As used in this article:

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Permanent Road Division Law.

Any portion of a county, not already contained in a division, may be formed into a division under the provisions of this article. When formed, each division shall have the powers enumerated in this article. For the purpose of this article, a city is not a division, but may be included in a division.

A petition for the formation of a division may be presented to the board of supervisors of the county wherein the division is proposed to be formed. The petition shall contain:

At least 20 days before the date set for the hearing, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall mail copies of the notice to all affected landowners whose names appear on the last equalized assessment roll.

If written protests are received from 50 percent or more of the affected landowners, or landowners who would be required to pay any proposed special tax or parcel charge which represents more than 50 percent of the total amount of the expected revenue necessary to finance the division and those protests are not withdrawn by the end of the hearing, the proposed division shall be abandonded for at least one year.

Such petition shall be accompanied by an affidavit stating that affiant has compared the valuations given in the petition with those on the last equalized assessment roll and that such valuations are complete and correct. The affiant shall be a person over the age of eighteen who is not a signatory to the petition and who owns no taxable property in the division.

Such petition shall be published in the manner authorized by Section 1196, together with a notice stating the time of the meeting at which the board will consider the petition.

Such petition shall be presented either at a regular meeting of the board or at a special meeting called to receive and consider it. On the day stated in the notice the board shall hear the petition and may adjourn such hearing from time to time, but not longer than one month in all.

Following the hearing or election, as the case may be, the board shall decide if the proposed division is to be formed. If the board decides to form the division, it may make changes in the boundaries as it finds proper and shall define and establish the boundaries. The changes shall not include any territory outside of the boundaries described in the petition or resolution unless the board has given at least 15 days’ notice of its intention to include that territory in the division. The notice shall be given by publication, in the the manner authorized by Section 1196, and by leaving a copy of the notice at each place of abode in the outside territory.

The boundaries established by the board shall be the boundaries of the division until such boundaries are changed in the manner provided in this article.

If the board finds that the boundaries thus established for such division are incorrectly described, it shall direct the county surveyor to ascertain and report a correct description of the boundaries in conformity with the orders of the board. At the first regular meeting of the board after the filing of the county surveyor’s report, the board shall cause to be published, in the manner authorized by section 1196, a notice that the report will be considered at the next regular meeting of the board, stating the day. At the appointed meeting the board shall ratify the report of the surveyor, with such modifications as the board considers necessary. The boundaries established pursuant to this section shall be the legal boundaries of the division.

Any landowner whose property is located within the division may file a verified petition with the board alleging that the property will not be benefited by any construction, improvement, or maintenance project proposed to be undertaken by the division.

In such case, the board shall set the petition for hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be published in accordance with Section 1196. If, after hearing all of the evidence introduced at such hearing, the board finds and determines that the property will not, in fact, be benefited by the proposed project to be undertaken by the division and if there are no outstanding obligations owed by the landowner to the division, the board may order the property withdrawn and the boundaries modified accordingly. Thereafter, the boundaries as modified shall be the legal boundaries of the division.

The board may hold a hearing to determine if any property located outside of a division will benefit from any construction, improvement, or maintenance project proposed to be undertaken by the division.

Notice of the hearing shall be published in accordance with Section 1196. Notice shall also be mailed by the board, at least 10 days prior to the hearing, to all landowners whose property located outside of the division may benefit from the proposed project. The failure to mail any notice, or the failure of any person to receive such notice, shall not affect the validity of any action taken by the board under this section.

If, after hearing all of the evidence introduced at the hearing, the board finds and determines that property located outside of the division will benefit from the project proposed to be undertaken by the division, the board may order the boundaries of the division to be modified so as to include such property. Thereafter, the boundaries as modified shall be the legal boundaries of the division.

At, or at any time after, the time of forming a division, any 10 or more freeholders thereof may petition the board to have plans prepared for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of all or any part of any highway lying within the division, whether or not such highway is mentioned in the petition for the formation of the division. In the event that there are 10 or fewer freeholders thereof, such petition will be sufficient if it bears the signatures of at least a majority of the landowners within the proposed division and the signatures of owners of more than 50 percent of the assessed valuation within the division.

