Daniel Maruccia
Partner | Sacramento, San Diego
dmaruccia@lozanosmith.com
Tel: 916.329.7433
Fax: 916.329.9050
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Bio
Overview
Daniel Maruccia is a Partner in Lozano Smith's Sacramento office and co-chair of the firm's Public Finance Practice area. His areas of expertise are public finance, facilities and business, and local government. Mr. Maruccia advises clients on a variety of transactional matters affecting school districts including facilities funding, public contracts, and other business transactions. He is nationally recognized as municipal bond counsel in the Bond Buyers' Municipal Marketplace Guide, commonly referred to as "The Red Book."Additional Experience
Previously, Mr. Maruccia was deputy legislative counsel for the State of California, Office of Legislative Counsel. During his tenure, he provided legal services to members of the California Legislature. He regularly appeared as counsel for the Assembly and Senate Committees on Education. Mr. Maruccia drafted and analyzed legislative measures concerning public education, and prepared in-depth legal opinions on a variety of constitutional and statutory educational law matters with specific emphasis on issues regarding public education governance, administration, and students.On behalf of the California School Boards Association Education Legal Alliance Dan Maruccia prepared the amicus curiae brief in the matter of Traiman v. Alameda Unified School District before the Superior County of Alameda County, relating to the education parcel tax uniformity requirement.
Articles
His articles include "Deadbeat Developers and Cruel Covenants: Collecting on Delinquent Mello-Roos Taxes" published in the Daily Journal, June 2010 and "From Sacramento With Love: Impending Bond Legislation" published in the Small School Districts' Association Newsletter, January/February 2013.Professional Affiliations
Mr. Maruccia is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the State Bar of California, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Public Law Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association.Education
He received his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and a B.A. from the University of San Diego.California Court of Appeal Clarifies "Uniformity" Requirement for School Parcel Taxes
January 2024Number 2The California Court of Appeal recently upheld a parcel tax structure as approved by the voters in the Alameda Unified School District (District). In Traiman v. Alameda Unified School District (2023) 94 Cal.App.5th 89, the Appellate Court clarified the “uniformity” requirement for school district qualified special taxes.BackgroundIn March of 2020, the District’s voters approved, by the requisite two-thirds vote, a new parcel tax to fund increased salaries...
Attorney General Takes Hardline Position on Permissible Use of School Bond Premium
May 2022Number 24On May 19, 2022, the California Attorney General (AG) published Opinion No. 14-202, stating that premium generated from the sale of school district general obligation bonds cannot be used for any purpose other than to pay debt service on the bonds.BackgroundSchool districts, like most public agencies in California, are required to obtain voter authorization in order to issue general obligation bonds. Such bonds are authorized by the voters up to a specific maximum principal a...
Power to the People: California Court of Appeal Rules that Voter Tax Initiatives Are Not Subject to Super-Majority Vote
September 2020Number 67In City & County of San Francisco v. All Persons Interested in the Matter of Proposition C (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 703, California's First District Court of Appeal held that special taxes proposed by voter initiative require only a simple majority vote to pass, notwithstanding the provisions of Proposition 13 and Proposition 218, which would otherwise require a two-thirds approval of the voting electorate.BackgroundIn San Francisco's 2018 general election, 61% of vote...
Federal Reserve Launches Municipal Liquidity Facility for Short Term Lending to Eligible States, Cities & Counties
April 2020Number 30The coronavirus global pandemic and the related shutdowns are causing far-reaching impacts on just about everyone and everything. As the economic toll continues to mount, state and local governments are seeing their tax revenue materially decline, due to decreases in both taxable sales transactions and taxable income. These declines are being compounded by delays, as many states, including California, have postponed their state tax filing deadlines, similar to the IRS' post...
In An Historic Move, California Paves Way For Public Banks
December 2019Number 86Effective January 1, 2020, local agencies will be allowed to create their own public banks. Assembly Bill (AB) 857, known as California's Public Banking Act, allows local agencies and/or joint powers associations to organize nonprofit mutual benefit corporations for the purpose of engaging in the banking business. The stated purpose of the Public Banking Act is achieving cost savings for local government entities, strengthening local economies, supporting local economic ...
