Government Code section 53321

Proceedings for the establishment of a community facilities district shall be instituted by the adoption of a resolution of intention to establish the district which shall do all of the following:

(a)

State that a community facilities district is proposed to be established under the terms of this chapter and describe the boundaries of the territory proposed for inclusion in the district, which may be accomplished by reference to a map on file in the office of the clerk, showing the proposed community facilities district. The boundaries of the territory proposed for inclusion in the district shall include the entirety of any parcel subject to taxation by the proposed district.

(b)

State the name proposed for the district in substantially the following form: “Community Facilities District No. ____.”

(c)

Describe the public facilities and services proposed to be financed by the district pursuant to this chapter. The description may be general and may include alternatives and options, but it shall be sufficiently informative to allow a taxpayer within the district to understand what the funds of the district may be used to finance. If the purchase of completed public facilities or the incurring of incidental expenses is proposed, the resolution shall identify those facilities or expenses. If facilities are proposed to be financed through any financing plan, including, but not limited to, any lease, lease-purchase, or installment-purchase arrangement, the resolution shall briefly describe the proposed arrangement.

(d)

State that, except where funds are otherwise available, a special tax sufficient to pay for all facilities and services, secured by recordation of a continuing lien against all nonexempt real property in the district, will be annually levied within the area. The resolution shall specify the rate, method of apportionment, and manner of collection of the special tax in sufficient detail to allow each landowner or resident within the proposed district to estimate the maximum amount that he or she will have to pay. The legislative body may specify conditions under which the obligation to pay the specified special tax may be prepaid and permanently satisfied. The legislative body may specify conditions under which the rate of the special tax may be permanently reduced in compliance with the provisions of Section 53313.9.
In the case of any special tax to pay for public facilities and to be levied against any parcel used for private residential purposes, (1) the maximum special tax shall be specified as a dollar amount which shall be calculated and thereby established not later than the date on which the parcel is first subject to the tax because of its use for private residential purposes, which amount shall not be increased over time except that it may be increased by an amount not to exceed 2 percent per year, (2) the resolution shall specify a tax year after which no further special tax subject to this sentence shall be levied or collected, except that a special tax that was lawfully levied in or before the final tax year and that remains delinquent may be collected in subsequent years, and (3) the resolution shall specify that under no circumstances will the special tax levied in any fiscal year against any parcel subject to this sentence be increased as a consequence of delinquency or default by the owner or owners of any other parcel or parcels within the district by more than 10 percent above the amount that would have been levied in that fiscal year had there never been any such delinquencies or defaults. For purposes of this paragraph, a parcel shall be considered “used for private residential purposes” not later than the date on which an occupancy permit for private residential use is issued. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to prohibit the legislative body from establishing different tax rates for different categories of residential property, or from changing the dollar amount of the special tax for the parcel if the size of the residence is increased or if the size or use of the parcel is changed.

(e)

Fix a time and place for a public hearing on the establishment of the district which shall be not less than 30 or more than 60 days after the adoption of the resolution.

(f)

Describe any adjustment in property taxation to pay prior indebtedness pursuant to Section 53313.6 and 53313.7.

(g)

Describe the proposed voting procedure.
The changes made to this section by Senate Bill 1464 of the 1991–92 Regular Session of the Legislature shall not apply to special taxes levied by districts for which a resolution of formation was adopted before January 1, 1993.

Source: Section 53321, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=53321.­ (accessed May 10, 2025).

Last Updated

May 10, 2025

§ 53321’s source at ca​.gov