SECTIONS 17615-17617 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 17615-17617

17615. The Legislature finds and declares that the existing system
for reimbursing local agencies and school districts for actual costs
mandated by the state on an annual claim basis is time consuming,
cumbersome, and expensive at both the local and state levels. The
Controller must process voluminous claims with all claims subject to
a desk audit and selected claims also subject to a field audit. Local
agencies are required to maintain extensive documentation of all
claims in anticipation of such an audit. The volume of these records
is substantial and will continue to grow with no relief in sight as
new programs are mandated. The cost to local agencies and school
districts for filing claims, and for maintaining documentation and
responding to the Controller's audits is substantial. The current
administrative cost to both state and local governments represents a
significant expenditure of public funds with no apparent benefit to
the taxpayers.
It is the intent of the Legislature to streamline the
reimbursement process for costs mandated by the state by creating a
system of state mandate apportionments to fund the costs of certain
programs mandated by the state.

17615.1. The commission shall establish a procedure for reviewing,
upon request, mandated cost programs for which appropriations have
been made by the Legislature for the 1982-83, 1983-84, and 1984-85
fiscal years, or any three consecutive fiscal years thereafter. At
the request of the Department of Finance, the Controller, or any
local agency or school district receiving reimbursement for the
mandated program, the commission shall review the mandated cost
program to determine whether the program should be included in the
State Mandates Apportionment System. If the commission determines
that the State Mandates Apportionment System would accurately reflect
the costs of the state-mandated program, the commission shall direct
the Controller to include the program in the State Mandates
Apportionment System.

17615.2. (a) Notwithstanding Section 17561, after November 30,
1985, for those programs included in the State Mandates Apportionment
System, after approval by the commission, there shall be disbursed
by the Controller to each local agency and school district which has
submitted a reimbursement claim for costs mandated by the state in
the 1982-83, 1983-84, and the 1984-85 fiscal years, or any three
consecutive fiscal years thereafter, an amount computed by averaging
the approved reimbursement claims for this three-year period. The
amount shall first be adjusted according to any changes in the
deflator. The deflator shall be applied separately to each year's
costs for the three years which comprise the base period. Funds for
these purposes shall be available to the extent they are provided for
in the Budget Act of 1985 and the Budget Act for any subsequent
fiscal year thereafter.
For purposes of this article, "base period" means the three fiscal
years immediately succeeding the commission's approval.
(b) When the Controller has made payment on claims prior to
commission approval of the program for inclusion in the State
Mandates Apportionment System, the payment shall be adjusted in the
next apportionment to the amount which would have been subvened to
the local agency or school district for that fiscal year had the
State Mandates Apportionment System been in effect at the time of the
initial payment.

17615.3. Notwithstanding Section 17561, by November 30, 1986, and
by November 30 of each year thereafter, for those programs included
in the State Mandates Apportionment System, the Controller shall
recalculate each allocation for each local agency and school district
for the 1985-86 fiscal year, by using the actual change in the
deflator for that year. That recalculated allocation shall then be
adjusted by the estimated change in the deflator for the 1986-87
fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, to establish the
allocation amount for the 1986-87 fiscal year, and each fiscal year
thereafter. Additionally, for programs approved by the commission for
inclusion in the State Mandates Apportionment System on or after
January 1, 1988, the allocation for each year succeeding the
three-year base period shall be adjusted according to any changes in
both the deflator and workload. The Controller shall then subvene
that amount after adjusting it by any amount of overpayment or
underpayment in the 1985-86 fiscal year, and each fiscal year
thereafter, due to a discrepancy between the actual change and the
estimated change in the deflator or workload. Funds for these
purposes shall be available to the extent they are provided for in
the Budget Act of 1986 and the Budget Act for any subsequent fiscal
year thereafter.
For purposes of this article, "workload" means, for school
districts and county offices of education, changes in the average
daily attendance; for community colleges, changes in the number of
full-time equivalent students; for cities and counties, changes in
the population within their boundaries; and for special districts,
changes in the population of the county in which the largest
percentage of the district's population is located.

