
change ~n the amount of the assessment and no
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lncrease or decrease ln the amount of money as-
sessed on each parcel of property lncluded ~n the
assessment; or
(2) El1ffilnate a portlon of the lmprovement or provlde a
substltutlon thereln wlthout lncreaslng the cost of
any assessment by reason thereof or substantlally
affectlng the dlstrlbutlon of beneflts from the
lmprOvement; or
(3) Ellffilnate a portlon of the assessment dlstrlct
wlthou~ lncreaslng the amount of any assessment by
reason thereof or substantlally affect~ng the dlS-
trlbutlon of beneflts from the work; or
(4) Exclude terrltory WhlCh wlll not be beneflted by
the remalnlng lmprovement wlthout lncreaslng the
amount of any assessment by reason thereof; and
(b) At any tlrne after the lmprovements are ordered and dur-
lng the pendency of the proceedlngs, WhlCh:
(1) Do not lncrease the total amount of the assessment;
or
(2) Provlde for the ellmlnatlon or addltlon of work or
Substltutlons thereln, though they result ln an
lncrease In some assessments, provlded that the
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owners of the property affected request ~n wrlt1ng
that the changes ln the work and ~n the assessments
be made, or
(3) Exclude terrltory WhlCh w~ll not be beneflted by
the remalnlng lmprovement wlthout lncreaslng the
amount of any assessment by reason thereof.
SECTION 35. Resolutlon: Descr~ptlon of proposed changes:
Reference to maps, plats, etc.: Publlcatlon. Before order-
lng any changes made, other than as provlded 1n Sectlon 34
hereof, the Clty Councl1 shall adopt a resolut~on brlefly
descrlblng the changes proposed to be made, stat1ng the
amount of the estlmated lncrease or decrease 10 the cost of
the lmprovement by reason of the proposed changes and glving
notlce of a tlme and place when and where any ~nterested
person havlng any Ob]ectlon to the changes proposed to be
made may appear before the Clty Councll and show cause why
the changes should not be ordered. The resolutlon shall also
contaln the name and telephone number of a local department
or agency deslgnated by the Clty Councll to answer lnqulrles
regardlng the hearlng proceedlngs. The resolutlon may de-
scrlbe the changes by referrlng to maps, plats, plans, pro-
flIes, detalled drawlngs, or speclflcatlons on flle ln the
offlce of the Clty clerk or Clty englneer, WhlCh shall lndl-
cate the changes proposed to be made and WhlCh shall govern
for all detalls thereof. The resolut1on shall be publ1shed
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pursuant to Sectlon 6061 of the Government Code, at least 10
days pr~or to the date of the hearlng.
SECTION 36. Proposal to lnclude addlt~onal terrltory or to
lncrease assessment: To whom copy to be ma1led. If sald
resolutlon proposes to lnclude addlt~onal terrltory ln the
assessment dlstrlct, or to lncrease any assessment, at least
20 days prlor to the hearlng flxed thereln the Clty clerk
shall mall a copy of sald resolutlon to all persons ownlng
real property wlthln sald addltlonal terrltory, or whose
assessment lS lncreased, whose names and addresses appear on
the last equallzed assessment roll or as known to sald Clty
clerk.
SECTION 37 Wrltten obJect10n to proposed changes: Flllng
~lth C1ty clerk: Hearlng and determlnatlon: Jurlsdlctlon
to order changes: ConclUS1Veness of order. Wrltten obJec-
tlon to the proposed changes may be flIed wlth the Clty clerk
by any lnterested person at any tlme not later than the tlme
set for the hearlng. The C~ty Cauncll shall hear and pass
upon such obJectlons at the tlrne apPolnted, or at any tlme to
WhlCh the hearlng thereof may be adJourned, and ~ts deC1Slon
thereof shall be flnal and concluslve. If no wrltten obJec-
tlons to sald changes have been deIlvered to the Clty clerk
up to the hour set for hearlng thereon, or lf sald Ob]ectlons
have been heard and found by the Clty Councl1 to be
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lnsufflClent or have been overruled or denled, lmmedlately
thereupon the Clty Counc~l by an afflrmat~ve vote of
four-flfths of lts members shall acqulre ]urlsdlctlon to
order sald changes made. The decls10ns and determlnatlons of
the Clty Councll orderlng such changes after notlce and hear-
lng shall be flnal and concluSlve upon all persons entltled
to appeal thereupon to the Clty Councll.
