Bill Text: CA AB2173 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Metropolitan Transportation Commission: regional
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-16 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2173 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB2173-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2173 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Sections 8501, 8502, 8503, 8504, 8506, 8509, 8511,
8512, 8513, and 8514 of, to repeal Sections 8517, 8518, 8519, 8520,
8521, 8522, 8523, 8524, 8525, and 8526 of, and to repeal and add
Sections 8515 and 8516 of, the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to
transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2173, as introduced, Skinner. Metropolitan Transportation
Commission: regional gasoline tax.
Existing law creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
with specified powers and duties relative to transportation planning
and programing for the 9-county Bay Area region comprising the
commission's jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes the commission to
impose a regional tax on gasoline used by motor vehicles not to
exceed $0.10 per gallon for up to 20 years within the region, subject
to 2/3 voter approval.
This bill would modify these provisions by providing for the
commission to submit the proposed ballot measure to voters of one or
more counties within the 9-county region rather than to all counties.
The bill would delete the requirement for an independent audit of
the State Board of Equalization relative to reimbursement of the
board for its actual administrative costs associated with the
regional gasoline tax, and would make various other changes.
Existing law authorizes the commission to issue limited tax bonds
secured by the regional gasoline tax revenues under certain
conditions.
This bill would repeal certain of these provisions and enact new
provisions authorizing the commission to issue bonds secured by all
or a portion of the net regional gasoline tax revenues. The bill
would provide that interest earned on any of these bonds is free from
state personal income tax and corporate income tax. The bill would
authorize the commission to pledge net revenues to secure any
repayment or reimbursement obligations of the commission to any
provider of insurance or a guarantee of liquidity or credit facility
entered into to provide for the repayment of the bonds, and would
authorize the commission to employ and compensate bond counsel,
financial consultants, and other advisers in connection with these
bonds.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8501 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
amended to read:
8501. As used in this chapter, the following definitions have the
following meanings:
(a) "Commission" means the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
created by Title 7.1 (commencing with Section 66500) of the
Government Code.
(b) "County" means county or city and county.
(b)
(c) "Region" means the region comprising the commission'
s jurisdiction, prescribed by Section 66502 of the Government Code.
(c)
(d) "Bonds" means indebtedness and securities of any
kind or class, including bonds, notes, bond anticipation notes, and
commercial paper.
SEC. 2. Section 8502 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8502. The commission may impose, in addition to any other tax
authorized by this division, a tax on the privilege of selling within
one or more counties in the region, motor vehicle fuel,
as defined by Section 7326. The tax shall not apply to motor vehicle
fuel used to power aircraft. The tax shall be levied at a rate
established by the commission that may vary from year to year
, but may not exceeding ten
exceed 10 cents ($0.10) per gallon. Commencing on January 1 of
the year following the election approving the tax, the tax may be
imposed for a period not to exceed 20 years.
SEC. 3. Section 8503 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8503. (a) Prior to imposing the tax, the commission shall adopt a
regional transportation expenditure plan for the
revenues derived from the tax. The regional transportation
expenditure plan shall describe specific proposed
transportation projects or programs and the estimated cost
of each project or program .
(b) The regional transportation expenditure
plan shall also meet the following minimum objectives and criteria:
(1) Project expenditures shall reflect an equitable distribution
of revenues throughout the region counties in
which the tax is imposed with not less than 95 percent of
revenues from each county, based on population, being invested over
the 20-year life of the tax in projects attributable to that county.
In addition, during every five-year period, no less than 80 percent
of the revenues from each county, based on population, invested
during that period shall be invested in projects attributable to that
county. The commission shall allocate any accrued interest according
to the same formula. At the time of the development of the
expenditure plan, the commission shall use population data from the
most recent United States census, and shall take into account
estimated increases in population over the 20-year
a 25-year period projected by the Association of Bay Area
Governments.
(2) Projects included in the expenditure plan shall be consistent
with the commission's regional transportation plan, a congestion
management program, or a countywide transportation plan. The
commission shall, in prioritizing projects in the expenditure plan,
give additional consideration to projects where local land use
policies reduce dependence on single-occupant motor vehicle travel.
The expenditure plan development process shall include consultation
with cities, counties, transit operators, congestion management
agencies, and other interested groups.
(3) Cost estimates for each project shall be prepared by the
commission, in consultation with project sponsors, and verified by an
independent cost-estimating firm retained by the commission for that
purpose. Estimates of other funding required to complete any project
shall be based on an estimate of funds reasonably expected to be
available during the 20-year period commencing with the year that the
tax is initially imposed.