AB 48 Increases Bonding Capacity, Provides Facilities Funding At Multiple Levels, Prioritizes Small School Districts, And Reduces Available Developer Fees For School Districts ... But Only Applies If Voters Approve A School Facilities Bond In March
October 2019Number 62The California Legislature recently passed, and on October 7 Governor Newsom signed, Assembly Bill (AB) 48, known as the "Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020."AB 48 places a $15 billion statewide K-12 school and college facilities general obligation bond on the March 3, 2020 ballot.Contingent on voter approval of the statewide bond measure at the Presidential Primary election on March 3, 2020, AB 48 would introduce a slew of significant ...
Legislature Takes Another Run At Bond Measure Ballot Language Requirements
October 2019Number 42UPDATE: Governor Newsom vetoed SB 268 on October 13, citing concern that the bill, as crafted, would "reduce transparency for local tax and bond measures." As a result, existing ballot language requirements, including those added by AB 809 and AB 195, will remain in effect for the 2020 elections, and beyond, unless and until the Legislature revisits the issue again in the future.In an ongoing saga that began with the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 809 in 2015, the Legislat...
SEC: Bank Loans and Other Private Placements to Trigger 10-Day Continuing Disclosure Reporting
November 2018 Number 82 The Securities Exchange Commission's (SEC) Rule 15c2-12 requires that an issuer of publicly offered municipal securities, such as bonds or certificates of participation, commit to disclosing certain material events that occur while those securities are outstanding. Now, the SEC has added two new items to the list of events requiring disclosure. They are: (1) an incurrence of a material financial obligation, or an agreement to events of default, remedies, priority r...
Assembly Bill 6: A Cure for AB 195, But Too Late?
July 2018Number 30As previously reported, effective January 1, 2018, Assembly Bill (AB) 195 requires summary statements for all local ballot measures that impose or raise a tax to include the amount of money the tax will raise annually and the rate and duration of the tax to be levied. (See 2017 Client News Brief No. 82.)In addition to eating into the 75-word limit for summary statements, the new law poses compliance challenges specific to general obligation bonds, which are subject to market...
Tax Bill Eliminates Advance Refunding Opportunities
January 2018 Number 1 On December 22, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, putting into place the most sweeping tax reform seen in three decades, including significant cuts to corporate and individual tax rates. The new law also effectively eliminates a critical tool local agencies have long used to save taxpayers money. The tax bill eliminated the tax-exempt status of advance refunding bonds, effectively ending their use by local government agencie...
New Law Squeezes Local Ballot Measures for Bonds
December 2017 Number 82 A significant new law will require local public agencies to include additional information in summary statements for local ballot measures that raise taxes, including school district general obligation bond measures. Assembly Bill (AB) 195 will amend section 13119 of the Elections Code by requiring summary statements for all local ballot measures that impose or raise a tax to include the amount of money the tax will raise annually and the rate and duration of the t...
Bond Insurers on Credit Watch
June 2017 Number 30 On June 6, 2017, S&P Global Ratings (S&P) placed two of the three active municipal bond insurers, Build America Mutual Assurance Company (BAM) and National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. (NPFGC), on credit watch with negative implications. S&P intends to review the insurers and may adjust their assigned rating based on their competitive strengths or weaknesses relative to their peers. S&P stated that its review may lead to a downgrade of BAM or NPFGC...
All Local Agencies Must Adopt Debt Policy Prior to Debt Issuance as of January 1, 2017
December 2016 As Lozano Smith previously reported (see 2016 Client News Brief No. 69), on September 12, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 1029, which requires all California public agencies to report annually on any debt sold on or after January 21, 2017. In addition to the annual reporting requirement, SB 1029 requires all public agencies to implement a debt policy covering certain minimum statutory requirements. Effective January 1, 2017, a debt policy must be implemente...