SECTION 38. Annual estlmate of expendltures for ensulng
year; Authorlty to levy speclal assessment or fee.
(a) Followlng the levy of an assessment pursuant to thls
ordlnance to pay, In whole or ln part, the costs and
expenses of acqu1rlng, constructlng or substantlally
reconstructlng works, systems, faCllltles or lmprove-
ments wlthln a dlstrlct beneflted thereby, the Clty
Councll may prepare and approve an estlmate of the ex-
pendltures requlred durlng the ensulhg flscal year for
the operatlon, malntenance, and repalr of the lmprove-
ments prevlously assessed.
(b) The Clty CounCll may, by resolutlon adopted at a publlC
hearlng, determlne to levy and collect ln any year upon
and agalnst any or all the buslnesses, resldents,
tenants and/or owners Wlthln the dlstrlct a fee or spe-
Clal assessment sufflClent to ralse a sum of money not
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to exceed the amount estlmated pursuant to subsect~on
(a) of th~s Sectlon. SubJect to appl~cable law, such
fee or assessment may be levled and determined ln any
form or manner approved by the C1ty Councll and may be
lev~ed upon any person, category of persons or property
wlth~n the dlstrlct so long as such fee or assessment ~s
deslgned to charge the persons or property subJect to
the fee or assessment for the speclal beneflt such per-
son or property recelves, and lS not des~gned to ralse
revenue, ln excess of the cost of the benef~t to be
rece~ved.
(c) Any spec~al assessment may be levled, collected, and
enforced at the same t1me, ln the same manner, by the
same offlcers, and wlth the same lnterest and penaltles,
as 1n the case of other speclal assessments for lmprove-
ments leVled pursuant to thlS ordlnance by the C1ty, or
In any other manner determlned by resolutlons of the
C~ty Councll to be appropr~ate. Any fee may be levled,
collected and enforced ln the same manner as other fees
are levled collected and enforced w1th1n the Clty. The
proceeds of the assessment or fee, as appllcable, shall
be expended only for the operatlon, rnalntenance, or
repalr of the works, systems, facllltles or lmprOV€ments
prevlously assessed.
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SECTION 39. Notlce of hearlng regard~ng spec~al assessment
or fee. Prl0r to any hearlng pursuant to Sectlon 38(b) the
Clty clerk shall cause notlce of the hearing to be publlshed
and glven to the extent requlred by appllcable law.
SECTION 40. Proceedlngs when supplemental assessment deemed
necessary: Credlt. If, as a result of any proposed changes
or other events, the C1ty Councll shall determlne that a sup-
plemental assessment shall be necessary, the proceedlngs
provlded for by thls ordlnance may elther be comblned wlth or
conducted separately from the proceedlngs for such supple-
mental assessment. If sald proposed changes shall ellmlnate
or substant1ally reduce the estlmated beneflts to be rece1ved
from the lmprovement by any subdlvls10n of land wlthln the
assessment dlstrlct, the Clty Council shall not order any
such changes wlthout orderlng a correspondlng credlt upon the
lndlvldual assessment theretofore lmposed upon such
subdlvlSlon.
SECTION 41. Contest of valldlty. The valldlty of an assess-
ment or supplementary assessment levled under thlS ordlnance
shall not be contested ln any actlon or proceedlng unless the
actlon or proceedlng lS commenced wlthln 30 days after the
assessment lS recorded. Any appeal from a flnal Judgment In
such an act10n or proceedlng shall be perfected wlthln 30
days after the entry of Judgment.
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SECTION 42. Dlagram and assessment: TransmlSS10n and recor-
dat10n. Upon the passage of the resolutlon provlded for In
Sect10n 32, the Clty clerk shall transmlt to the Clty tax
collector the d1agram and assessment provlded for ln subdlVl-
s~ons (d) and (e) of Sect~on 14, and any modlflcatlons or
correctlons made by the Clty Council.