(4) To be eligible for inclusion in the expenditure plan, a
project shall meet at least one of the following regional
transportation needs:
(A) Fund maintenance and rehabilitation of local streets and
roads, sidewalks, or bicycle routes, or close a gap in the local
street and road system.
(B) Fund capital or operating expenses of public transit systems.
(C) Fund transit expansion projects in the commission's
Resolution 3434, Regional Transit Expansion Program as
contained in the commission's regional transportation plan.
(D) Provide an alternative to single occupancy automobile travel
, including traveler information programs and other programs
that encourage alternat ives to single-occupancy
automobile travel .
(E) Improve safety on specific roadway segments where accident or
fatality rates exceed the expected rate for those segments over a
multiyear timeframe, including, but not limited to, expansion or
realignment of the roadway.
(F) Improve the operational efficiency of the existing roadway
system without a physical expansion of the system. However, expansion
projects to reconfigure existing interchanges are eligible for
inclusion in the plan.
(G) Fund implementation of the requirements of the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336), or those
requirements as revised, on public transit systems and other
transportation-related facilities.
(H) Fund seismic retrofitting of transportation facilities.
(I) Fund intermodal freight or passenger facilities.
(J) Fund transportation enhancement activities, including projects
consistent with the commission's Transportation for Livable
Communities (TLC) Program and the Housing Incentive Program
(HIP) .
(K) Defray interest costs and other expenses associated with the
issuance of revenue bonds or revenue anticipation notes.
(5) If not otherwise available, sufficient funding shall be
included in the cost estimates and expenditure plan presented to the
voters to operate and maintain each included project for the duration
of the tax.
SEC. 4. Section 8504 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8504. (a) Following the adoption by the commission of a
regional transportation an expenditure plan, the
board of supervisors of each county and city and county
in the region designated by the commission
shall, upon the request of the commission, submit to the voters at a
local election consolidated with a statewide primary or general
election specified by the commission, a measure, adopted by the
commission, authorizing the commission to impose the tax
throughout the region .
(b) The measure may not be grouped with state or local measures on
the ballot, but shall be set forth in a separate category and shall
be identified as Regional Measure 2 , worded,
and described in the manner determined by the commission .
(c) Regardless of the system of voting used, the wording of the
measure shall read as follows:
"Shall The Metropolitan Transportation Commission be authorized to
impose a tax of ____ per gallon on the sale of gasoline to build and
operate transportation projects identified in the expenditure plan
adopted by the commission?"
(d)
(c) The commission shall reimburse each county
and city and county in the region for the cost of
submitting the measure to the voters. These costs shall be reimbursed
from revenues derived from the tax if the measure is approved by the
voters or, if the measure is not approved, from any funds of the
commission that are available for general transportation planning.
(e)
(d) The board of supervisors of a county or
city and county may elect not to submit the measure adopted
by the commission to the voters if it submits an alternative
countywide transportation funding measure to the voters at the same
election.
SEC. 5. Section 8506 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8506. The commission shall contract with the State Board of
Equalization for the administration of any tax imposed under this
chapter, and the board shall be reimbursed for its actual cost in the
administration of the tax and for its actual cost of preparation to
administer the tax based upon an independent audit
.
SEC. 6. Section 8509 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8509. The net revenues received by the commission shall be
expended only in accordance with this chapter and the
regional transportation expenditure plan adopted
pursuant to Section 8503, except that the commission may deduct from
those revenues funds to reimburse it for expenses incurred in the
initial implementation of this chapter, and thereafter, its cost of
administration, not to exceed 1 percent of annual net revenues.
SEC. 7. Section 8511 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8511. The commission's regional transportation
expenditure plan shall include a process of ensuring periodic public
review of the progress of the regional transportation
expenditure plan and citizen oversight.
SEC. 8. Section 8512 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8512. The commission may, by a two-thirds vote, amend the
regional transportation expenditure plan after a
minimum of two public hearings in accordance with Section 8511. Any
amendment shall comply with all of the requirements for the plan
prescribed by this chapter.
SEC. 9. Section 8513 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8513. (a) If requested to do so by the commission in its
resolution calling for an election, the board of supervisors, as
part of the ballot proposition to approve the imposition of the tax,
shall The ballot measure adopted by the commission may
include authorization for the commission to issue bonds
for capital outlay expenditures as may be provided for in
the ordinance expenditure plan payable from the
proceeds of net revenues from the tax.
(b) The maximum bonded indebtedness that may be outstanding at any
one time shall be an amount equal to the sum of the principal of,
and interest on, the bonds, but not to exceed the estimated proceeds
of the tax, as determined by the plan. The amount of bonds
outstanding at any one time does not include the amount of bonds,
refunding bonds, or bond anticipation notes for which funds necessary
for the payment thereof have been set aside for that purpose in a
trust or escrow account.
