The Legislature finds and declares that Article XIII A of the Constitution, as added by the adoption of Proposition 13 on the ballot at the Direct Primary Election held on June 6, 1978, has substantially reduced the property tax revenues of many special districts, and that the remaining revenues, together with state assistance made available for special districts for the 1978–79 fiscal year, will not, in some instances, be sufficient to adequately finance the operation of special districts for the remainder of the 1978–79 fiscal year.

The Legislature further recognizes that there is a need to reduce the cost of local government and to provide local services in the most cost efficient manner possible. The Legislature urges all special districts to examine the services which they provide, to determine if such services duplicate those services provided by another public agency within the same service area, to determine which services could be eliminated or reduced, and to determine what steps can be taken, including, but not limited to, the consolidation of such districts or the realignment of their boundaries, so as to reduce the cost of providing services.

The purpose of this article is to provide financial assistance to those special districts which will be without sufficient funds to adequately provide services during the remainder of the 1978–79 fiscal year. The Legislature intends that only those special districts which have made a concerted effort to reduce their costs during the 1978–79 fiscal year shall be considered eligible to receive additional financial assistance for the remainder of such fiscal year. It is the intent of the Legislature that boards of supervisors, in distributing funds among eligible special districts, shall make such distribution to districts in such a manner that each district receives an amount commensurate with its 1978–79 revenue loss relative to the similar losses of other eligible districts within the county.

(Added by Stats. 1979, Ch. 12.)