4710-4718

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 4710-4718




4710.  A board of supervisors desiring to form a county sanitation
district shall adopt a resolution of its intention to do so. The
resolution shall contain all of the following:
   (a) A statement of the intention to form a district.
   (b) The boundaries of the proposed district or some other
designation of its territorial extent.
   (c) The name of the proposed district.
   (d) The time and place where objections to the formation of the
district or to its extent will be heard.
   (e) Instructions to the clerk of the board to publish the
resolution and notices of hearing.
   (f) When the proposed district includes parcels of noncontiguous
territory, a statement that the proposed district will be in
accordance with the master plan of county sanitation service as
adopted by the board of supervisors or if the county has not adopted
such a master plan then a statement that the proposed district is
within the same watershed. Watershed as used in this section means to
include only that area drained by gravity to the trunk sewer or
sewers.



4711.  The district as formed may include unincorporated or
incorporated territory, or both. The incorporated territory included
in the district may include the whole or part of one or more cities.
However, less than the whole of a city shall not be included in the
district except by the vote of a majority of the governing body of
the city.
   The district shall not include the whole or any part of another
sanitation district or any other district formed for similar purposes
unless the governing body of such other district shall consent
thereto and the board of supervisors, after a hearing, shall find and
determine by resolution duly adopted that the proposed inclusion of
the whole or part of such other district within the district is in
the public interest and the territory affected will benefit thereby.
   Notice of such hearing shall be given by publication in at least
two successive issues, not more than 30 nor less than 10 days prior
to the hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation published
within the county.


4711.5.  The land proposed to be formed into a district need not
consist of contiguous parcels.



4712.  The time to be fixed for the hearing of objections shall be
not less than thirty days after the adoption of the resolution. The
hearing shall be held at the regular meeting place of the board of
supervisors or else at some place in the proposed district.



4713.  Prior to the time of hearing, the resolution shall be
published at length twice in at least one newspaper of general
circulation in the proposed district and brief notices of the passage
of the resolution and the time and place of the hearing may be
published in one or more daily or weekly newspapers published and
circulated in the proposed district.



4714.  At the time provided in the resolution of intention or at any
time to which the hearing is continued, the board of supervisors
shall hear any objections to the formation of the district or to its
extent. At the hearing the board of supervisors may exclude any
territory that in its opinion will not be benefited by being in the
district.



4714.5.  If the board of supervisors finds that protests have been
made, prior to its final determination for formation of the district,
by the owners of real property within the proposed district the
assessed value of which, as shown by the last equalized assessment
roll, constitutes more than one-half of the total assessed value of
the real property within the proposed district, the proceeding shall
terminate. The board of supervisors shall order the proceeding
terminated when such protests are received.



4715.  If written objection to the formation of the district, signed
by 5 percent of the voters registered in the district if the
district contains less than 2001 registered voters, or by 2 percent
of the registered voters, but not less than 100 registered voters, if
the district contains 2001, or more, registered voters, is filed
with the board, it shall, and in any event it may, either adopt an
order abandoning the formation of the proposed district or order the
matter of the formation of the district with the boundary lines
determined at the close of the hearing submitted to the voters of the
proposed district at an election.


4716.  At the election only voters registered in the proposed
district may vote. Election precincts shall be established by the
board of supervisors, and precinct boards, composed of one inspector,
one judge, and one clerk, shall be appointed. At least one week
prior to the election, notice of the election shall be given by
publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the proposed
district. In other particulars the election shall be conducted in the
manner ordered by the board of supervisors.



4716.1.  Within five days after the district formation election has
been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall
transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election
call to the executive officer of the local agency formation
commission of the county or principal county in which the territory
or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is
located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description
of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy
of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the
district formation election.
   The executive officer, within five days after being notified that
a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the
commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis
of the proposed district formation.
   The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and
shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the
district proposed to be formed.
   The local agency formation commission, within five days after the
receipt of the executive officer's analysis, shall approve or modify
the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting
the district formation election.


4716.2.  The board of supervisors or any member or members of the
board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide
association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation
proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of
citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument
against the proposed district formation.
   Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed
with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than
54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.




4716.3.  If more than one argument for or more than one argument
against the proposed district formation is filed with the election
officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall
select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the
voters.
   In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give
preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the
following:
   (a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board
authorized by the board.
   (b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a
combination of such voters and associations.



4716.4.  The elections officials in charge of conducting the
election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district
formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each
voter entitled to vote on the district formation question.
   The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following, in the order
prescribed:
   (a) The complete text of the proposition.
   (b) The impartial analysis of the proposition, prepared by the
local agency formation commission.
   (c) The argument for the proposed district formation.
   (d) The argument against the proposed district formation.
   The elections officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter
entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days
prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is "official
matter" within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.



4717.  At the conclusion of the hearing, or if an election is held
and the canvass of the election returns shows that a majority of all
the votes cast in the entire proposed district and that a majority of
the votes cast on the question in each city or part thereof in the
proposed district were in favor of the formation of the district, the
board of supervisors may, if it deems best, make an order forming
the district.



4718.  The order of formation shall contain the name of the
district, and a description of the boundaries or otherwise indicate
its territory. The order is conclusive evidence of the regularity of
all prior proceedings, except the adoption and publication in full of
the resolution of intention and of the fact of the hearing.