5000. This division may be cited as the Improvement Act of 1911.
5001. Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise
requires, the definitions and general provisions contained in this
part shall govern the construction of this division.
5002. This division provides an alternative system for doing the
work authorized by this division and the provisions of this division
shall not apply to or affect any other provisions of this code.
When any proceedings are commenced under this division, the
provisions of this division and no other shall apply to such
proceedings.
5003. This division shall be liberally construed in order to
effectuate its purposes. No error, irregularity, informality, and no
neglect or omission of any officer, in any procedure taken under this
division, which does not directly affect the jurisdiction of the
legislative body to order the work or improvement, shall avoid or
invalidate such proceeding or any assessment for the cost of work
done thereunder. The exclusive remedy of any person affected or
aggrieved thereby shall be by appeal to the legislative body in
accordance with the provisions of this division.
5004. Whenever in any proceedings under this division, a time and
place for any hearing by the legislative body is fixed and, from any
cause, the hearing is not then and there held or regularly adjourned
to a time and place fixed, the power of the legislative body in the
premises shall not thereby be divested or lost, but the legislative
body may proceed anew to fix a time and place for the hearing, and
cause notice thereof to be given by publication by at least one
insertion in a daily, semiweekly or weekly newspaper, such
publication to be at least five days before the date of the hearing,
and thereupon the legislative body shall have power to act as in the
first instance.
5005. "City" includes counties, cities, cities and counties and all
corporations organized and existing for municipal purposes, together
with resort districts organized and existing under the Resort
Improvement District Law (Division 11 (commencing with Section 13000)
of the Public Resources Code), and any special district organized
for the purpose of aiding in the development or improvement of
navigation or commerce to, or within, the district.
5006. "Legislative body" when used with reference to a county means
the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to a city
means the body which by law constitutes the legislative department of
the government of the city.
5007. "Clerk" when used with reference to a county means the person
or officer who is the clerk of the legislative body of the county,
and when used with reference to a city means the person or officer
who is or acts as clerk of the legislative body of the city.
5008. "Treasurer" when used with reference to a county means the
county treasurer, and when used with reference to a city means the
city treasurer. "Treasurer" also includes any person or officer who
has charge and makes payment of the funds of such county or city,
respectively.
5009. "Mayor" when used with reference to a county means the
chairman of the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to
a city means the mayor, or if the city has no mayor, the chairman or
the president of the legislative body, the city manager or such
other person as may be the chief executive officer of the city.
5010. "Council chambers" refers to the place where the regular
meetings of the legislative body of the county or city are held.
5011. "Street superintendent" or "superintendent of streets" when
used with reference to a county means the county surveyor, and when
used with reference to a city means the person or officer whose duty
it is under the law to have the care or charge of the streets or the
improvement thereof in such city.
5012. If there is no street superintendent or superintendent of
streets in any city, the legislative body thereof may appoint a
person to perform the duties imposed upon the street superintendent
by this division, and all of the provisions of this division
applicable to the street superintendent shall apply to the person so
appointed.
5012.5. In a city in which there is a superintendent of streets or
street superintendent, the legislative body of the city may
nevertheless appoint another person to perform the duties imposed
upon the street superintendent by this division and all of the
provisions of this division applicable to the street superintendent
shall apply to the person so appointed.
5013. "Engineer" when applied to a county means the county
surveyor, and when applied to a city means the city engineer.
5014. "Street" includes avenues, highways, lanes, alleys,
crossings, or intersections and courts which have been dedicated and
accepted according to law or which have been in common and undisputed
use by the public for a period of not less than five years next
preceding, or which have been dedicated to a semipublic use by way of
a dedication made for the exclusive use and benefit of all
properties located within the boundaries of a community services
district formed under the provisions of the Community Services
District Law (commencing with Section 61000 of the Government Code),
or which are privately owned, opened to public traffic, and located
within the boundaries of an assessment district established to
provide street lighting.
5018. "Place" includes any public park or pleasure ground and
common which has been dedicated and accepted according to law.
