As used in this article the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Chapter 9” means Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 901) of Title 11 of the United States Code.
(b) “Creditor” means either of the following:
(1) An entity that has a noncontingent claim against a municipality that arose at the time of or before the commencement of the neutral evaluation process and whose claim represents at least five million dollars ($5,000,000) or comprises more than 5 percent of the local public entity’s debt or obligations, whichever is less.
(2) An entity that would have a noncontingent claim against the municipality upon the rejection of an executory contract or unexpired lease in a Chapter 9 case and whose claim would represent at least five million dollars ($5,000,000) or comprises more than 5 percent of the local public entity’s debt or obligations, whichever is less.
(c) “Debtor” means a local public entity that may file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9.
(d) “Good faith” means participation by a party in the neutral evaluation process with the intent to negotiate toward a resolution of the issues that are the subject of the neutral evaluation process, including the timely provision of complete and accurate information to provide the relevant parties through the neutral evaluation process with sufficient information, in a confidential manner, to negotiate the readjustment of the municipality’s debt.
(e) “Interested party” means a trustee, a committee of creditors, an affected creditor, an indenture trustee, a pension fund, a bondholder, a union that, under its collective bargaining agreements, has standing to initiate contract or debt restructuring negotiations with the municipality, or a representative selected by an association of retired employees of the public entity who receive income from the public entity convening the neutral evaluation. A local public entity may invite holders of contingent claims to participate as interested parties in the neutral evaluation if the local public entity determines that the contingency is likely to occur and the claim may represent five million dollars ($5,000,000) or comprise more than 5 percent of the local public entity’s debt or obligations, whichever is less.
(f) “Local public entity” means any county, city, district, public authority, public agency, or other entity, without limitation, that is a municipality as defined in Section 101(40) of Title 11 of the United States Code (bankruptcy), or that qualifies as a debtor under any other federal bankruptcy law applicable to local public entities, and also includes a successor agency to a redevelopment agency created pursuant to Part 1.85 (commencing with Section 34170) of Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code. For purposes of this article, “local public entity” does not include a school district.
(g) “Local public entity representative” means the person or persons designated by the local public agency with authority to make recommendations and to attend the neutral evaluation on behalf of the governing body of the municipality.
(h) “Neutral evaluation” is a form of alternative dispute resolution that may be known as mandatory mediation. A “neutral evaluator” may also be known as a mediator.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 26, Sec. 1. (AB 1484) Effective June 27, 2012.)