17615.4. (a) When a new mandate imposes costs that are funded
either by legislation or in local government claims bills, local
agencies and school districts may file reimbursement claims as
required by Section 17561, for a minimum of three years after the
initial funding of the new mandate.
(b) After actual cost claims are submitted for three fiscal years
against such a new mandate, the commission shall determine, upon
request of the Controller or a local entity or school district
receiving reimbursement for the program, whether the amount of the
base year entitlement adjusted by changes in the deflator and
workload accurately reflects the costs incurred by the local agency
or school district. If the commission determines that the base year
entitlement, as adjusted, does accurately reflect the costs of the
program, the commission shall direct the Controller to include the
program in the State Mandates Apportionment System.
(c) The Controller shall make recommendations to the commission
and the commission shall consider the Controller's recommendations
for each new mandate submitted for inclusion in the State Mandates
Apportionment System. All claims included in the State Mandates
Apportionment System pursuant to this section are also subject to the
audit provisions of Section 17616.

17615.5. (a) If any local agency or school district has an
established base year entitlement which does not include costs for a
particular mandate, that local agency or school district may submit
reimbursement claims for a minimum of three consecutive years,
adjusted pursuant to Section 17615.3 by changes in the deflator and
workload, or entitlement claims covering a minimum of three
consecutive years, after which time its base year entitlement may be
adjusted by an amount necessary to fund the costs of that mandate.
(b) If any local agency or school district has no base year
entitlement, but wishes to begin claiming costs of one or more of the
mandates included in the State Mandates Apportionment System, that
local agency or school district may submit reimbursement claims for a
minimum of three consecutive years, or entitlement claims covering
the preceding three consecutive years, which shall be adjusted
pursuant to Sections 17615.2 and 17615.3 by changes in the deflator
and workload, after which time a base year entitlement may be
established in an amount necessary to fund the costs of the mandate
or mandates.

17615.6. If a local agency or school district realizes a decrease
in the amount of costs incurred because a mandate is discontinued, or
made permissive, the Controller shall determine the amount of the
entitlement attributable to that mandate by determining the base year
amount for that mandate for the local agency or school district plus
the annual adjustments. This amount shall be subtracted from the
annual subvention which would otherwise have been allocated to the
local agency or school district.

17615.7. If a mandated program included in the State Mandates
Apportionment System is modified or amended by the Legislature or by
executive order, and the modification or amendment significantly
affects the costs of the program, as determined by the commission,
the program shall be removed from the State Mandate Apportionment
System, and the payments reduced accordingly. Local entities or
school districts may submit actual costs claims for a period of three
years, after which the program may be considered for inclusion in
the State Mandates Apportionment System, pursuant to the provisions
of Section 17615.4.

17615.8. (a) The commission shall establish a procedure for
reviewing, upon request, any apportionment or base year entitlement
of a local agency or school district.
(b) Local agencies and school districts which request such a
review shall maintain and provide those records and documentation as
the commission or its designee determines are necessary for the
commission or its designee to make the required determinations. With
the exception of records required to verify base year entitlements,
the records may not be used to adjust current or prior
apportionments, but may be used to adjust future apportionments.
(c) If the commission determines that an apportionment or base
year entitlement for funding costs mandated by the state does not
accurately reflect the costs incurred by the local agency or school
district for all mandates upon which that apportionment is based, the
commission shall direct the Controller to adjust the apportionment
accordingly. For the purposes of this section, an apportionment or a
base year entitlement does not accurately reflect the costs incurred
by a local agency or school district if it falls short of
reimbursing, or overreimburses, that local agency's or school
district's actual costs by 20 percent or by one thousand dollars
($1,000), whichever is less.
(d) If the commission determines that an apportionment or base
year entitlement for funding costs mandated by the state accurately
reflects the costs incurred by the local agency or school district
for all mandates upon which that apportionment is based, the
commission may, in its discretion, direct the Controller to withhold,
and, if so directed, the Controller shall withhold the costs of the
commission's review from the next apportionment to the local agency
or school district, if the commission review was requested by the
local agency or school district.

17615.9. The commission shall periodically review programs funded
under the State Mandate Apportionments System to evaluate the
effectiveness or continued statewide need for each such mandate.

17616. The Controller shall have the authority to do either or both
of the following:
(a) Audit the fiscal years comprising the base year entitlement no
later than three years after the year in which the base year
entitlement is established. The results of such audits shall be used
to adjust the base year entitlements and any subsequent
apportionments based on that entitlement, in addition to adjusting
actual cost payments made for the base years audited.
(b) Verify that any local agency or school district receiving
funds pursuant to this article is providing the reimbursed
activities.

17617. The total amount due to each city, county, city and county,
and special district, for which the state has determined that
reimbursement is required under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution, shall be
appropriated for payment to these entities over a period of not more
than 15 years, commencing with the Budget Act for the 2006-07 fiscal
year and concluding with the Budget Act for the 2020-21 fiscal year.