ARTICLE 8.7. Table Grape Pest and Disease District

Heading of Article 8.7 amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 400, Sec. 1.

§§ 6047.60–6047.124 · 63 sections

• § 6047.60 The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following: (a) California is the leading producer of table grapes in the United States, accounting for 97 percent…
• § 6047.61 This article shall be known and may be cited as the Table Grape Pest and Disease District Law.
• § 6047.62 (a) It is the purpose of this article to make available a procedure for the organization, operation, and dissolution of districts to respond to the effects of…
• § 6047.63 Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this section govern the construction of this article. (a) “Board” or “board of directors” means the…
• § 6047.64 (a) Proceedings for the formation of a district within any county shall be commenced by a petition signed by the owners of 15 percent of the table grape…
• § 6047.65 The petition may be filed in sections, each of which shall comply with all the requirements for a petition, except that a section need not contain the total…
• § 6047.66 Signatures to the petition may be withdrawn at any time before it has been acted upon by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors a declaration signed…
• § 6047.67 (a) The petition shall state the name of the proposed district and shall set forth its boundaries or describe the lands to be included. (b) It is a sufficient…
• § 6047.68 (a) The petition shall be accompanied by a fee in an amount established by the board of supervisors as is necessary to reimburse the county for all costs…
• § 6047.69 (a) Upon the presentation and filing of a petition, the board of supervisors shall refer the petition to the county agricultural commissioner for the…
• § 6047.70 (a) The board of supervisors shall fix a time and place for a hearing of the petition. (b) The hearing shall not be less than 20 days, or more than 40 days,…
• § 6047.71 Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.
• § 6047.72 The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.
• § 6047.73 At the hearing, the report of the county agricultural commissioner shall be received. Protests may be made orally or in writing by any person interested in the…
• § 6047.74 At the hearing, any owner of table grape acreage in the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request, in writing, for the exclusion of…
• § 6047.75 If the board of supervisors determines that the petition does not comply with the requirements of law, the matter may be dismissed without prejudice to present…
• § 6047.76 (a) If the board of supervisors determines that the project is feasible and in the interest of the table grape acreage owners of the county, the board of…
• § 6047.78 (a) In determining the boundaries of the district, the board of supervisors shall exclude from the district any table grape acreage that it finds will not be…
• § 6047.79 Upon the filing of the order of organization, the board of supervisors shall appoint a board of directors of five members to administer the affairs of the…
• § 6047.80 To be a director of the district, a person shall be either an owner of, or the designee of an owner of, acreage included in the district that is devoted, in…
• § 6047.81 Upon his or her appointment, each director shall, in the manner provided by law, subscribe the oath of office and file the oath with the county clerk.
• § 6047.82 (a) From and after the filing for record of the order of the board of supervisors declaring the district organized, and the appointment and qualification of…
• § 6047.83 (a) Immediately after the organization of the district, the directors shall meet and organize as a board and shall elect a chairperson, vice chairperson, and…
• § 6047.84 The members of the board shall serve for terms of two years, or for a longer term as determined by the board of supervisors, and until the appointment and…
• § 6047.85 Upon the expiration of the term of any member of the board, the board of supervisors shall appoint the successor. Vacancies shall be filled by the board of…
• § 6047.86 The members of the board shall not receive any compensation for their services, but may be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses, when claims for…
• § 6047.87 (a) The district may do all of the following: (1) Sue and be sued in all actions and proceedings in all courts and tribunals of competent jurisdiction. (2)…
• § 6047.88 Every district formed pursuant to this article has all of the powers prescribed by Section 6047.87 and other provisions of this article, regardless of any…
• § 6047.89 The county agricultural commissioner of the county in which the district is located shall, upon request of the board, assist the district to the extent…
• § 6047.90 The board shall, immediately after its appointment and after public hearing, formulate an effective plan and adopt a budget of expenditures for the forthcoming…
• § 6047.91 There may be added to the budget for the first fiscal year of the operation of the district an amount not to exceed 20 percent of the total amount of the…
