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CC RES 2005-070 RESOLUTION NO. 2005-70 A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, AUTHORIZING THE USE OF A MAIL BALLOT ELECTION, CALLING A SPECIAL MAIL BALLOT ELECTION FOR AUGUST 30, 2005 FOR SUBMITTAL OF A PROPOSED ANNUAL STORM DRAIN USER FEE TO OWNERS OF REAL PROPERTY SUBJECT TO THE FEE, CONFIRMING A REPORT ON THE PROPOSED FEE AND ADOPTING PROCEDURES FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION. WHEREAS, on April 19, 2005, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2005-38 declaring its intention to establish a proposed annual Storm Drain User Fee (the "Fee") to fund the City's Water Quality and Flood Protection Program; and WHEREAS, Article XIIID of the California Constitution ("Proposition 218") requires the City to follow certain procedural and substantive requirements relating to the imposition of property-related fees and charges (as defined in Proposition 218), such as the Fee; and WHEREAS, the City has determined that the Fee is a "property-related" fee, subject to Proposition 218; and WHEREAS, before imposing the Fee, the City Council must hold a noticed public hearing on an engineer's written report (the "Written Report") containing a description of each parcel of real property within the City to which the Fee is applicable and the amount of the Fee for each such parcel for Fiscal Year 2006-07, and to consider protests to the Fee and, if a majority protest is not received at the public hearing, the Council must submit the question of the imposition of the Fee to a vote of the owners of the property subject to the proposed Fee for approval before the proposed Fee may be levied; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Ordinance No. 417, the City Council authorized the use of a mail ballot election for any election or assessment ballot proceeding required or authorized by Article XIIIC or XIIID of the California Constitution; and WHEREAS, in accordance with Proposition 218 and with the revised procedures established by Resolution No. 2005-69, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing on the matter of the Written Report and the proposed Fee on June 21, 2005 and took testimony, both written and oral; NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES HEREBY FINDS, DETERMINES AND RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City Council has: (a) reviewed the Written Report containing a list of all parcels to which the Fee is proposed to apply and the Fee for each property; (b) heard and considered testimony from all persons who wished to be heard, at the hearing; (c) heard and considered all objections, protests, or other written communications from any persons owning real property subject to the proposed Fee; (d) received and considered oral and documentary evidence pertaining to the Fee; (e) remedied and corrected clerical errors, if any, or informality in the Written Report; (f) corrected minor defects, if any, in the proceedings. SECTION 2. The City Council hereby confirms the Written Report referred to in Section 1 and each of the Fees proposed therein. SECTION 3. The City Council determines that written protests have not been received from property owners representing a majority of the parcels subject to the Fee. SECTION 4. The City Council hereby authorizes a special election, to be held solely by mail ballot, for the purpose of submitting the Fee to a vote of the owners of parcels that are subject to the Fee. SECTION 5. The Council hereby calls a special election, to be held solely by mail ballot, for the purpose of submitting the Fee to a vote of the owners of parcels subject to the Fee. The date of the election shall be Tuesday, August 30, 2005. Ballots must be received by the City Clerk no later than 8:00 p.m. on the date of the election. SECTION 6. At the special election called by this resolution, the following measure shall be submitted to the property owners voting: To provide the City of Rancho Palos Verdes with a dedicated funding source to: • Repair, reconstruct and maintain the storm drain system throughout the city and • Install filtration device to reduce polluted runoff and protect coastal water quality, shall the City establish a new annual Storm Drain User Fee as part of the City's Water Quality and Flood Protection Program? YES, I support the proposed annual Storm Drain User Fee No, I oppose the proposed annual Storm Drain User Fee Resolution No. 2005-70 Page 2 of 3 SECTION 7. The special election called by this resolution shall be conducted in accordance with procedures as set forth in Exhibit 3, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference (the "Procedures"). No impartial analysis by the City Attorney shall be required, and no arguments for or against the Fee shall be filed. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 21St day of June 2005. Mayor Attest: Cit Clerk State of California ) County of Los Angeles ) ss City of Rancho Palos Verdes ) I, Carolynn Petru, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, hereby certify that the above Resolution No. 2005-70 was duly and regularly passed and adopted by the said City Council at a regular meeting thereof held on June 21, 2005. y Clerk Resolution No. 2005-70 Page 3 of 3 RESOLUTION NO, 2005-70 EXHIBIT "3" PROCEDURES FOR THE CONDUCT OF A MAIL BALLOT ELECTION RELATING TO A PROPOSED STORM DRAIN USER FEE The following Procedures have been adopted by the City Council of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes for the purpose of conducting a mail ballot election required by Article XIII D of the California Constitution for consideration of the imposition of a proposed Storm Drain User Fee (the "Proposed Storm Drain User Fee'). 