(c) The proposition shall set forth each of the following:
(1) The actual percent of the tax.
(2) The duration of the tax if the plan specifies a time limit.
(3) The amount of bonds, if any, payable from the proceeds of the
tax.
(4) The commission as the agency imposing the tax.
(5) The appropriations limit of the commission, pursuant to
Section 4 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
(d)
(b) The sample ballot to be mailed to the voters,
pursuant to Section 13303 of the Elections Code, shall be the full
proposition, as set forth in the ordinance or resolution
calling the election, and the voter information handbook shall
include the entire ordinance expenditure plan.
SEC. 10. Section 8514 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
8514. (a) The bonds
authorized by the voters concurrently with the approval of the tax
may be issued at any time or from time to time by the
commission and shall be payable from the proceeds of
net revenues from the tax. The bonds
shall be referred to as "limited tax bonds."
The bonds may be secured by a pledge of all or any portion of
the net revenues from the proceeds of the
tax. The bonds may be sold at public or private sale in the form
and on such terms and conditions as the commission shall approve. The
commission may pledge all or any part of the net revenues from
the tax to secure any repayment or reimbursement obligations of
the commission to any provider of insurance or a guarantee of
liquidity or credit facility entered into to provide for the
repayment of the bonds. The commission may employ and compensate bond
counsel, financial consultants, and other advisers determined
necessary by the commission in connection with the issuance and sale
of the bonds. The commission may issue bonds to refund or
purchase or otherwise acquire bonds on terms and conditions as the
commission may approve.
(b) The pledge of the tax to the limited tax bonds authorized
under this chapter shall have priority over the use of any of the tax
for "pay-as-you-go" financing, except to the extent that this
priority is expressly restricted in the resolution authorizing the
issuance of the bonds.
SEC. 11. Section 8515 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8515. Limited tax bonds shall be issued pursuant to a resolution
adopted at any time by a two-thirds vote of the commission. Each
resolution shall provide for the issuance of bonds in the amounts as
may be necessary, until the full amount of bonds authorized have been
issued. The full amount of bonds may be divided into two or more
series and different dates of payment fixed for the bonds of each
series. A bond need not mature on its anniversary date.
SEC. 12. Section 8515 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
to read:
8515. Interest earned on any bonds issued by the commission shall
at all times be free from state personal income tax and corporate
income tax.
SEC. 13. Section 8516 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8516. (a) A resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds shall
state all of the following:
(1) The purposes for which the proposed debt is to be incurred,
which may include all costs and estimated costs incidental to, or
connected with, the accomplishment of those purposes, including,
without limitation, engineering, inspection, legal, fiscal agent,
financial consultant and other fees, bond and other reserve funds,
working capital, bond interest estimated to accrue during the
construction period and for a period not to exceed three years
thereafter, and expenses of all proceedings for the authorization,
issuance, and sale of the bonds.
(2) The estimated cost of accomplishing those purposes.
(3) The amount of the principal of the indebtedness.
(4) The maximum term the bonds proposed to be issued shall run
before maturity, which shall not be beyond the date of termination of
the imposition of the tax.
(5) The maximum rate of interest to be paid, which shall not
exceed the maximum allowable by law.
(6) The denomination or denominations of the bonds, which shall
not be less than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(7) The form of the bonds, including, without limitation,
registered bonds and coupon bonds, to the extent permitted by federal
law, and the form of any coupons to be attached thereto, the
registration, conversion, and exchange privileges, if any, pertaining
thereto, and the time when all of, or any part of, the principal
becomes due and payable.
(b) The resolution may also contain any other matters authorized
by this chapter or any other law.
SEC. 14. Section 8516 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
to read:
8516. The state hereby pledges to and agrees with the holders of
bonds issued by the commission that the state will not limit, alter,
or restrict the rights hereby vested in the commission to fulfill
each pledge of revenues and any other terms of any agreement made
with or for the benefit of the holders of bonds or in any way impair
the rights or remedies of the holders of bonds.
SEC. 15. Section 8517 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8517. The bonds shall bear interest at a rate or rates not
exceeding the maximum allowable by law, payable at intervals
determined by the commission, except that the first interest payable
on the bonds, or any series thereof, may be for any period not
exceeding one year, as determined by the commission.
SEC. 16. Section 8518 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8518. In the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds,
the commission may also provide for the call and redemption of the
bonds prior to maturity at the times and prices and upon other terms
as specified. However, no bond is subject to call or redemption prior
to maturity, unless it contains a recital to that effect or unless a
statement to that effect is printed.
SEC. 17. Section 8519 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8519. The principal of, and interest on, the bonds shall be
payable in lawful money of the United States at the office of the
treasurer of the commission, or at other places as may be designated,
or at both the office and other places at the option of the holders
of the bonds.
