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CC - ACTION ITEM: Introduction of an Ordinance Amending the Culver City Municipal Code Relating to Administrative Remedies for Challenges to Fees, Charges, and Assessments on Real Property.
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Meeting Date: August 11, 2025
Contact Person/Dept: Elizabeth Shavelson, Finance
Phone Number: 310-253-6016
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (08/07/2025)
Department Approval: Lisa Soghor, Chief Financial Officer (07/25/2025)
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council introduce an Ordinance to amend the Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) to add a new Chapter 3.12 regarding Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies for Challenges to Fees, Charges, and Assessments on Real Property.
BACKGROUND:
Under Proposition 218, the California Constitution requires specific procedures or prerequisites prior to the levying of assessments and property-related fees and charges by a local agency, including notice, hearing, and protest procedures, depending on the character of the assessment, fee, or charge. The Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act further mandates specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with these requirements.
AB 2257, adopted in 2024, authorizes the City to adopt an ordinance which would prohibit a person or entity from suing the City over an alleged failure of the City to comply with Proposition 218 for any new, increased, or extended fee or assessment, as defined, unless that person or entity has timely submitted to the City a written objection to that fee or assessment that specifies the grounds for alleging noncompliance.
DISCUSSION
Litigation over fees, charges, and assessments can be unpredictable, and sometimes can arise over simple errors which would have been corrected or avoided if someone raised an objection at the proper time. The proposed ordinance is partly intended to protect the City from such lawsuits, requiring that any errors be brought to our attention before the fees, charges, or assessments are adopted, so that the City has a chance to correct them or explain why no error actually has occurred.
If the City adopts the proposed Ordinance, the City will also be able to take advantage of several important benefits in any legal challenges to fees, charges, or assessments. First, if a person submits timely written objections, the City’s responses to those objections may be used to bolster evidence supporting the City’s compliance with Proposition 218’s substantive limitations on fees and assessments. Second, in any lawsuit challenging a fee, charge, or assessment for failure to comply with the procedural and substantive requirements of Proposition 218 or the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, the court’s review will be limited to a specifically defined record of documents.
In sum, the proposed Ordinance would limit the potential exposure of the City to lawsuits challenging fees, charges, and assessments, and also help simplify and focus any litigation which does arise.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
This Ordinance will not result in any additional costs for the City, other than staff time to review and respond to written objections required by the Ordinance procedure.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 2025-07-14_Proposed Ordinance Adding CCMC Chapter 3.12
MOTION(S):
That the City Council:
Introduce and an Ordinance amending the Culver City Municipal Code to add a new Chapter 3.12 regarding Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies for Challenges to Fees, Charges, and Assessments on Real Property.