86876/0001/823212.6 Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3" TABLE OF CONTENTS A. General Procedures Page 1 B. Mailing of Ballots Page 1 C. Eligibility to Vote Page 2 D. Conduct of Election Page 3 E. Post Election Proceedings Page 5 F. Special Provisions Page 5 R6876/0001/823212.7 1 Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3" A. General Procedures 1. To the extent feasible, this mail ballot election shall constitute an election for the purposes of Article II of the California Constitution. The City Council recognizes that a mail ballot election for property owners, as opposed to registered voters, is a unique circumstance not fully contemplated by the California Elections Code. Thus, it is the intent of the City Council that the election be conducted in substantial compliance with the requirements of the California Elections Code to the extent feasible, and otherwise in accordance with these procedures. 2. The City Clerk shall be responsible for the conduct of the election governed by these procedures. The City Clerk shall deputize Joan Cox of Harris & Associates and such other staff of Harris & Associates, as the City Clerk shall determine, as election officials to assist the City Clerk in conducting the election and canvassing the ballots. In addition, the City Clerk may deputize one or more other persons as election officials to assist the City Clerk in conducting the election and canvassing the ballots. 3. The election shall be by mail ballot only. 4. The date of the election shall be August 30, 2005. 5. The City Clerk shall publish notice of the time and location that ballots will be canvassed. The City Clerk shall publish such notice in the Peninsula News at least ten days before the date of the election. B. Mailing of Ballots 1. "Record Owner" means the owner of an Identified Parcel whose name and address appears on the last Los Angeles County equalized secured property tax assessment roll (the "Assessment Roll"), or in the case of any public entity, the State of California, or the United States, means the representative of that public entity at the address of that entity known to the City. 2. The City Clerk shall cause to be prepared a master list of Record Owners (the "Master List"), which provides (1)the names and addresses of the Record Owners of the Identified Parcels as they appear on the Assessment Roll, and (2) in the case of any public entity, the State of California, or the United States, the address of that entity known to the City. 3. The following shall be mailed to each Record Owner on the Master List: (i) A notice and ballot, and (ii) A self addressed return envelope, which contains a notice that a ballot is enclosed and that the return envelope shall not be opened until the date of election. R6876.0001 823212.7 -1- Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3" 4. Ballots shall be mailed to the Record Owners on the Master List by depositing the ballots in the U.S. Mail, first class, postage prepaid, on or before the forty-fifth day prior to the date set for the election. 5. The ballot shall be nonforwardable. Any ballot that is returned to the City clerk shall not be forwarded by the City Clerk. 6. The City Clerk, or the deputy of the City Clerk, shall certify the proper mailing of ballots by an affidavit under penalty of perjury, which shall constitute conclusive proof of mailing in the absence of fraud. 7. Whenever the City Clerk is required to mail a ballot to any address outside the territorial limits of the United States, the City Clerk shall mail the ballot by .airmail and, if under any law of the United States, election ballots may be mailed without the payment of postage, the City Clerk shall so mail the ballot. C. Eligibility to Vote 1. The Master List shall be presumptive evidence of ownership of an Identified Parcel for voting purposes. 2. If the owner of any Identified Parcel is not shown on.the Master List, such owner may receive and vote a ballot for such parcel by filing with the City Clerk a evidence of ownership satisfactory to the City Attorney. Any such evidence must be received by the City Clerk by 8:00 p.m. on August 30, 2005. The ballot provided to such owner shall be marked identify it as a duplicate ballot. 3. In order to be counted, a ballot must be signed by the owner of an Identified Parcel or the authorized representative of the owner as attested to pursuant to the declaration under penalty of perjury on the ballot. In the event an Identified Parcel is owned by multiple owners or is owned by a corporation, partnership, as community property, in joint tenancy, or as a tenancy in common, only one ballot will be counted for each Identified Parcel. D. Conduct of the Election 1. All ballots must be voted on or before the day of the election and must be received by the City Clerk by 8:00 p.m. on August 30, 2005 to be counted. After marking the ballot, the voter shall either: (a) return the ballot by mail or (b) return the ballot in person to the City Clerk. 2. The City Clerk shall keep the ballots in a secure container (the "Lock Box") until the time for tabulating the ballots which may not commence until 8:01 p.m. on August 30, 2005. Only the City Clerk and the City Clerk's deputies shall have access to the Lock Box and to the ballots in the Lock Box. The City Clerk expects that the tabulation of ballots will begin at 8:00 a.m. on August 31, 2005 or as soon thereafter as the City Clerk determines to be feasible. R6876.0001 823212.7 -2- Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3" 3. Each day upon receipt of ballots in the mail, the City Clerk, or the City Clerk's deputy, shall date stamp the return envelopes of the unopened ballots and deposit the unopened, date-stamped envelopes into the Lock Box. 4. The City Clerk shall provide a secure container at City Hall (the "Return Box") in which personally delivered ballots may be deposited. Only the City Clerk, and the City Clerk's deputies, shall have access to the ballots in the Return Box. At the end of each business day, the City Clerk, or the City Clerk's deputy, shall date stamp the return envelopes of the unopened ballots in the Return Box and transfer the unopened, date-stamped envelopes to the Lock Box. 5. No ballot shall be removed from its return envelope before 8:01 p.m. on August 30, 2005. 