SECTION 43. Recordlng dlagram and assessment: Effect. The
tax collector shall record the d1agram and assessment re-
ce~ved pursuant to Sectlon 42 ~n a substant1al book to be
kept for that purpose ln hlS offlce. Upon the date of recor-
datlon wlth the tax collector, the assessment shall become
due and payable In accordance wlth lts terms
SECTION 44. Recordatlon of notlce of assessment: Tlme:
Effect. Upon the passage of the resolutlon provlded for In
Sectlon 32, the Clty clerk shall record a notlce of assess-
ment, as provlded for In Sectlon 3114 of the Streets and
Hlghways Code, whereupon the assessment shall attach as a
llen upon the property assessed
SECTION 45. Tlme for payment of assessment: Penalty. All
assessments or lnstallrnents not pald w~thln 30 days after
they become due, shall become dellnquent and the Clty clerk
shall add to each dellnquent assessment or lnstallment an
amount equal to the maX1IDum amount WhlCh may be added to
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dellnquent property tax payments under appllcable law, as
such amount may change from tlme to tlme.
SECTION 46. Notlce to Owner of recordatlon of assessment.
(a) Notlce of recordatlon of assessment shall be glven as
provlded In th1S sectlon.
(b) Upon recordlng of the assessment, the tax collector
shall mall, as provlded ln subdlvislon (a) of Sectlon
5070 of the Streets and Hlghways Code, a statement con-
ta2nlng all of the followlng:
(1) A deslgnatlon by street numberr or some other de-
scrlptlon, of the property assessed sufflclent to
enable the owner to ldentlfy It.
(2) The manner 1n WhlCh the amount of the assessment
wl11 be determlned, whether such assessment wll1 be
collected 1n lnstallments on an annual basls, seml-
annual basls or some other basls, and at approxl-
mately what tlmes and for how long any lnstallment
for the assessment wlll be levled, If appllcable.
(3) The date of the recordatlon of the assessment.
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(4) The place of payment of the assessment and the
effect of failure to pay the assessment or an ~n-
stallment for the assessment as lt 1S due and
payable.
(c) The fa~lure of the tax collector to mall the notlce to
any property owner or the fa1lure of any property owner
to recelve the not~ce shall not affect the valldlty of
any proceedlngs taken under thlS ordlnance.
(d) The tax collector also shall glve not1ce by publicatlon
pursuant to Sectlon 6066 of the Government Code, WhlCh
not1ce shall state all of the followlng:
(1) That the assessment has been recorded as prov1ded
In Sectlon 44.
(2) Where the payment of the assessment 15 to be made.
SECTION 47
~ayment of assessments. To the extent not In-
conslstent wlth the prOV1S1ons of thlS ordlnance, an assess-
ment for any lmprovements shall be payable In the manner and
subject to the cond~tlons set forth In the resolutlon of
lntentlon or 1n any other manner adopted by the Clty Counc~l
for the collectlon of the assessment, to the extent permltted
by appllcable law. To the extent the resolut1on of lntent10n
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speclf~es that the assessments shall be collected ~n the same
manner as taxes levled and collected, such assessments shall
be levled and collected by the County 10 the same manner and
at the same tlme as taxes are leVled and collected.
SECTION 48. Purpose of assessment. The assessment for the
lmprovement may be leVled 10 a manner to dlrectly or lndl-
rectly relmburse the Clty for obllgatlons pa1d or 10curred by
the Clty, dlrectly or lnd1rectly, 1n connectlon wlth the
acquls1tlon, 1nstallat1on and/or construct1on of the lmprove-
ment. The assessment may also be levled In the assessment
dls~r1ct ln amounts WhlCh are sufflc1ent 10 the aggregate,
~ogether ~lth revenues already collected therefor, to pay, or
re1mburse the Clty, for such obl1gat1ons.
Assessments 1n the
assessment d1strlct and zones, lf any, thereln shall be cal-
culated to reflect, as accurately as posslble, the speclal
beneflt recelved by the property assessed 10 the assessment
d1strlct or zones, If any, thereln as a result of the
lmprovemeots.
