General - Funds - Government - CA

Section § 29300

This law requires that any money coming into the county treasury must be immediately allocated to specific, distinct funds.

The income and revenue paid into the county treasury shall be at once appropriated to and kept in separate funds.

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Section § 29300.5

This law allows county or city and county governments in California to transfer money from special funds to their general fund for general purposes, but only for the 1993-94 fiscal year. The funds must be unreserved and undesignated, and the special fund must have been created under certain sections of the Public Resources Code.

The legislative body can also transfer funds from a special district to the general fund if that district contributed to the Special District Augmentation Fund in the 1990-91 fiscal year but didn't receive funds back. However, money cannot be transferred from local hospital districts, water agencies (except those focused on flood control), transit districts, police protection districts, fire protection districts, or special districts across multiple counties as of July 1, 1979.

A resolution with a majority board vote is needed to authorize these transfers, specifying the amounts and funds involved. Additionally, these transfers should not lead to the imposition or increase of fees or charges to replace the transferred money.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for the 1993–94 fiscal year, unreserved and undesignated fund balances in county or city and county special funds may be transferred to the county or city and county general fund for the general purposes of the county or city and county, provided that the special fund was created pursuant to Sections 41901 and 41902 of the Public Resources Code.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the legislative body of a county or city and county, which also acts as the legislative body of a special district, commencing with the 1993–94 fiscal year, may make transfers of unreserved and undesignated fund balances from the special district to the general fund of the county or city and county for the general purposes of the county or city and county, provided that the district contributed to the Special District Augmentation Fund during the 1990–91 fiscal year and received no distribution from that fund in the same fiscal year.

(c) No provision of this section shall be construed to permit the legislative body of a county or city and county to make transfers from a local hospital district, as described in Division 23 (commencing with Section 32000) of the Health and Safety Code, a water agency that does not sell water at retail other than an agency the primary function of which, as determined on the basis of total revenues, is flood control, a transit district, a police protection district formed pursuant to Part 1 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 14 of the Health and Safety Code, a district engaged in fire protection activities, or a special district that was a multicounty special district as of July 1, 1979.

(d) A transfer of moneys pursuant to this section shall be authorized by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of the board of supervisors, specifying each fund and the amount of moneys in those funds that are to be transferred to the general fund.

(e) A transfer of moneys pursuant to this section shall not result in a county or city and county imposing or increasing any fee, assessment, or other charge to replace the moneys transferred to the general fund of the county or city and county.

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Section § 29301

This section explains that the general fund is made up of money that comes into the treasury and isn't specifically allocated to any other fund.

The general fund consists of money received into the treasury and not specially appropriated to any other fund.

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Section § 29302

This law lets a county's board of supervisors simplify tax accounting by combining a special fund's tax rate with the general fund's tax rate. They can then pay for special fund expenses from the general fund. However, the amount spent from the general fund must not exceed what would have been collected through a separate tax for the special fund.

Additionally, any non-tax revenue meant for the special fund should go into the general fund and be used for its designated purposes. The general fund must always allocate sufficient money to cover the special fund's intended expenses.

If by law a tax is required or permitted to be levied at one uniform rate on all the taxable property in the county for the purpose of creating, replenishing, or contributing to a fund for particular and specified purposes, the board of supervisors may add the tax rate for such fund to the general fund tax rate for the purpose of simplifying the accounting, and the expenditures authorized to be paid from the special fund may be paid from the general fund by appropriations therefrom. The total appropriated from the general fund for the expenditures authorized to be paid from the special fund shall not exceed the total which would have been received if the special tax had been levied and collected separately.

Any money from sources other than taxation required by law to be deposited in the special fund shall be deposited in the general fund and appropriated for the purposes for which expenditures are required to be made from the particular fund.

Any appropriation made from the general fund instead of from a special fund shall not be less than the amount required to be provided in the special fund and shall be used only for the particular purposes for which the special fund is required to be used.

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Section § 29303

This section explains how to handle money from the sale of county or district bonds bought as investments. If bonds are sold for more than their face value or with accumulated interest, that extra money should go into the debt service fund of the county or district, unless the law specifies another fund. Also, interest earned from bonds released after amendments made in 1963 should similarly go to the debt service fund, unless specified otherwise. However, these rules don't apply to school district bond proceeds.

This section does not apply to the sale by counties of bonds purchased as investments. Whenever any bonds issued by any county or by any school, drainage, or other district in any county, whose accounts are required by law to be kept by the county auditor and treasurer, are sold at a premium or with accrued interest, or both, the amounts received for the premiums and accrued interest shall be deposited in the debt service fund of the county or district unless it is expressly provided by law that they be deposited in some other fund.

Interest earned by investment of proceeds of bonds which are authorized after the effective date of the amendment to this section adopted at the 1963 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be deposited in the debt service fund of the county or district unless it is expressly provided by law that such interest be deposited in some other fund or unless some other disposition of such interest is authorized by the resolution which authorized such bonds. This paragraph does not apply to the proceeds of bonds issued by any school district.

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Section § 29304

When local governments like cities or counties impose special taxes on real estate, the county responsible for collecting these taxes can also charge an extra fee. This fee is agreed upon between the county and the local government entity. The extra charge is added to each tax payment and goes into the county's general fund.

Whenever any special assessment or special assessment taxes are levied upon land or real property by any city, county, district or other public corporation, officer, or body, and the same are to be collected by the county or any county officer, whether acting as a county officer or as an ex officio officer of the city, district, public corporation, officer, or body, there shall be added to the amount of the special assessment or special assessment tax an amount fixed by agreement between the county and city, district, public corporation, officer, or body for each special assessment or special assessment tax to be collected. An equal part of such charge shall be collected with each installment of such special assessment or special assessment tax and shall be deducted by the county officer collecting the tax and by him be paid into the general fund of the county.

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