Public Utilities Code, 1951

Except as otherwise provided, this chapter substantially governs matters relating to refunding bonds.

Refunding bonds must bear interest no higher than the refunded bonds, and their payments must start within 1 year and finish within 40 years.

Refunding bond sale proceeds must be used only for specified debt-related purposes.

The board may exchange refunding bonds for the bonds being refunded, as long as the exchange is for at least par and accrued interest.

When outstanding bonds are refunded, they must be surrendered to the district treasurer, who must cancel them and mark them as canceled.

Bonds issued by the district, including refunding bonds, are legal investments for specified funds and institutions.

District bonds may be used by state or national banks in the state as security for deposits of public funds.

A bond validity action, including one for refunding bonds, may be brought under the cited civil procedure chapter.

The district may issue revenue bonds as an alternative way to raise funds.

The district may issue revenue bonds and use bond procedures allowed by the Revenue Bond Law of 1941.

Territory may be annexed to the district under the procedures in this chapter.

If the board determines that additional territory would benefit from annexation to the district, it must pass a resolution to that effect.

A resolution must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the board members and by the county board of supervisors.

The resolution must describe the annexation area, name the annexation, state that the area will benefit, and set the time and place for hearing objections.

The resolution and board vote names must be published in a newspaper tied to the territory proposed for annexation, or in a general-circulation paper there if no local paper exists.

The board must hear objections to a proposed annexation at the hearing, and if two-thirds of the board decides the territory will benefit, the board must set the new boundaries.

The board must order annexation of the described territory after making necessary boundary changes and passing a resolution by a two-thirds vote.

If territory is annexed to the district, it immediately becomes part of the district and takes on its liabilities and benefits.

If the commission lets a gas corporation recover certain transmission-pipeline costs in a ratemaking proceeding, it must require a balancing account; any unspent balance plus interest must be returned to ratepayers through a true-up filing.

The district’s board of directors may detach territory from the district if four-fifths of the board votes for it.

Territory detachment from the district takes effect when the notice in Section 96902 is given, and the detached territory still remains liable for taxation tied to any bonded indebtedness that already existed at detachment.

Notice of territory detachment from the district must be given to each assessor whose roll is used for the tax levy and to the State Board of Equalization.

The commission must analyze benchmark data, adopt pipeline safety performance metrics, and use them to evaluate a gas corporation’s safety performance. It may also create a rate incentive program that can include penalties based on safety performance.

The board may call an election to ask voters whether the district should be dissolved if the district has no transit facilities or its boundaries match a single city. The board must call the election if a petition signed by voters equal to at least 25% of the last general statewide vote is filed with the district secretary.

An election on whether the district should be dissolved must be held within 60 days after the petition is filed.

Notice of a dissolution election must be published, and the election date must be at least 30 days after the first publication.

Ballots for the election must include the standard election instructions and ask whether the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District should be dissolved, with YES and NO options.

The board must canvass the vote and, if a majority favors dissolution, dissolve the district by resolution.

The board must file a certified copy of the resolution with the Secretary of State and the county recorder.

When the district is dissolved, property it owns or controls inside a city vests in that city; property outside a city vests in the county where it is located.

For any dissolved district, the board of supervisors is the governing body and may levy taxes and assessments to wind up district affairs and pay outstanding debt.

A gas corporation’s penalty for a natural gas storage facility leak must be at least enough to offset the climate impact of the leaked greenhouse gases, and the commission must consider mitigation already underway when setting the amount.

The commission must adopt rules for certain gas pipeline facilities, require gas corporations to report leak information, and start a related proceeding by January 15, 2015.

The commission must consider several items when doing so, including workforce needs, revenues for Section 975 activities, treatment of expenditures, and affordability impacts for vulnerable gas customers.

This article does not change the commission’s jurisdiction over regulating greenhouse gas emissions, except where the article expressly says otherwise.

This section defines “core gas customer,” “core transport agent,” and “gas corporation” for this chapter.

This section names the part as the “Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Act of 1967.”

This section says the article’s provisions control how this part is interpreted, unless the context requires otherwise.

This section defines “District” as the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District formed under this part.

This section defines “Board” as the board of directors of this district.

“Voter” means any elector who is registered under the Elections Code.

“Transit” is defined as passenger transportation with incidental baggage, excluding chartered buses, sightseeing buses, and similar non-fare-paying vehicles; the district is not barred from leasing buses to private certified public carriers or providing school bus service.

“Transit works” or “transit facilities” means the property, equipment, rights, and interests the district owns or will acquire for transit service.

“Officer” means the general manager and the directors on the board.

The section states that a transit district needs to be established for the Santa Cruz metropolitan area.

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit System may be created under this part and, once created, may exercise the powers granted here.

Elections under this part must be held, conducted, and counted as nearly as practicable under the state’s general election laws, unless this part provides otherwise.

Except where this part says otherwise, ordinances and notices that must be published have to be published within the district under Section 6066 of the Government Code.

This section allows certain district, retirement board, and retirement system signatures to be made with a facsimile plate, except for the single instance in Section 98335.

The County of Santa Cruz may organize and incorporate the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District.

A request to form the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District may be made by resolution or by petition.

The district may include incorporated and unincorporated territory within Santa Cruz County.

Three local government bodies may pass a joint resolution stating that public interest or necessity requires creating and maintaining the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District.

The resolution may mention the transit facilities to be acquired first, but not acquiring them does not affect the district’s validity. The resolution must describe the proposed district’s boundaries.

Certified copies of the resolution must be presented to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, asking it to call an election without delay on whether the district will be created.

Voters in the proposed district may present a petition to the board of supervisors instead of a resolution if the petition is signed by enough voters to equal at least 25% of the last general election vote.

A petition must include the required declarations and statements, including the boundary description, and state the petitioners’ view that creating and maintaining the transit district is needed for the public interest or necessity.

A petition may be filed on separate papers, but each paper must include the circulator’s affidavit certifying that the signatures are genuine.