5019. "Paved" or "repaved" includes pavement of stone, paving
blocks or macadamizing, or of bituminous rock or asphalt, or of iron,
wood or other material, whether patented or not, which is adopted by
ordinance or resolution by the legislative body.
5020. "Contractor" means the person, firm, partnership,
association, corporation, organization or business trust, and
includes contracting owners or their agents, to whom a contract for
the performance of any work authorized by this division is awarded.
5021. "Owner" means the person owning the fee, or the person in
whose name the legal title to the property appears, by deed duly
recorded in the county recorder's office of the county in which the
property is situated, or the person in possession of the property or
buildings under claim of, or exercising acts of ownership over the
same for himself, or as the executor, administrator, guardian, or
conservator of the owner. If the property is leased, the possession
of the tenant or lessee holding and occupying such property shall be
deemed to be the possession of the owner.
5022. "Lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of land" whether used
singly or in combination include property owned or controlled by any
person as a railroad right of way or as a street or interurban
railroad right of way.
5022.5. "Lot," "portion of lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of
land," whether used singly or in combination, may, in the discretion
of the superintendent of streets, for purposes of spreading
assessments and calculating benefits include any contiguous real
property under the same ownership as it appears on the last equalized
assessment roll used by the assessing entity in which the property
is situated, whether consisting of unsubdivided land or land
subdivided into blocks or lots and blocks or the superintendent of
streets may if requested by such owner make separate assessments
against portions of such lots or parcels of land.
5023. "Work" or "improvement" whether used singly or in combination
mean and include any work which is authorized to be done or any
improvement which is authorized to be made under this division, as
well as the construction, reconstruction and repair of all or part of
any such work or improvement.
5023.1. "Acquisition," or any of its variants, means one or more of
the following:
(a) Any works, improvements, appliances, or facilities which are
authorized to be made, constructed, or acquired under this division
and which are in existence and installed in place on or before the
date of adoption of the resolution of intention for the acquisition
thereof; any use or capacity rights in any of the above; and any
works, improvements, appliances, or facilities acquired or installed
pursuant to Sections 10109 to 10111, inclusive.
(b) Electric current, gas, or other illuminating agent for power
or lighting service.
(c) Any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in
real property, acquired or to be acquired by gift, purchase, or
eminent domain, necessary or convenient in connection with the
construction or operation of any work or improvement authorized to be
acquired or to be made or constructed under this division, except
any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in real
property shown on any final map filed with or submitted to the
legislative body for acceptance and approval under the Subdivision
Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the
Government Code) and offered for dedication to public use by the map
or by any separate offer of dedication previously or subsequently
made.
(d) The payment in full of all amounts necessary to eliminate any
special assessment liens previously imposed upon any assessment
parcel included in the new assessment district. The cost of the
payment shall be included in the new assessment on the parcel. This
subdivision is applicable only in cases where the acquisition is
incidental to other acquisitions or improvements.
5024. "Incidental expense" includes all of the following:
(a) Compensation for work done by the engineer, and attorney's
fees or services in proceedings pursuant to this division.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a court of competent jurisdiction
renders a final judgment that invalidates in whole or part the
formation of the assessment district or the levy of assessments, any
attorney's fees and engineering charges incurred by the city in
defending that litigation are not incidental expenses and shall not
be charged against the assessment district in any manner except as to
those claims upon which the city prevails and as allowed by a court
of competent jurisdiction.
(b) The cost of printing and advertising provided for in this
division, including the treasurer's estimated cost of printing,
servicing, and collecting any bonds to be issued to represent or be
secured by unpaid assessments.
(c) The compensation of the person appointed by the superintendent
of streets to take charge of, and superintend any of, the work.
(d) The expenses of making the assessment, of the collection of
assessments by the superintendent of streets when directed by
ordinance to receive payments pursuant to Section 5396, and of
preparing and typing the resolutions, notices, and other papers and
proceedings for any work authorized by this division.
(e) The expenses of making any analyses and tests to determine
that the work, and any materials or appliances incorporated therein,
comply with the specifications.