Such petition for construction or improvement shall state if appropriate:

Upon receiving such petition the board shall cause to be prepared estimates, plans, and specifications for the work mentioned in the petition exclusive of maintenance, and for any other highway or work which the board considers a necessary part of the highway mentioned in the petition.

When it has adopted plans and specifications for such work exclusive of maintenance, the board may set apart therefor from the road fund of the county, and from the funds of any district of which the division is a part, such sums as the board considers equitable.

The board shall not set apart from the funds of any such district less than 75 percent of the sum which bears the same ratio to the whole fund of the particular district as the assessed valuation of that part of the division lying in the district bears to the whole assessed valuation of the district. The board may set apart more than this percentage. The board shall cause the sums to be set apart in a fund known as the “permanent road fund of ____ division,” specifying the division by name.

When a special tax is petitioned for, the board shall immediately order an election within the division to determine whether such tax will be levied. The board may submit to the electors at such election the question whether the balance of the estimated cost of the proposed work will be raised by a special tax in one year or spread equally over 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 successive years and whether the amount annually estimated to be needed for maintenance will be raised by the annual levy of a special tax for the period appropriate to the period indicated in the petition. The electorate at such an election shall consist of the registered voters residing within the boundaries of the division if there are 10 or more registered voters residing within the division at the time of ordering the election or if there are less than 10 registered voters within the boundaries of the division at the time of ordering the election the electorate shall consist of the legal owners of the land lying within the boundaries of such division as shown on the last equalized assessment roll unless proof of transfer of legal title satisfactory to the board is submitted to the board at least 10 days prior to the date of election in which event the transferee shall be an elector in the place and stead of the transferor unless the transferor is the legal owner of other property within the boundaries of the division.

The board shall call such election by posting notices in the manner provided in section 1195, and by publishing notice of the election in the manner authorized by section 1196.

Such notice of election shall contain:

For the purposes of this election, the board shall establish, by order, one or more precincts and appoint three judges for each precinct to conduct the election. The election shall be conducted as nearly as practicable in conformity with the general election laws, but no particular form of ballot need be used. To the right of or below the question on the ballot, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets. An informality in conducting the election shall not invalidate the election if it was otherwise fairly conducted.

The officers of the election shall certify the result of the election to the board, giving the whole number of votes cast, and the number for and the number against the tax. If the majority is against the tax, the money transferred to the fund of such division shall revert to the funds from which it was taken.

If two-thirds of the votes cast are for the tax, the board shall annually, at the time of levying the county taxes, levy a special tax in the division sufficient to raise the amount voted for the current fiscal year, sufficient to meet estimated costs of maintenance for the current fiscal year, and sufficient to reimburse the county for any expenses recoverable under Section 1197.

When the levy of a special tax has been authorized, the board of supervisors may advance to the permanent road division the division’s share of the cost of the improvements or the board of supervisors may determine to proceed with such work at such time as the estimated expense has been raised by taxes levied within the division.

The tax so levied shall be collected in the same manner as county taxes and, when collected, shall be paid into the county treasury for the use of the division in which the tax is collected.

In lieu of, or in addition to, any special tax levied pursuant to Section 1178, the board may fix and collect parcel charges for any permanent road division pursuant to the assessment ballot procedures in Section 53753 of the Government Code.

If the petition proposing the work asks for the issuance of bonds of the division, the board shall call an election in such division and submit to the electors thereof the question whether the bonds of the division shall be issued. The board shall call such election by posting notices in the manner provided in section 1195 and by publishing notice thereof in the manner provided in section 1196.

The notice of election shall contain:

The election shall be conducted as nearly as practicable in accordance with the general election laws, but no particular form of ballot need be used. An informality in conducting the election shall not invalidate the election if it was otherwise fairly conducted. To the right of or below each bond proposition on the ballot, the words “Yes” and “No” shall be printed on separate lines, with voting targets.

