In addition to its other powers and duties, the board of supervisors may do any or all of the following:
(a) Acquire land for and construct, lease, sublease, build, furnish, refurnish, or repair buildings for superior courts and for convention and exhibition halls, trade and industrial centers, auditoriums, opera houses, music halls and centers, motion picture and television museums, and related facilities used for public assembly purposes for the use, benefit and enjoyment of the public, including offstreet parking places for motor vehicles, ways of ingress and egress, and any other facilities and improvements necessary or convenient for their use.
(b) Acquire land and construct buildings, structures and facilities thereon, in whole or in part, with county funds or it may, by contract or lease with any nonprofit association or corporation, provide for the acquisition of land or the construction of buildings, structures and facilities, or all or any part thereof, for public assembly purposes, upon the terms the board may determine.
(c) Lease, pursuant to Section 25371, any real property owned by the county and available for public assembly purposes to any person, firm, corporation, or nonprofit association or corporation for public assembly purposes, with the person, firm, corporation, or nonprofit association or corporation to lease the real property, as improved, back to the county for use for the purposes stated in the lease. Any lease authorized by the board under this subdivision, except leases for superior courts, which may be entered into without advertising for bids, shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after public competitive bidding conducted in the manner determined by the board. Notice inviting bids shall be published pursuant to Section 6066 in a newspaper as the board may direct.
(d) Enter into a lease or sublease, without advertising for bids therefor, of buildings, structures, and facilities or any of them with any nonprofit association or corporation which agrees to use the buildings, structures, and facilities so leased to it for the public assembly purposes for which they were or are to be built; or contract, without advertising, for bids with any nonprofit association or corporation for the maintenance, operation, and management of the buildings, structures, and facilities, or any part thereof used for public assembly purposes, including the scheduling and promotion of events therein, for a specified term, not to exceed 40 years, upon terms and conditions as may be agreed upon. The leases, subleases, or contracts shall provide that, at least annually, there shall be paid to the county the net revenue, if any, from the operation and use of the facilities, remaining after the payment of expenses and costs, if any, for maintenance, operation or management, interest, and principal payments upon loans to the nonprofit corporation or association for purposes of maintenance, operation, or management, and any other expenses, and after providing maintenance and operation reserves. The lease, sublease, or contract shall also provide that, upon its expiration, all of the assets of the nonprofit association or corporation after payment or discharge of its indebtedness and liabilities shall be transferred to the county.
(e) If the county has a population in excess of 4,000,000, without advertising for bids therefor, grant any real property owned by the county, or lease, for a term not to exceed 99 years, any real property owned by the county, to any city, district, or other public entity for any of the above public assembly purposes, without consideration, except the agreement of the grantee or lessee to use the real property for the public assembly purposes specified, and upon terms and conditions which may be agreed upon by the board and the grantee or lessee.
The amendment to this section enacted by Chapter 755 of the Statutes of 1963 shall not be construed to have affected or modified the then-existing duty of any county or board of supervisors to provide adequate quarters for courts. That amendment was intended to provide an alternative method of financing the acquisition of property and buildings for use for courthouse purposes.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 210, Sec. 6. (AB 1984) Effective January 1, 2021.)