The legislative body of any public or municipal corporation or district may contract with and employ any persons for the furnishing to the corporation or district special services and advice in financial, economic, accounting, engineering, legal, or administrative matters if such persons are specially trained and experienced and competent to perform the special services required.

The authority herein given to contract shall include the right of the legislative body of the corporation or district to contract for the issuance and preparation of payroll checks.

The legislative body of the corporation or district may pay from any available funds such compensation to such persons as it deems proper for the services rendered.

Therefore, the Legislature finds and declares that these problems are not merely municipal affairs or matters of local interest and that they are truly matters of statewide concern that require the direct attention of the state government. In providing a uniform limit on the retirement benefits for the legislative bodies of all political subdivisions of the state, the Legislature has provided a solution to a statewide problem that is greater than local in its effect.

The term “district,” as used in this section, means a district, public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision or public corporation in the state, but does not include the state or a county, city and county, or city.

Any district, directly or through a representative, may attend the Legislature or any other legislative body, including Congress, and any committees thereof and present information to aid the passage of legislation which the district deems beneficial to the district or to prevent the passage of legislation which the governing board of the district deems detrimental to the district. The cost and expense incident thereto are proper charges against the district. Such districts may enter into and provide for participation in the business of associations and through a representative of the associations attend the Legislature, or any other legislative body, including Congress, and any committees thereof, and present information to aid the passage of legislation which the association deems beneficial to the districts in the association, or to prevent the passage of legislation which the association deems detrimental to the districts in the association. The cost and expense incident thereto are proper charges against the districts comprising the association.

Each member of the district board engaging in such activities on behalf of the district shall be allowed eleven cents ($0.11) per mile, without any constructive mileage, for his expenses of traveling necessarily done by automobile, and his actual traveling expenses when he travels by public conveyance.

emphasizes the importance of safeguarding individual privacy and ensuring the secure handling of collected data in accordance with relevant privacy laws and regulations.

The legislative body of a city, county, or fire protection district may expend money for the payment of contributions to a retirement system authorized to do business in the State for retirement benefits to volunteer or paid firemen of the fire department. For the purposes of determining such contributions the compensation of such firemen shall be either the compensation actually paid or that provided by Section 4458 of the Labor Code, whichever is greater. The legislative body may by ordinance provide for the conditions of retirement and may contract with such retirement system as provided in the ordinance. The authority granted by this section shall not be construed as a limitation on any powers heretofore or hereafter granted to the legislative body of a city, county, or fire protection district to provide for the retirement of volunteer or paid firemen.

Whenever any notice or other communication is required by law to be mailed by registered mail to or by any county, city or district, or any officer or agency thereof, the mailing of such notice or other communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of such law.

Any county, city, city and county, district, authority or other public corporation or agency which has the power to produce, conserve, control or supply water for beneficial purposes shall have the power to engage in practices designed to produce, induce, increase or control rainfall or other precipitation for the general benefit of the territory within it.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event there are two or more identical lowest or highest bids, as the case may be, submitted to a local agency for the purchase, sale, or lease of real property, supplies, materials, equipment, services, bonds, or the awarding of any contract, pursuant to a provision requiring competitive bidding, the local agency may determine by lot which bid shall be accepted. “Local agency” shall include any city, county, city and county, or public district.

No local agency furnishing water for residential use to a tenant shall seek to recover any charges or penalties for the furnishing of water to or for the tenant’s residential use from any subsequent tenant on account of nonpayment of charges by a previous tenant. The local agency may, however, require that service to subsequent tenants be furnished on the account of the landlord or property owner.

The provisions of law (except Section 25256 of this code) relating to budgets and other fiscal matters except borrowing which apply to counties shall also apply to any district, whose governing body is the board of supervisors or for which county fiscal officers are ex officio fiscal officers, except that this section shall not apply:

Each special district, as defined by subdivision (a) of Section 56036, shall, at least annually, disclose any reimbursement paid by the district within the immediately preceding fiscal year of at least one hundred dollars ($100) for each individual charge for services or product received. “Individual charge” includes, but is not limited to, one meal, lodging for one day, transportation, or a registration fee paid to any employee or member of the governing body of the district. The disclosure requirement shall be fulfilled by including the reimbursement information in a document published or printed at least annually by a date determined by that district and shall be made available for public inspection.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 53066, with respect to any franchise which becomes effective on or after January 1, 1984, the initial franchise fee payment shall not be paid or be made payable in advance for any period of operation which occurs more than 12 months following the date upon which initial payment is made, except that in the case of a joint powers agency which includes a county, or any portion thereof, and one or more cities, formed for purposes of issuing and administering one or more cable television franchises for a community antenna system in an area comprising more than 300,000 households, there may be an advance payment of franchise fees for purposes of the initial preparation, execution, administration, and supervision of the franchise documents and construction of the community antenna system, which payment shall not exceed eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000).

Any advance payment of a franchise fee shall be credited against a franchise fee which subsequently becomes payable. No payment of franchise fees, other than the initial payment, may be made in advance.

Every cable television system operating under a franchise or license awarded pursuant to Section 53066 shall, by July 1, 1984, and thereafter, offer to make a lockbox available to each of its subscribers. The monthly service charge for a lockbox shall not exceed fifty cents ($0.50), except that on January 1, 1985, and annually thereafter, the maximum monthly service charge shall be increased by an amount equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.

A city, county, or city and county is not precluded by this or any other provision of law from requiring, as a condition to the granting of a franchise, that a cable television system make lockboxes available to subscribers without charge.

For purposes of this section, a “lockbox” is a parental control device, either in the form of a separate unit or incorporated into a descrambler or other piece of equipment used to provide cable television service, which is made operational by a key or by a code, and which enables the subscriber to prevent the viewing of any pay channel offering adult programming.

Unless a cable television system operating under a franchise granted pursuant to Section 53066 incorporates technology to prevent unwanted reception of audio and video signals from occurring under normal operating conditions, the system shall provide a written statement to all new subscribers advising them that audio or video signals, or both, may be present on certain channels to which they do not subscribe.