Streets and Highways Code, 1935

A county may, with the department’s agreement, transfer some or all apportioned funds—and optionally matching funds—to certain federal-aid secondary road projects.

If the council orders the improvement, it must levy an assessment on the specified lots or parcels to cover the improvement cost, minus any sums already allotted by the city council.

When the assessment is levied, the clerk of the council must send the diagram and assessment to the city tax collector.

Challenges to an assessment’s validity must be started within 30 days of the levy, and any appeal from the final judgment must be perfected within 30 days after judgment entry.

The tax collector must record the diagram and assessment in a suitable book and add a certificate showing the recording date.

Assessment amounts become due immediately when the assessment roll is recorded, and each assessment becomes a lien on the affected property.

The tax collector must give notice of the assessment after it is recorded, usually by newspaper publication, or by posting if no suitable newspaper exists.

The notice must say where the assessments were recorded, that they are immediately due, that payment is due within 30 days, and that unpaid assessments then become delinquent with a 10% addition.

When an assessment is paid, the tax collector must mark it “paid” with the payment date and give a receipt.

Unpaid assessments become delinquent 30 days after the notice is first published or posted.

If an assessment is delinquent, the tax collector must mark it “delinquent” and add 10 per cent to the assessment amount.

Certain unclaimed or unused federal-aid secondary funds must be spent on state highway projects in the county group that includes the county they came from, if that can be done consistently with federal law.

The council may use an alternative method to collect certain assessments by sending the assessment roll to the city assessor and tax collector or, in some cases, the county auditor, who must add or enter the assessment amounts and collect them with taxes.

The city council may decide that assessment payments can be made in up to five annual installments and may set interest on deferred payments, capped at 5% per year.

This section says the lien is subordinate to previously imposed fixed special assessment liens, but has priority over fixed special assessment liens created later.

The tax collector must start giving notice of the sale of delinquent land within 30 days after delinquency.

The sale date must be set between 5 and 10 days after the last publication or the completion of posting of the notice.

A delinquency notice must list each delinquent lot or parcel, the owner name from the assessment roll, and the amount due, including advertisement costs.

The notice must say that unpaid delinquent assessments, plus penalties and costs, will result in the property being sold at public auction at the stated time and place.

Any person may redeem property after delinquency and before sale by paying the delinquent assessment, penalties, and costs.

The tax collector must conduct the sale as noticed, sell the parcels in order, and may postpone or continue the sale day to day until it is finished.

The tax collector must issue both an original and duplicate certificate of sale for each sale, give the buyer the original, and file the duplicate in the office.

Property sold for delinquent tax may be redeemed within 12 months of the sale by paying the tax collector the sale amount plus a 20% penalty.

When a lot or parcel is redeemed, the tax collector must record the fact and date of redemption on the duplicate certificate of sale.

The tax collector must pay redemption money to the holder of the original sale certificate when the certificate is surrendered and a receipt is executed.

If the property has not been redeemed within 12 months after the sale date, the tax collector must, on proper application, issue a deed to the purchaser or the purchaser’s successor in interest.

A deed must recite the sale certificate details, any change of interest, and that no one redeemed the property.

An applicant for a deed must pay the tax collector $1 for making the deed, unless the city is the purchaser, in which case no charge is made.

Before applying for a deed, the purchaser or successor in interest must serve written notice at least 30 days in advance on the property owner and any occupant.

If the property owner cannot be found with due diligence, the notice must be posted in a conspicuous place on the property at least 30 days before the deed application time stated in the notice.

A deed applicant must file affidavits with the tax collector showing notice was given, and if personal service on the owner did not happen, that due diligence was used to find the owner. The tax collector must file the affidavits in the office.

If a person redeems property after the affidavits are filed and more than 11 months after the sale, they must pay an extra $3.

A deed for property sold for a delinquent assessment may not be executed until the purchaser or successor in interest has complied with this chapter and filed the proper affidavits with the tax collector.

A tax collector’s deed is evidence of the truth of the matters recited in it, the regularity of prior proceedings, and title in the grantee.

