(a) A proposal for reorganization that includes the consolidation of two or more special districts not formed pursuant to the same principal act shall only be approved by the commission if both the following conditions are met:
(1) The commission is able to designate a successor or successors, or form a new district or districts, authorized by their respective principal acts to deliver all of the services provided by the consolidating districts at the time of consolidation.
(2) The commission makes the determinations specified in subdivision (b) of Section 56881.
(b) If a proposal for reorganization that includes the consolidation of two or more special districts not formed pursuant to the same principal act is initiated by the commission pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 56375, it shall only be approved if the commission has prepared a study pursuant to Section 56378 or the written statement of determinations specified in subdivision (a) of Section 56430, and all of the following conditions are met:
(1) Each of the services provided by the districts subject to the proposal will be provided by a successor or successors, or by the formation of a new district authorized under a principal act to deliver the services. The commission may designate a successor other than the districts subject to the proposal only if the successor is currently providing the same service provided by one or more of the districts subject to the proposal. The commission shall not designate a city as a successor unless the city contains 70 percent or more of the area of land within one of the districts subject to the proposal, or the combined territory of two or more of the districts subject to the proposal, within its boundaries, and 70 percent or more of the number of registered voters of the district or the combined districts who reside within the boundaries of the city.
(2) The public services costs of the proposal that the commission is authorizing are likely to be less than or substantially similar to the costs of alternative means of providing the service.
(3) The proposal that the commission is approving promotes public access and accountability for community services needs and financial resources.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 98, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2008.)