SECTION 49. Sale; redemptlon. Upon default 1n the payment
of any assessment or lnstallment, the lands secur1ng such
assessments or lnstallments shall be sold 1n the same manner
ln WhlCh real property ln the Clty 1S sold for the nonpayment
of general Clty taxes, and be subJect to redemptlon 1n the
sa~e manner and to the same extent that real property lU the
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becomes or may become the purchaser of property sold for
nonpayment of general C~ty taxes.
SECTION 52. Purchase subJect to unpald assessments. The
purchaser, at the tax collector's sale, or at a resale by the
Clty If the Clty has become the purchaser, or at a foreclo-
sure sale by order of the court, shall take the property
subJect to all unpa1d assessments or reassessments or In-
stallments, lnterest and penaltles under the same proceedlng
and subJect to all publlC 1mprovement assessments WhlCh may
have prlorlty thereover.
SECTION 53. Powers of C1ty Councl1. The Clty Councll shall
possess all powers necessary for, lncldental to, or conve-
nlent for the collectlon, enforcement, admlnlstratlon, or
dlstrlbutlon of the assessment In accordance wlth lts Charter
and Callfornla law.
SECTION 54. Use of revenue; collectlon, penaltles. The
proceeds of any assessments may be used to payor to relm-
burse the Clty, In whole or part, dlrectly or lndlrectly, the
cost of provldlng lmprovements provlded to persons w1thin the
assessment dlstrlct. The assessment may be collected In the
same manner as ad valorem property taxes are collected and
may be subJect to the same penaltles and the same procedure
and sale 10 Case of dellnquency as provlded for ad valorem
33
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-
taxes, or any other procedure may be adopted by the Clty
Councl1 for the collect~on of the assessment, to the extent
permltted by appllcable law.
The collector of the assessment may deduct the reasonable
adm~nlstratlVe costs ~ncurred ln collectlng the assessment.
SECTION 55. Assessment llensi prlor1ty: Contlnuance:
Notlce. From the date of the recordatlon pursuant to Sec-
tlons 43 and 44, each spec~al assessment leVled under thlS
ord~nance 15 a 11en upon the land upon wh~ch ~t lS leVled.
ThlS l~en ~5 paramount to all other l~ens, except pr~or as-
sesswents, property taxes, and other forms the non-payment of
wh~ch creates a l~en paramount to the assessment. All
persons have constructlve notlce of thlS 11en from the date
of the recordatlon.
SECTION 56. Supplemental and addlt~onal powers. Th~s ordl-
nance shall be deemed to provlde a complete, addltlonal, and
alternatlve method for dOlng the thlngs authorlzed hereby,
and shall be regarded as supple~ental and addltlonal to the
powers conferred by the Clty Charter and other laws.
SECTION 57. Amendment of ordlnance. ThlS ordlnance may be
amended at any tlme for the purpose of curlng any amblgulty,
or of curlng, correctlng, or supplementlng any defect~ve
34
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ordlnance. The Clty Councll hereby declares that lt would
have adopted thlS ord~nance and each and every other sectlon,
paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared lnvalld
or unconstltutlonal wlthout regard to whether any portlon of
thls ordlnance would be subsequently declared ~nvalld or
unconstltutlonal
The Mayor shall slgn and the Clty clerk shall attest to the
passage of thlS ord~nance. The Clty clerk shall cause the
same to be publlshed once In the offlClal newspaper wlthln 15
days after ltS adoptlon
ThlS ordlnance shall become effec-
tlve 30 days from ltS adoptlon.
APPROVED AS TO FOffi1:
~ \..--, ~
Cl ty .Z\.ttorney 0
36
.
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Adopted and approved this 8th day of July, 1986.
lL~~.~
I Mayo~
I hereby cert ify that the foregolng Ordinance No. 1377 (CCS)
was duly and regularly introduced at a meeting of the City
Councll on the 1st day of July 1986; that the sald Ordlnance was
thereafter duly adopted at a meeting of the City CouncIl on the
8th day of July 1986 by the followlng Council vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers:
Conn, Epstein, A. Katz, H. Katz,
Zane and Mayor Reed
Noes: Councllmembers:
None
Abstaln: Councllmembers:
None
Absent: Councilmembers:
Jennings
"'_..... ~...."'--t:'lL-...-=-
ATTEST:
- '-
-
~
~.
"
~ ~ ,~ ".
~.
Cl ty. ClerK