The department may accept grants for the State and may accept other financial or nonfinancial assistance for safety roadside rests.

Funds collected by the tax collector must be paid to the city treasurer promptly, and the city treasurer must keep them in a special fund and spend them only for purposes allowed by this part.

The city treasurer must make payments from the special fund to the board when funds are needed for the improvement.

The city council may transfer needed money from the general fund into the special fund to speed up the improvement.

The department may contract with certain public or private organizations to build, operate, and maintain traveler service information facilities and safety roadside rests, subject to stated conditions.

The department must create a policy for restroom use at certain safety roadside rests for disabled travelers, allow an attendant of the opposite sex to assist, and provide special signs saying this is permitted.

This chapter may be cited as the Federal Aid for Metropolitan Transportation Planning Act.

Several public planning bodies are authorized to take necessary actions in their own jurisdictions to secure federal transportation planning funds.

This chapter defines “Transportation Planning and Development Account” as the account created in the State Transportation Fund under Public Utilities Code Section 99310.

Certain federal-aid highway funds must be recorded in specified state transportation accounts and then allocated by the commission to metropolitan transportation planning organizations.

The department must set operating procedures and take other appropriate action to comply with this chapter and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

It is unlawful for anyone to throw or place substances in a safety roadside rest except in the proper receptacle, and unlawful to put household, farm, commercial, or other non-travel-related waste into the refuse receptacles there.

The department may make rules for safety roadside rests, and people may not do activities there that those rules prohibit.

No one may sell, offer, display, or solicit money for merchandise, food, services, or any purpose at a vista point or safety roadside rest unless this article specifically allows it.

This part is known as the “Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972,” and it may be cited by that name.

This section says Part 2 applies to certain local agencies and certain entities made up only of those local agencies.

This section says the part creates an alternative procedure for making the authorized improvements and does not affect other provisions of the code.

An assessment district must include all territory the legislative body finds will benefit from the improvements and be assessed for their costs.

An assessment district may include all or part of the territory within the local agency, and in a county it may include all or part of the county’s unincorporated territory.

An assessment district may include contiguous or separate areas.

This section incorporates another set of code provisions by reference into this part.

Division 4 generally does not apply to this part, and Division 4.5 generally does not apply either, except in specified bond-or-note proceedings and when the legislative body chooses to apply it.

Certain required local documents may use an on-file public plan or map for a full description, and that plan or map controls the details.

This section says the part should be interpreted broadly, and proceedings or assessments are not invalid just because of a non-substantial compliance failure. Legislative body determinations under the part are final unless there is fraud or prejudicial abuse of discretion.

The definitions in this article control how this part is read, unless the context requires otherwise.

This section defines “assessment district” as an assessment district formed under this part.

This section defines “clerk” as the clerk or secretary of a local agency or its legislative body.

This section defines “Engineer” for this part.

“Fiscal year” means a 12-month period from July 1 through the following June 30.

This section defines “improvement” to include landscaping, ornamental structures, public lighting, related support facilities, park or recreational improvements, maintenance, land acquisition for parks/open space, and certain public facilities.

This section defines “incidental expenses” for this part of the code.

This section defines “including” to mean “including without limitation,” unless the text expressly limits it.

This section defines “landscaping” as trees, shrubs, grass, or other ornamental vegetation.

This section defines “legislative body” as the legislative body or governing board of any local agency.

This section defines “local agency.”

This section defines “maintain” or “maintenance” for improvements, including repair, landscaping care, waste removal, and cleaning or painting to address graffiti.

This section defines who counts as a “property owner” for this code section.

This section defines “public agency.”

This section defines “public lighting facilities” as works or improvements used or useful for lighting public places.

This section defines “public places” to include public streets, roads, parks, and certain public property or rights-of-way used for a public function.

This section defines “public utility” as a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of and regulated by the Public Utilities Commission.

In this section, “resolution” includes an ordinance.

“Service” or “servicing” is defined to include supplying electricity, gas, or other lighting agents for public lighting or other improvements, and supplying water for landscaping, fountains, or other improvements.