(f) All costs and expenses incurred in carrying out the
investigations and making the reports required by the provisions of
the Special Assessment Investigation, Limitation and Majority Protest
Act of 1931 (Division 4 (commencing with Section 2800)).
(g) The cost of title searching, description writing, right-of-way
agent salaries, appraisal fees, partial reconveyance fees, surveys,
and sketches incident to securing rights-of-way for any work
authorized by this division.
(h) Any other expenses incidental to the construction, completion,
and inspection of the work in the manner provided for in this
division.
(i) The cost of relocating or altering any public utility
facilities as required by the improvement in those cases where that
cost is the legal obligation of the city.
(j) The cost of planning and designing public facilities to be
financed pursuant to this division, including the cost of
environmental evaluations of those facilities.
(k) The cost of filing and recording documents when the cost is
the legal obligation of the city.
(l) The cost of any acquisition, as defined in Section 5023.1, and
expenses incidental in connection with the acquisition.
(m) If the construction of sewers or appurtenances incident
thereto has been ordered, sewer service, connection, and capacity
charges established by the city as a condition to the providing of
sewer service for the benefit of properties within the assessment
district and required for the completion and utilization of the
improvement constructed.
(n) If the construction of water improvements or appurtenances
incident thereto has been ordered, water service, connection, and
capacity charges established by the city as a condition to the
providing of water service for the benefit of properties within the
assessment district and required for the completion and utilization
of the improvement constructed.
(o) All costs not identified in subdivisions (a) to (n),
inclusive, related to the issuance of bonds, including, but not
limited to, costs of obtaining credit ratings, bond insurance
premiums, fees for letters of credit and other credit enhancement
costs, and initial fees for the registration of bonds.
All demands for incidental expenses shall be presented to the
street superintendent, by an itemized bill, duly verified by the
demandant.
5025. In all resolutions, notices, orders and determinations,
subsequent to the resolution of intention it shall not be necessary
to describe the work, and any description of the work in any of the
same, subsequent to the resolution of intention and the notice of
improvement, shall be sufficient, if it refers to the resolution of
intention for a description of the work or improvement.
5026. The legislative body of a county, city or city and county,
may by resolution adopt a name for any street, boulevard, park or
place which is to be improved under this division, for which a name
has not been provided under the provisions of Sections 970.5 and 971,
or otherwise, and may by resolution change the name of any street,
boulevard, park or place heretofore established; provided further,
that a copy of the resolution or order providing for the new name or
change of name made by any city shall be promptly forwarded by the
city clerk to the clerk of the board of supervisors and county
surveyor of the county in which the municipality is situated.
5000. This division may be cited as the Improvement Act of 1911.
5001. Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise
requires, the definitions and general provisions contained in this
part shall govern the construction of this division.
5002. This division provides an alternative system for doing the
work authorized by this division and the provisions of this division
shall not apply to or affect any other provisions of this code.
When any proceedings are commenced under this division, the
provisions of this division and no other shall apply to such
proceedings.
5003. This division shall be liberally construed in order to
effectuate its purposes. No error, irregularity, informality, and no
neglect or omission of any officer, in any procedure taken under this
division, which does not directly affect the jurisdiction of the
legislative body to order the work or improvement, shall avoid or
invalidate such proceeding or any assessment for the cost of work
done thereunder. The exclusive remedy of any person affected or
aggrieved thereby shall be by appeal to the legislative body in
accordance with the provisions of this division.
5004. Whenever in any proceedings under this division, a time and
place for any hearing by the legislative body is fixed and, from any
cause, the hearing is not then and there held or regularly adjourned
to a time and place fixed, the power of the legislative body in the
premises shall not thereby be divested or lost, but the legislative
body may proceed anew to fix a time and place for the hearing, and
cause notice thereof to be given by publication by at least one
insertion in a daily, semiweekly or weekly newspaper, such
publication to be at least five days before the date of the hearing,
and thereupon the legislative body shall have power to act as in the
first instance.
