(a) The legislative body of a local agency may by ordinance or resolution, adopted after notice and public hearing, determine and propose for adoption an annual assessment on each parcel of real property within the jurisdiction of the local agency, except that the governing body shall not impose an assessment upon a federal or state governmental agency or another local agency.

(b) The legislative body may establish zones or areas of benefit within the local agency and may restrict the imposition of the assessment to areas lying within one or more of the zones or areas of benefit established within the local agency.

(c) The benefit assessment shall be levied on a parcel, class of improvement to property, or use of property basis, or a combination thereof, within the boundaries of the local agency, zone, or area of benefit. Except as provided in subdivision (d) or (e), in the case of a benefit assessment for flood control services, the benefit assessment may be levied on the basis of proportionate storm water runoff from each parcel. In the case of an assessment levied pursuant to Section 54710.3, the assessment may be levied at a uniform rate per parcel.

The assessment may be levied against any parcel, improvement, or use of property to which such services may be made available, whether or not such service is actually used.

(d) Whenever a railroad, gas, water, telephone, cable television, electric utility right-of-way, electric line right-of-way, or other utility right-of-way is included within an area proposed to be assessed, the railroad, gas, water, telephone, cable television, electric utility right-of-way, electric line right-of-way, or other utility right-of-way shall be subject to the assessment only if, and to the extent that, it is found that it will benefit from the service, and the railroad, gas, water, telephone, cable television, electric utility right-of-way, electric line right-of-way, or other utility right-of-way shall be subject to the same penalties, and the same procedure and sale, in the event of delinquencies, as other parcels in the assessment area. In determining whether or not the railroad, gas, water, telephone, cable television, electric utility right-of-way, electric line right-of-way, or other utility right-of-way benefits from the services provided, its use as a right-of-way for a railroad, gas, water, telephone, cable television, electric, or other utility shall be presumed to be permanent.

(e) Proportionate storm water runoff may be used as a measure of benefit on an undeveloped parcel of land pursuant to this section only if, and to the extent that, it is found that it will benefit from the service.

For the purposes of this section, an undeveloped parcel of land means a parcel of rural land in its undeveloped natural state, although the land may be grazed, if otherwise undisturbed, in a manner consistent with the normally accepted grazing land management practices for that geographic area. An undeveloped parcel of land also includes wetlands and marshlands if undisturbed and subject to periodic inundation. For purposes of this section, rural land is land which is outside of an urbanized area, as designated by the most recent federal decennial census of the United States Bureau of the Census.

(Amended by Stats. 1990, Ch. 446, Sec. 3.)