SEC. 18. Section 8520 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8520. The bonds, or each series thereof, shall be dated and
numbered consecutively and shall be signed by the chairperson or vice
chairperson of the commission and the auditor-controller of the
commission, and the official seal, if any, of the commission shall be
attached.
The interest coupons of the bonds shall be signed by the
auditor-controller of the commission. All of the signatures and seal
may be printed, lithographed, or mechanically reproduced.
If any officer whose signature appears on the bonds or coupons
ceases to be that officer before the delivery of the bonds, the
officer's signature is as effective as if the officer had remained in
office.
SEC. 19. Section 8521 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8521. The bonds may be sold as the commission determines by
resolution, and the bonds may be sold at a price below par, whether
by negotiated or public sale.
SEC. 20. Section 8522 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8522. Delivery of any bonds may be made at any place either
inside or outside the state, and the purchase price may be received
in cash or bank credits.
SEC. 21. Section 8523 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8523. All accrued interest and premiums received on the sale of
the bonds shall be placed in the fund to be used for the payment of
the principal of, and interest on, the bonds, and the remainder of
the proceeds of the bonds shall be placed in the treasury of the
commission and applied to secure the bonds or for the purposes for
which the debt was incurred. However, when the purposes have been
accomplished, any money remaining shall be either (a) transferred to
the fund to be used for the payment of principal of, and interest on,
the bonds or (b) placed in a fund to be used for the purchase of the
outstanding bonds in the open market at prices and in the manner,
either at public or private sale or otherwise, as determined by the
commission. Bonds so purchased shall be canceled immediately.
SEC. 22. Section 8524 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8524. (a) The commission may provide for the issuance, sale, or
exchange of refunding bonds to redeem or retire any bonds issued by
the commission upon the terms, at the times, and in the manner which
it determines.
(b) Refunding bonds may be issued in a principal amount sufficient
to pay all, or any part of, the principal of the outstanding bonds,
the premiums, if any, due upon call and redemption thereof prior to
maturity, all expenses of the refunding, and either of the following:
(1) The interest upon the refunding bonds from the date of sale
thereof to the date of payment of the bonds to be refunded out of the
proceeds of the sale of the refunding bonds or to the date upon
which the bonds to be refunded will be paid pursuant to call or
agreement with the holders of the bonds.
(2) The interest upon the bonds to be refunded from the date of
sale of the refunding bonds to the date of payment of the bonds to be
refunded or to the date upon which the bonds to be refunded will be
paid pursuant to call or agreement with the holder of the bonds.
(c) The provisions of this chapter for the issuance and sale of
bonds apply to the issuance and sale of refunding bonds.
SEC. 23. Section 8525 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8525. (a) The commission may borrow money in anticipation of the
sale of bonds which have been authorized pursuant to this chapter,
but which have not been sold or delivered, and may issue negotiable
bond anticipation notes therefor and may renew the bond anticipation
notes from time to time. However, the maximum maturity of any bond
anticipation notes, including the renewals thereof, shall not exceed
five years from the date of delivery of the original bond
anticipation notes.
(b) The bond anticipation notes, and the interest thereon, may be
paid from any money of the commission available therefor, including
the revenues from the tax. If not previously otherwise paid, the bond
anticipation notes, or any portion thereof, or the interest thereon,
shall be paid from the proceeds of the next sale of the bonds of the
commission in anticipation of which the notes were issued.
(c) The bond anticipation notes shall not be issued in any amount
in excess of the aggregate amount of the bonds which the commission
has been authorized to issue, less the amount of any bonds of the
authorized issue previously sold, and also less the amount of other
bond anticipation notes therefor issued and then outstanding. The
bond anticipation notes shall be issued and sold in the same manner
as the bonds.
(d) The bond anticipation notes and the resolutions authorizing
them may contain any provisions, conditions, or limitations which a
resolution of the commission may contain.
SEC. 24. Section 8526 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
8526. Any bonds issued under this chapter are legal investment
for all trust funds; for the funds of insurance companies, commercial
and savings banks, and trust companies; and for state school funds;
and whenever any money or funds may, by any law now or hereafter
enacted, be invested in bonds of cities, counties, school districts,
or other districts within the state, that money or those funds may be
invested in the bonds issued under this chapter, and whenever bonds
of cities, counties, school districts, or other districts within the
state may, by any law now or hereafter enacted, be used as security
for the performance of any act or the deposit of any public money,
the bonds issued under this chapter may be so used. The provisions of
this chapter are in addition to all other laws relating to legal
investments and shall be controlling as the latest expression of the
Legislature with respect thereto.