5005. "City" includes counties, cities, cities and counties and all
corporations organized and existing for municipal purposes, together
with resort districts organized and existing under the Resort
Improvement District Law (Division 11 (commencing with Section 13000)
of the Public Resources Code), and any special district organized
for the purpose of aiding in the development or improvement of
navigation or commerce to, or within, the district.
5006. "Legislative body" when used with reference to a county means
the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to a city
means the body which by law constitutes the legislative department of
the government of the city.
5007. "Clerk" when used with reference to a county means the person
or officer who is the clerk of the legislative body of the county,
and when used with reference to a city means the person or officer
who is or acts as clerk of the legislative body of the city.
5008. "Treasurer" when used with reference to a county means the
county treasurer, and when used with reference to a city means the
city treasurer. "Treasurer" also includes any person or officer who
has charge and makes payment of the funds of such county or city,
respectively.
5009. "Mayor" when used with reference to a county means the
chairman of the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to
a city means the mayor, or if the city has no mayor, the chairman or
the president of the legislative body, the city manager or such
other person as may be the chief executive officer of the city.
5010. "Council chambers" refers to the place where the regular
meetings of the legislative body of the county or city are held.
5011. "Street superintendent" or "superintendent of streets" when
used with reference to a county means the county surveyor, and when
used with reference to a city means the person or officer whose duty
it is under the law to have the care or charge of the streets or the
improvement thereof in such city.
5012. If there is no street superintendent or superintendent of
streets in any city, the legislative body thereof may appoint a
person to perform the duties imposed upon the street superintendent
by this division, and all of the provisions of this division
applicable to the street superintendent shall apply to the person so
appointed.
5012.5. In a city in which there is a superintendent of streets or
street superintendent, the legislative body of the city may
nevertheless appoint another person to perform the duties imposed
upon the street superintendent by this division and all of the
provisions of this division applicable to the street superintendent
shall apply to the person so appointed.
5013. "Engineer" when applied to a county means the county
surveyor, and when applied to a city means the city engineer.
5014. "Street" includes avenues, highways, lanes, alleys,
crossings, or intersections and courts which have been dedicated and
accepted according to law or which have been in common and undisputed
use by the public for a period of not less than five years next
preceding, or which have been dedicated to a semipublic use by way of
a dedication made for the exclusive use and benefit of all
properties located within the boundaries of a community services
district formed under the provisions of the Community Services
District Law (commencing with Section 61000 of the Government Code),
or which are privately owned, opened to public traffic, and located
within the boundaries of an assessment district established to
provide street lighting.
5018. "Place" includes any public park or pleasure ground and
common which has been dedicated and accepted according to law.
5019. "Paved" or "repaved" includes pavement of stone, paving
blocks or macadamizing, or of bituminous rock or asphalt, or of iron,
wood or other material, whether patented or not, which is adopted by
ordinance or resolution by the legislative body.
5020. "Contractor" means the person, firm, partnership,
association, corporation, organization or business trust, and
includes contracting owners or their agents, to whom a contract for
the performance of any work authorized by this division is awarded.
5021. "Owner" means the person owning the fee, or the person in
whose name the legal title to the property appears, by deed duly
recorded in the county recorder's office of the county in which the
property is situated, or the person in possession of the property or
buildings under claim of, or exercising acts of ownership over the
same for himself, or as the executor, administrator, guardian, or
conservator of the owner. If the property is leased, the possession
of the tenant or lessee holding and occupying such property shall be
deemed to be the possession of the owner.
5022. "Lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of land" whether used
singly or in combination include property owned or controlled by any
person as a railroad right of way or as a street or interurban
railroad right of way.
5022.5. "Lot," "portion of lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of
land," whether used singly or in combination, may, in the discretion
of the superintendent of streets, for purposes of spreading
assessments and calculating benefits include any contiguous real
property under the same ownership as it appears on the last equalized
assessment roll used by the assessing entity in which the property
is situated, whether consisting of unsubdivided land or land
subdivided into blocks or lots and blocks or the superintendent of
streets may if requested by such owner make separate assessments
against portions of such lots or parcels of land.