• § 6047.92 For each fiscal year subsequent to the first year of operation of the district, the board shall adopt the final budget in the same manner that the budget for…
• § 6047.94 The district shall identify any parcel of real property with more than one acre of table grape plants that shall be subject to assessments.
• § 6047.95 Whenever acreage within the district is planted with table grape plants in a fashion so as to qualify as table grape acreage, the acreage is subject to…
• § 6047.96 (a) After the district has been formed, an owner of table grape acreage in the district may present to the board a request in writing for the exclusion of that…
• § 6047.97 (a) The board shall, on or before the first Monday in April of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, file with the board of supervisors a budget that…
• § 6047.98 The assessment authorized to be assessed and levied is hereby declared to be in the nature of a special assessment, and the Legislature hereby finds that the…
• § 6047.99 (a) The assessment levied shall be computed and entered upon the assessment roll by the county auditor, and if the supervisors fail to levy the assessment as…
• § 6047.100 The general provisions of the laws of this state, prescribing the requirements for and manner of levying and collecting county taxes and the duties of the…
• § 6047.101 The revenue from the assessments imposed pursuant to this article by the district are trust funds and shall be encumbered only for the purposes for which the…
• § 6047.102 (a) The county treasury shall be the repository of all the moneys of the district. The county treasurer shall receive and receipt for all those moneys, and…
• § 6047.103 If a consolidated district includes parts of two or more counties, the repository of all money of the district shall be the county treasury of the county in…
• § 6047.104 (a) The county treasurer shall pay out money of the district only upon warrants of the county auditor drawn upon the order of the board of directors of the…
• § 6047.105 Acreage devoted exclusively to the growing of table grapes within a tract of land outside the district, but in the county in which the district is located, may…
• § 6047.106 Any two or more districts organized or existing under this article may be consolidated, whether or not the boundaries are coterminous, and whether or not the…
• § 6047.107 The board of directors may adopt a resolution that recites the fact of receipt and the willingness of the district to consolidate, and shall then send copies…
• § 6047.108 The board of supervisors of the county in which is located the largest area of table grape acreage of the proposed consolidated district shall fix a time and…
• § 6047.109 If the board of supervisors determines that consolidation is feasible and in the best interests of the table grape acreage owners of the respective districts,…
• § 6047.110 Upon the adoption of a resolution consolidating two or more districts, the board of supervisors of the county in which is located the largest area of table…
• § 6047.111 The board of a consolidated district has all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the board of any other district organized…
• § 6047.112 Any district that has been included in a consolidated district may withdraw from the consolidated district and be reconstituted as a separate district by…
• § 6047.113 Upon the filing of a petition with the board of supervisors that is signed by either (1) 50 percent or more of the table grape acreage owners who own 65…
• § 6047.114 The board of supervisors shall give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the petition for dissolution.
• § 6047.115 The notice of hearing shall state all of the following: (a) That a petition has been filed requesting the dissolution of the district. (b) That the petition is…
• § 6047.116 Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.
• § 6047.117 The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.
• § 6047.118 If, at the hearing, a majority of the board of supervisors does not find a compelling reason to override the owners’ petition to dissolve the district, the…
• § 6047.119 The board of supervisors shall cause a certified copy of the resolution to be recorded in the office of the county recorder and shall file a certified copy of…
• § 6047.120 Upon dissolution, the right, title, and interest to property owned or controlled by the district that is situated within the corporate limits of any city shall…
• § 6047.121 The board of supervisors is ex officio the governing body of the dissolved district. It may levy assessments and perform other acts solely for the purpose and…
• § 6047.122 All claims and accounts against the district that have not been settled by the board within 90 days after the resolution is recorded pursuant to Section…
• § 6047.123 If there are insufficient funds to discharge all claims and accounts brought pursuant to Section 6047.122, the board of supervisors shall, at the time of…
• § 6047.124 Owners of wine grapes and raisin grapes and any other agricultural commodities may petition to become subject to any district established pursuant to this…