This section defines “special district” for this part of the code.

This section defines “Treasurer” as the treasurer of a local agency.

“Notice” means a resolution, order, notice, or other instrument that this part requires or allows to be published, posted, or mailed.

The clerk must give notice under this article, unless the legislative body delegates that duty to another officer or board.

Published notice must be made under Government Code Section 6061.

Notice of a hearing must be published and completed at least 10 days before the hearing date stated in the notice.

Posted notices must be posted on an official bulletin board customarily used by the local agency or legislative body, except notices for hearings to form an assessment district or annex territory to an existing district.

Before levying a new assessment, the legislative body must give notice of the public hearing under the referenced Government Code section.

The engineer must prepare reports under this article.

A report must be prepared for each fiscal year when assessments will be levied and collected to pay for the improvements described in the report.

A report must identify the assessment district, state the fiscal year it covers, and include specified project, cost, diagram, assessment, and bond or note amount information.

Plans and specifications must show and describe the existing and proposed improvements, and if the assessment district has zones, they must indicate the class and type of improvements for each zone.

The fiscal-year estimate of improvement costs must include specified cost, balance, contribution, installment, and net assessment figures.

A diagram for an assessment district must show the district’s exterior boundaries, any zone boundaries, and the lines and dimensions of each lot or parcel in the district.

Lot lines and dimensions shown on the diagram must match the county assessor’s maps for the fiscal year the report covers.

The assessment must refer to the fiscal year it applies to and must state, describe, and apportion the required amounts and land parcels.

The net amount assessed on lands in an assessment district may be apportioned by a fair formula or method that distributes it among assessable lots or parcels according to estimated benefits from the improvements.

The diagram and assessment may divide an assessment district into zones based on differences in the improvements, and each zone must cover territory that gets substantially the same benefit.

Formation proceedings for an assessment district must begin by resolution.

After completing the work, the engineer must file the report with the clerk so it can go to the legislative body.

After the report is approved, the legislative body must adopt a resolution of intention.

The legislative body must follow the notice, protest, and hearing procedures in Government Code Section 53753.

The legislative body may change the proposed report and remove territory from the proposed district, but it cannot add territory unless a property owner requests it or mailed hearing notice is given.

After the hearing, the legislative body must decide whether a majority protest exists and adjust the proposed district boundaries accordingly.

If there is a majority protest, the proceedings to form the assessment district must be abandoned.

If no majority protest is filed, the legislative body may adopt a resolution for the improvements and assessment district; the resolution counts as the levy of the assessment, and the clerk must record a notice and map.

If a railroad or utility right-of-way is inside an assessment district, it must be listed in the key district documents, and it can be assessed only to the extent it benefits from the proposed improvement.

Safety roadside rest areas are treated as part of the state highway right-of-way.

The department may create up to six new safety roadside rest area units as a demonstration project, but only if federal law does not prohibit it and the project serves public need and saves the state money.

The legislative body may order certain assessment-district changes, but it may not use those changes to alter property owners’ obligation to pay bonded debt or notes.

Proceedings for a change of organization may happen before or at the same time as assessment district formation proceedings, and related documents may be combined.

Change-of-organization proceedings must generally follow the Article 1 procedure for forming an assessment district, unless this article provides otherwise.

In annexation proceedings, the annexation materials and majority-protest right are limited to the territory being annexed, notice of hearing must be published, posted, and mailed, and mailed notice can be skipped for owners who filed a written request for annexation.

If an ordinance requires a subdivider to install improvements covered by this part, the resolution of intention may place the subdivider’s territory under the ordinance and form or annex it to an assessment district without notice and hearing or an engineers report, or both.

In detachment proceedings, the listed materials and protest rights are limited to the territory proposed to be detached, and the legislative body may dispense with certain notice and report requirements.

In dissolution proceedings, the legislative body may skip certain required resolution, report, and hearing notice steps, and if it orders dissolution, remaining improvement-fund money must be moved to the local agency’s general fund.