5023. "Work" or "improvement" whether used singly or in combination
mean and include any work which is authorized to be done or any
improvement which is authorized to be made under this division, as
well as the construction, reconstruction and repair of all or part of
any such work or improvement.
5023.1. "Acquisition," or any of its variants, means one or more of
the following:
(a) Any works, improvements, appliances, or facilities which are
authorized to be made, constructed, or acquired under this division
and which are in existence and installed in place on or before the
date of adoption of the resolution of intention for the acquisition
thereof; any use or capacity rights in any of the above; and any
works, improvements, appliances, or facilities acquired or installed
pursuant to Sections 10109 to 10111, inclusive.
(b) Electric current, gas, or other illuminating agent for power
or lighting service.
(c) Any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in
real property, acquired or to be acquired by gift, purchase, or
eminent domain, necessary or convenient in connection with the
construction or operation of any work or improvement authorized to be
acquired or to be made or constructed under this division, except
any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in real
property shown on any final map filed with or submitted to the
legislative body for acceptance and approval under the Subdivision
Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the
Government Code) and offered for dedication to public use by the map
or by any separate offer of dedication previously or subsequently
made.
(d) The payment in full of all amounts necessary to eliminate any
special assessment liens previously imposed upon any assessment
parcel included in the new assessment district. The cost of the
payment shall be included in the new assessment on the parcel. This
subdivision is applicable only in cases where the acquisition is
incidental to other acquisitions or improvements.
5024. "Incidental expense" includes all of the following:
(a) Compensation for work done by the engineer, and attorney's
fees or services in proceedings pursuant to this division.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a court of competent jurisdiction
renders a final judgment that invalidates in whole or part the
formation of the assessment district or the levy of assessments, any
attorney's fees and engineering charges incurred by the city in
defending that litigation are not incidental expenses and shall not
be charged against the assessment district in any manner except as to
those claims upon which the city prevails and as allowed by a court
of competent jurisdiction.
(b) The cost of printing and advertising provided for in this
division, including the treasurer's estimated cost of printing,
servicing, and collecting any bonds to be issued to represent or be
secured by unpaid assessments.
(c) The compensation of the person appointed by the superintendent
of streets to take charge of, and superintend any of, the work.
(d) The expenses of making the assessment, of the collection of
assessments by the superintendent of streets when directed by
ordinance to receive payments pursuant to Section 5396, and of
preparing and typing the resolutions, notices, and other papers and
proceedings for any work authorized by this division.
(e) The expenses of making any analyses and tests to determine
that the work, and any materials or appliances incorporated therein,
comply with the specifications.
(f) All costs and expenses incurred in carrying out the
investigations and making the reports required by the provisions of
the Special Assessment Investigation, Limitation and Majority Protest
Act of 1931 (Division 4 (commencing with Section 2800)).
(g) The cost of title searching, description writing, right-of-way
agent salaries, appraisal fees, partial reconveyance fees, surveys,
and sketches incident to securing rights-of-way for any work
authorized by this division.
(h) Any other expenses incidental to the construction, completion,
and inspection of the work in the manner provided for in this
division.
(i) The cost of relocating or altering any public utility
facilities as required by the improvement in those cases where that
cost is the legal obligation of the city.
(j) The cost of planning and designing public facilities to be
financed pursuant to this division, including the cost of
environmental evaluations of those facilities.
(k) The cost of filing and recording documents when the cost is
the legal obligation of the city.
(l) The cost of any acquisition, as defined in Section 5023.1, and
expenses incidental in connection with the acquisition.
(m) If the construction of sewers or appurtenances incident
thereto has been ordered, sewer service, connection, and capacity
charges established by the city as a condition to the providing of
sewer service for the benefit of properties within the assessment
district and required for the completion and utilization of the
improvement constructed.
(n) If the construction of water improvements or appurtenances
incident thereto has been ordered, water service, connection, and
capacity charges established by the city as a condition to the
providing of water service for the benefit of properties within the
assessment district and required for the completion and utilization
of the improvement constructed.