6. Only ballots, including duplicate ballots that are received by the City Clerk by 8:00 p.m. on August 30, 2005 will be counted. Postmarks are not acceptable. 7. The form of the ballot shall be as follows: To provide the City of Rancho Palos Verdes with a dedicated funding source to • • Repair, reconstruct and maintain the storm drain system throughout the city and • Install filtration devise to reduce polluted runoff and protect coastal water quality, shall the City establish a new annual Storm Drain User Fee as part of the City's Water Quality and Flood Protection Program? YES, I support the proposed annual Storm Drain User Fee No, I oppose the proposed annual Storm Drain User Fee 8. The City Clerk may cause the ballot to be printed in a manner so as to allow machine tabulation of the votes. 9. The City Clerk shall, upon request by an eligible voter that is part of a language minority group as that term is defined by the Voting Rights Act of 1965,provide a ballot and ballot materials translated in that person's primary language. In addition, the City Clerk shall, upon request by an eligible voter, take such affirmative steps as are necessary to facilitate voting by qualified individuals with disabilities. R6876.0001 823212.7 -3- Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit'T' 10. Each ballot shall contain the following: (i) The name of the property owner covered by the ballot. (ii) The address of the property owner covered by the ballot. (iii) A declaration, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, stating that the signer is the owner, or the authorized representative of the owner. (iv) Space for the signer to print and sign his or her name. (v) Space for the voter to date the signing of the declaration described in subparagraph(iii) of this paragraph. 11. To the extent not covered by these procedures, the voting shall be consistent with the provisions of the Elections Code, insofar as the City Clerk determines such provisions are applicable to these proceedings and are not inconsistent with Article XIII D of the California Constitution. E. Post-election Proceedings: 1. The City Clerk will not accept a ballot: (i) that is a photocopy; (ii) that does not contain an original signature; (iii) that lacks an identifiable "yes"or"no"vote; or (iv) that contains both a"yes" and"no"vote. The cause of the rejection shall be written on the face of the ballot. 2. During and after the canvass of votes, neither the City Clerk, the Engineer, nor any other Deputy City Clerk, shall disclose the contents of any individual ballot that identifies how a voter voted to any person or entity, including any member of the City Council, City staff or any member of the public, unless ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction. 3. No report, in written, electronic or other form, shall be produced, nor shall any record (other than the ballots themselves) be maintained in such a manner that would disclose how any voter voted. 4. The City Clerk shall canvass the votes and certify the results to the City Council on or before the fourth Friday after the election. R6876.0001 823212.7 -4- Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3" 5. The City Council shall adopt a resolution declaring the results of the election on or before the fourth Friday after the election. 6. If the election results demonstrate that a majority of the voters voting upon the imposition of the Proposed Storm Drain User Fee voted in favor of the imposition, the City Council may adopt the Proposed Storm Drain User Fee. F. Special Provisions 1. If a ballot is lost, destroyed or never received, the City Clerk will mail or otherwise provide a duplicate ballot to the owner upon receipt of a request in writing from the owner, satisfactory to the City Clerk, received by the City Clerk prior to 8:00 p.m. on August 30, 2005. The City Clerk or the City Clerk's designee will mark the duplicate ballot to identify it as a duplicate ballot. 2. After submitting a ballot, the person who signed the ballot may request the City Clerk to withdraw the ballot by submitting a written statement to the City Clerk, satisfactory to the City Clerk, directing the City Clerk to withdraw the ballot, provided the request is received by the City Clerk prior to 8:00 p.m. on August 30, 2005. Only one request for withdrawal per parcel will be honored by the City Clerk. 3. A person who has withdrawn a ballot may request a duplicate ballot from the City Clerk in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Section F. The City Clerk or the City Clerk's designee will mark the duplicate ballot to identify it as a duplicate ballot. 4. When ballots are tabulated, the City Clerk will segregate withdrawn ballots from all other returned ballots. The City Clerk will retain all withdrawn ballots along with the written request for withdrawal and will indicate on the face of such withdrawn ballots that they have been withdrawn. Withdrawn ballots will not be counted. 5. The City Clerk will keep a record of each duplicate ballot mailed or otherwise provided and will verify, during tabulation any duplicate ballot, that only one ballot has been returned for the parcel. When tabulating the ballots, if a parcel has both a ballot from the Record Owner and a duplicate ballot provided to an owner pursuant to section C, paragraph 2 of these procedures, only the duplicate ballot shall be counted. When tabulating the ballots, if a parcel has both an original ballot (which has not been withdrawn) and a duplicate ballot, only the duplicate ballot will be counted. When tabulating the ballots, if more than one duplicate ballot is returned for a parcel, the latest returned duplicate ballot will be counted. R6876.0001 823212.7 -5- Resolution No.2005-70 Exhibit"3"