Opinion No. (2010)

EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Attorney General MARC J. NOLAN Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE ROBERT A. RYAN, JR., COUNTY COUNSEL FOR THE COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, has requested an opinion on the following questions: 1. Under the Education Code statute providing that a newly-merged school district "is liable for all of the outstanding bonded indebtedness" previously incurred by its constituent former school districts and related statutory provisions, are the taxing authorities directed to reallocate and reapportion the burden of paying the former districts' cumulative outstanding bonded indebtedness by levying a tax supporting payment of that indebtedness upon all the taxable property within the boundaries of the merged district? 2. If so, does such a statutory directive violate the voter approval provisions of article XIII A of the California Constitution? *Page 2 CONCLUSIONS 1. Under the Education Code statute providing that a newly-merged school district "is liable for all of the outstanding bonded indebtedness" previously incurred by its constituent former school districts and related statutory provisions, the taxing authorities are directed to reallocate and reapportion the burden of…