(o) All costs not identified in subdivisions (a) to (n),
inclusive, related to the issuance of bonds, including, but not
limited to, costs of obtaining credit ratings, bond insurance
premiums, fees for letters of credit and other credit enhancement
costs, and initial fees for the registration of bonds.
All demands for incidental expenses shall be presented to the
street superintendent, by an itemized bill, duly verified by the
demandant.
5025. In all resolutions, notices, orders and determinations,
subsequent to the resolution of intention it shall not be necessary
to describe the work, and any description of the work in any of the
same, subsequent to the resolution of intention and the notice of
improvement, shall be sufficient, if it refers to the resolution of
intention for a description of the work or improvement.
5026. The legislative body of a county, city or city and county,
may by resolution adopt a name for any street, boulevard, park or
place which is to be improved under this division, for which a name
has not been provided under the provisions of Sections 970.5 and 971,
or otherwise, and may by resolution change the name of any street,
boulevard, park or place heretofore established; provided further,
that a copy of the resolution or order providing for the new name or
change of name made by any city shall be promptly forwarded by the
city clerk to the clerk of the board of supervisors and county
surveyor of the county in which the municipality is situated.
5000. This division may be cited as the Improvement Act of 1911.
5001. Unless the particular provision or the context otherwise
requires, the definitions and general provisions contained in this
part shall govern the construction of this division.
5002. This division provides an alternative system for doing the
work authorized by this division and the provisions of this division
shall not apply to or affect any other provisions of this code.
When any proceedings are commenced under this division, the
provisions of this division and no other shall apply to such
proceedings.
5003. This division shall be liberally construed in order to
effectuate its purposes. No error, irregularity, informality, and no
neglect or omission of any officer, in any procedure taken under this
division, which does not directly affect the jurisdiction of the
legislative body to order the work or improvement, shall avoid or
invalidate such proceeding or any assessment for the cost of work
done thereunder. The exclusive remedy of any person affected or
aggrieved thereby shall be by appeal to the legislative body in
accordance with the provisions of this division.
5004. Whenever in any proceedings under this division, a time and
place for any hearing by the legislative body is fixed and, from any
cause, the hearing is not then and there held or regularly adjourned
to a time and place fixed, the power of the legislative body in the
premises shall not thereby be divested or lost, but the legislative
body may proceed anew to fix a time and place for the hearing, and
cause notice thereof to be given by publication by at least one
insertion in a daily, semiweekly or weekly newspaper, such
publication to be at least five days before the date of the hearing,
and thereupon the legislative body shall have power to act as in the
first instance.
5005. "City" includes counties, cities, cities and counties and all
corporations organized and existing for municipal purposes, together
with resort districts organized and existing under the Resort
Improvement District Law (Division 11 (commencing with Section 13000)
of the Public Resources Code), and any special district organized
for the purpose of aiding in the development or improvement of
navigation or commerce to, or within, the district.
5006. "Legislative body" when used with reference to a county means
the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to a city
means the body which by law constitutes the legislative department of
the government of the city.
5007. "Clerk" when used with reference to a county means the person
or officer who is the clerk of the legislative body of the county,
and when used with reference to a city means the person or officer
who is or acts as clerk of the legislative body of the city.
5008. "Treasurer" when used with reference to a county means the
county treasurer, and when used with reference to a city means the
city treasurer. "Treasurer" also includes any person or officer who
has charge and makes payment of the funds of such county or city,
respectively.
5009. "Mayor" when used with reference to a county means the
chairman of the board of supervisors, and when used with reference to
a city means the mayor, or if the city has no mayor, the chairman or
the president of the legislative body, the city manager or such
other person as may be the chief executive officer of the city.
5010. "Council chambers" refers to the place where the regular
meetings of the legislative body of the county or city are held.
5011. "Street superintendent" or "superintendent of streets" when
used with reference to a county means the county surveyor, and when
used with reference to a city means the person or officer whose duty
it is under the law to have the care or charge of the streets or the
improvement thereof in such city.