After a consolidation, the new single assessment district takes on the consolidated districts’ assets and liabilities and is entitled to their property tax revenues.

If all of a district is inside one city because of annexation or incorporation, the legislative body may transfer jurisdiction to that city’s council by joint resolution.

When territory is annexed into or incorporated into a city and notice requirements are met, it is excluded from the assessment district. If bonds or notes are outstanding, withdrawing property remains liable for its pro rata share.

This chapter applies to annual assessments levied after an assessment district is formed, except assessments used to pay principal or interest on previously issued bond debt or notes.

Proceedings must be taken under this chapter for any fiscal year when an assessment will be levied and collected in an existing assessment district.

The legislative body must adopt a resolution describing proposed new improvements or substantial changes to existing improvements and order the engineer to prepare and file a report.

After completion, the engineer must file the report with the clerk for submission to the legislative body. The legislative body may approve the report as filed or modify it and approve it as modified.

After the report is approved, the legislative body must adopt a resolution of intention.

The hearing’s date, time, and place must be set for a regular meeting before August 10.

This section requires notice of the hearing to be given, using one method if assessments stay the same or go down, and a different notice rule if assessments increase.

Interested persons may file a written protest with the clerk before the hearing ends, and a previously filed protest may be withdrawn in writing. Written protests must state all grounds of objection, and property-owner protests must identify the property.

The legislative body must hold the required public hearing or meeting at the noticed time and place, let interested persons speak, consider oral statements and written protests, and may continue the hearing only with a limit after August 10 unless the county auditor consents.

The legislative body may order changes to the report’s matters during or after the hearing.

If there is a majority protest against an increased annual assessment after formation of the assessment district, the proposed increase must be abandoned.

If no majority protest is filed, the legislative body may adopt a resolution confirming the diagram and assessment.

Hearings and the resolution confirming the diagram and assessment must be completed by the deadline set in this section, unless the county auditor authorizes a later date within the stated limit.

The clerk must file the diagram and assessment, or a certified copy, with the county auditor immediately after a confirming resolution is adopted, and no later than the third Monday in August.

After the diagram and assessment are filed, the county auditor must enter the assessed amount for each lot or parcel on the county assessment roll.

Assessments are collected like county taxes, with a 30-day payment window for certain bond- or note-backed assessments, and unpaid amounts may be pursued in superior court.

After the county collects the assessments, it must pay the net amount to the treasurer after deducting any compensation due the county for collection.

When county-collected assessment money is received, the treasurer must place it in the local agency treasury in a fund for the related assessment district, and it may be spent only on improvements authorized for that district.

Any surplus or deficit in an assessment district’s improvement fund must be carried forward to the next annual assessment and applied as a credit or debit.

If an assessment district’s improvement fund has a deficit during a fiscal year, the legislative body may use available, unencumbered local agency funds to make a contribution or a temporary advance.

The legislative body may accept contributions from any source for improvement costs, and may arrange contributions from local agency funds before or after assessment confirmation.

Contributions authorized before an assessment is confirmed must be deducted from the total improvement costs assessed in the assessment district.

The legislative body may use a resolution to finance certain improvement costs in installments instead of a single annual assessment.

After a resolution for annual installment assessments is adopted, the engineer must include the total annual installment amount for each specified fiscal year in the estimate and assessment.

If annual installment payments have been authorized, the legislative body may use collected installments, make a temporary advance, or borrow money for the improvements, subject to a cap on borrowing.

A local agency’s legislative body may authorize bonds or notes for certain improvement costs, but notes cannot have a maturity longer than 10 years and related debt service limits apply.

Public property used for a public function is generally not assessed unless the resolution of intention says it will be, and if it is assessed the local agency must pay the amounts due.

Challenges to the assessment are barred unless started within 30 days, and any appeal from judgment must be perfected within 30 days after judgment.

The legislative body may use special assessment or similar procedures to build, maintain, or service authorized improvements, and may combine related proceedings and paperwork when proceedings are combined.

This section states legislative findings about hardship in the Cypress neighborhood and says the article was enacted to help reduce some of those problems for residents and businesses there.