The officers of the election shall certify the result of the election to the board, giving the whole number of votes cast and the number for and the number against the bonds. If two-thirds of those voting on the proposition are in favor of issuing the bonds, the board shall cause an entry of that fact to be made upon the minutes of the board.

The board may then issue the bonds of the division to the number and amount provided for in the election proceedings. The bonds shall be payable out of the funds of the division, and the money for the redemption of and the interest on the bonds shall be raised by taxation upon the property in the division. The total amount of bonds so issued shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the taxable property of the division as shown by the last equalized assessment roll of the county.

The board, by an order entered upon its minutes, shall prescribe all of the following:

The interest on the bonds shall be payable annually. Each bond and each coupon shall bear the signature or facsimile printed signature of the chair of the board and of the clerk of the board of supervisors. The county treasurer shall, after reasonable notice, sell the bonds to the highest and best bidder, but not for less than par plus any accrued interest.

If, at the election on the question of whether or not bonds are to be issued, the bonds are not authorized, the money transferred to the fund of the division shall revert to the funds from which it was taken.

The board shall cause the highway work provided for in this article to be done in accordance with the provisions of Sections 20391 to 20395, inclusive, of the Public Contract Code, except that the notice calling for bids shall be published in a newspaper published in the division if there is such a newspaper. The successful bidder shall deposit a bond in the amount the board requires, conditioned on the faithful performance of the contract and on the payment for all labor employed and all material used in the work.

Before opening the bids for doing any work provided for in this article, the board may appoint such inspectors as it considers necessary and fix their compensation, or may proceed as provided in either section 1075 or section 1191. Such compensation shall be paid out of the funds of the division. Such inspectors shall:

The board shall make no payment on account of work which is reported by the inspectors to be unsatisfactory, until the objections are investigated and determined to be unfounded, or until the contractor has performed the work in strict compliance with the plans and specifications.

In lieu of the appointment of inspectors as provided in section 1189, or in lieu of proceeding pursuant to section 1075, the board may employ an engineer who shall prepare plans and specifications, supervise the work, and perform such other services as the board requires.

From time to time as the work progresses, the board may make payments on account, but shall not, before the completion of the contract, pay more than seventy-five per cent of the contract price of the amount completed. The board shall not make final payment until the work is accepted by the board.

Any money in the fund of the division, after completion of, and final payment for, the work contracted for, shall remain in such fund and be expended solely in maintaining the highways of that division.

On payment of all debts of the division or on the failure of the division within two years after formation to vote a special tax or bonds for any proposed work, the division shall cease to exist, unless the division also exists for the purpose of maintenance.

A permanent road division formed for the purpose of maintenance that has ceased to exist as a result of the amendments made to Section 1194 by Section 3 of Chapter 1025 of the Statutes of 1969 may be reinstated as an active and functioning division upon order of the board of supervisors adopted by resolution, if the board finds that the necessity for maintenance work within the division continues to exist and any limited period of maintenance set forth in the petition for the formation of the division has not expired.

The board shall cause the notices, which are required to be posted by sections 1174 and 1180, to be posted at least fifteen days before the election along every highway proposed to be constructed or improved, at distances not more than one mile apart, and not less than three such notices.

The board shall cause all publications, required by this article, particularly sections 1164, 1166, 1168, 1174 and 1180, in any proceeding or election, to be published in a newspaper published within the division, if any newspaper is published therein. If there is no newspaper published within the division, the board shall cause such publication to be made in a newspaper published within the county and considered by the board best adapted to give notice to the residents of the division. One publication each week for three successive weeks shall be a sufficient publication under this article, the last publication to be not less than seven days prior to the event of which the publication is notice.

The expenses of organizing a division, conducting any necessary election, and providing engineering services, pursuant to this article, shall be a county charge payable out of the county general fund. If a division is formed and a tax levy authorized or parcel charge imposed, the expenses shall be recovered by the county from the funds of the division.