5012. If there is no street superintendent or superintendent of
streets in any city, the legislative body thereof may appoint a
person to perform the duties imposed upon the street superintendent
by this division, and all of the provisions of this division
applicable to the street superintendent shall apply to the person so
appointed.
5012.5. In a city in which there is a superintendent of streets or
street superintendent, the legislative body of the city may
nevertheless appoint another person to perform the duties imposed
upon the street superintendent by this division and all of the
provisions of this division applicable to the street superintendent
shall apply to the person so appointed.
5013. "Engineer" when applied to a county means the county
surveyor, and when applied to a city means the city engineer.
5014. "Street" includes avenues, highways, lanes, alleys,
crossings, or intersections and courts which have been dedicated and
accepted according to law or which have been in common and undisputed
use by the public for a period of not less than five years next
preceding, or which have been dedicated to a semipublic use by way of
a dedication made for the exclusive use and benefit of all
properties located within the boundaries of a community services
district formed under the provisions of the Community Services
District Law (commencing with Section 61000 of the Government Code),
or which are privately owned, opened to public traffic, and located
within the boundaries of an assessment district established to
provide street lighting.
5018. "Place" includes any public park or pleasure ground and
common which has been dedicated and accepted according to law.
5019. "Paved" or "repaved" includes pavement of stone, paving
blocks or macadamizing, or of bituminous rock or asphalt, or of iron,
wood or other material, whether patented or not, which is adopted by
ordinance or resolution by the legislative body.
5020. "Contractor" means the person, firm, partnership,
association, corporation, organization or business trust, and
includes contracting owners or their agents, to whom a contract for
the performance of any work authorized by this division is awarded.
5021. "Owner" means the person owning the fee, or the person in
whose name the legal title to the property appears, by deed duly
recorded in the county recorder's office of the county in which the
property is situated, or the person in possession of the property or
buildings under claim of, or exercising acts of ownership over the
same for himself, or as the executor, administrator, guardian, or
conservator of the owner. If the property is leased, the possession
of the tenant or lessee holding and occupying such property shall be
deemed to be the possession of the owner.
5022. "Lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of land" whether used
singly or in combination include property owned or controlled by any
person as a railroad right of way or as a street or interurban
railroad right of way.
5022.5. "Lot," "portion of lot," "land," "piece," or "parcel of
land," whether used singly or in combination, may, in the discretion
of the superintendent of streets, for purposes of spreading
assessments and calculating benefits include any contiguous real
property under the same ownership as it appears on the last equalized
assessment roll used by the assessing entity in which the property
is situated, whether consisting of unsubdivided land or land
subdivided into blocks or lots and blocks or the superintendent of
streets may if requested by such owner make separate assessments
against portions of such lots or parcels of land.
5023. "Work" or "improvement" whether used singly or in combination
mean and include any work which is authorized to be done or any
improvement which is authorized to be made under this division, as
well as the construction, reconstruction and repair of all or part of
any such work or improvement.
5023.1. "Acquisition," or any of its variants, means one or more of
the following:
(a) Any works, improvements, appliances, or facilities which are
authorized to be made, constructed, or acquired under this division
and which are in existence and installed in place on or before the
date of adoption of the resolution of intention for the acquisition
thereof; any use or capacity rights in any of the above; and any
works, improvements, appliances, or facilities acquired or installed
pursuant to Sections 10109 to 10111, inclusive.
(b) Electric current, gas, or other illuminating agent for power
or lighting service.
(c) Any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in
real property, acquired or to be acquired by gift, purchase, or
eminent domain, necessary or convenient in connection with the
construction or operation of any work or improvement authorized to be
acquired or to be made or constructed under this division, except
any real property, rights-of-way, easements, or interests in real
property shown on any final map filed with or submitted to the
legislative body for acceptance and approval under the Subdivision
Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the
Government Code) and offered for dedication to public use by the map
or by any separate offer of dedication previously or subsequently
made.
(d) The payment in full of all amounts necessary to eliminate any
special assessment liens previously imposed upon any assessment
parcel included in the new assessment district. The cost of the
payment shall be included in the new assessment on the parcel. This
subdivision is applicable only in cases where the acquisition is
incidental to other acquisitions or improvements.
5024. "Incidental expense" includes all of the following:
(a) Compensation for work done by the engineer, and attorney's
fees or services in proceedings pursuant to this division.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a court of competent jurisdiction
renders a final judgment that invalidates in whole or part the
formation of the assessment district or the levy of assessments, any
attorney's fees and engineering charges incurred by the city in
defending that litigation are not incidental expenses and shall not
be charged against the assessment district in any manner except as to
those claims upon which the city prevails and as allowed by a court
of competent jurisdiction.
(b) The cost of printing and advertising provided for in this
division, including the treasurer's estimated cost of printing,
servicing, and collecting any bonds to be issued to represent or be
secured by unpaid assessments.
(c) The compensation of the person appointed by the superintendent
of streets to take charge of, and superintend any of, the work.
(d) The expenses of making the assessment, of the collection of
assessments by the superintendent of streets when directed by
ordinance to receive payments pursuant to Section 5396, and of
preparing and typing the resolutions, notices, and other papers and
proceedings for any work authorized by this division.
(e) The expenses of making any analyses and tests to determine
that the work, and any materials or appliances incorporated therein,
comply with the specifications.
(f) All costs and expenses incurred in carrying out the
investigations and making the reports required by the provisions of
the Special Assessment Investigation, Limitation and Majority Protest
Act of 1931 (Division 4 (commencing with Section 2800)).
(g) The cost of title searching, description writing, right-of-way
agent salaries, appraisal fees, partial reconveyance fees, surveys,
and sketches incident to securing rights-of-way for any work
authorized by this division.
(h) Any other expenses incidental to the construction, completion,
and inspection of the work in the manner provided for in this
division.
(i) The cost of relocating or altering any public utility
facilities as required by the improvement in those cases where that
cost is the legal obligation of the city.
(j) The cost of planning and designing public facilities to be
financed pursuant to this division, including the cost of
environmental evaluations of those facilities.
(k) The cost of filing and recording documents when the cost is
the legal obligation of the city.
(l) The cost of any acquisition, as defined in Section 5023.1, and
expenses incidental in connection with the acquisition.
(m) If the construction of sewers or appurtenances incident
thereto has been ordered, sewer service, connection, and capacity
charges established by the city as a condition to the providing of
sewer service for the benefit of properties within the assessment
district and required for the completion and utilization of the
improvement constructed.
(n) If the construction of water improvements or appurtenances
incident thereto has been ordered, water service, connection, and
capacity charges established by the city as a condition to the
providing of water service for the benefit of properties within the
assessment district and required for the completion and utilization
of the improvement constructed.
(o) All costs not identified in subdivisions (a) to (n),
inclusive, related to the issuance of bonds, including, but not
limited to, costs of obtaining credit ratings, bond insurance
premiums, fees for letters of credit and other credit enhancement
costs, and initial fees for the registration of bonds.
All demands for incidental expenses shall be presented to the
street superintendent, by an itemized bill, duly verified by the
demandant.
5025. In all resolutions, notices, orders and determinations,
subsequent to the resolution of intention it shall not be necessary
to describe the work, and any description of the work in any of the
same, subsequent to the resolution of intention and the notice of
improvement, shall be sufficient, if it refers to the resolution of
intention for a description of the work or improvement.
5026. The legislative body of a county, city or city and county,
may by resolution adopt a name for any street, boulevard, park or
place which is to be improved under this division, for which a name
has not been provided under the provisions of Sections 970.5 and 971,
or otherwise, and may by resolution change the name of any street,
boulevard, park or place heretofore established; provided further,
that a copy of the resolution or order providing for the new name or
change of name made by any city shall be promptly forwarded by the
city clerk to the clerk of the board of supervisors and county
surveyor of the county in which the municipality is situated.