Public Finance Legislative Roundup
October 2016 Number 69 In August and September 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed three Assembly bills and one Senate bill related to public finance, including bills regarding K-14 school districts' general obligation bonds and school district parcel taxes. The specifics of each bill are described below. Assembly Bill (AB) 2116: Requirement to Obtain Reasonable and Informed Projections of Assessed Valuations Prior to Ordering a Bond Election Some critics have complained that too o...
Level 3 Litigation Underway, Prohibiting Collection of Level 3 Fees
Lozano Smith Alert May 2016 As Lozano Smith reported yesterday, the State Allocation Board (SAB) took unprecedented action this week authorizing eligible school districts to collect 'Level 3' developer fees. The litigation that was threatened and that was mentioned in our client news brief has become a reality. On the same day that SAB approved Level 3 fees, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate in Sacramento County Superior Court. Ye...
State Allocation Board Authorizes Collection of "Level 3" Developer Fees for the First Time in California History
*** Update: May 27, 2016*** The litigation that was threatened and that was mentioned in the below client news brief has become a reality. Details here. May 2016 Number 33 The State Allocation Board (SAB) has taken the unprecedented step of determining that state funding is no longer available for apportionment for school facilities, triggering some school districts' eligibility to collect higher 'Level 3' fees for the first time ever. The Board's historic May 25 decision is alrea...
California Supreme Court Refuses to Review Court of Appeal Decision Barring Parcel Tax Challenge Filed after Expiration of Period for Reverse Validation Action
April 2016 Number 22 The California Supreme Court recently denied a petition for review of the Court of Appeal's decision in Golden Gate Development Company, Inc. v. County of Alameda, et al. (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 760. As a result, the holdings in Golden Gate Development remain undisturbed, including that: (1) a reverse validation action is the proper procedure for challenging a parcel tax; and (2) such action must be brought within 60 days of passage of the parcel tax measure. In Feb...
Good for a Limited Time Only: MCDC Settlement Offers on the Way
February 2016 Number 5 On Wednesday, February 10, 2016, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) issued an alert urging bond issuers to be on the lookout for calls from the Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division with settlement offers under the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. Based on the SEC's treatment of underwriters in recent rounds of settlement negotiations (in which underwriters were given as little as one week to agr...
School Districts and Community Colleges May Not Pay for Pre-Election Services with Bond Proceeds
February 2016 Number 4 In light of a recent Attorney General opinion, school districts and community colleges are advised to examine their contracts with municipal finance firms for their planned future bond elections and post-election issuance services, particularly where the agency will pay for such services on a contingency basis. According to Attorney General Kamala Harris, in her Opinion No. 13-304, released January 26, 2016, a school or community college district violates California...
California Court of Appeals Raises Questions Regarding Mello-Roos Landowner Voting
October 2014 Number 82 Since its enactment, local government has turned to the flexibility of the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 (Government Code § 53311, et seq., the "Mello-Roos law") to provide a vehicle for financing needed infrastructure, through the levying of a special tax to support issuance of bonds. However, a recent California appellate court opinion, City of San Diego v. Shapiro (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 256 (Shapiro), casts some doubt as to the constitutionalit...
New Public Finance Legislation Requires Public Disclosures on Direct Loans
Number 46 August 2014 On July 23, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2274 (AB 2274), clarifying that governmental issuers of debt must file reports with the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) relating to all debt issues. For purposes of CDIAC reporting, "debt issues" include the full range of financing vehicles, from lease financings for copiers to voter-approved bond issues, and everything in between. Two such reports are required for...
Securities and Exchange Commission Extends Deadline for Municipal Issuers to Take Advantage of Municipalities Disclosure Initiative
July 2014Number 45 On July 31, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Enforcement Division, announced that it has extended the deadline to its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative, from September 10, 2014, to December 1, 2014. The MCDC Initiative was launched earlier this year by the SEC to allow municipal issuers and underwriters to self-report potential violations of their continuing disclosure obligations. The SEC hopes that the extended deadlin...
New Legislation Revises Monitoring and Enforcement of the Prevailing Wage Law for All Public Works Projects in California
July 2014Number 43 When the California Legislature completed final action on the annual state budget in June, it passed the main budget bill, Senate Bill (SB) 852, and sixteen budget trailer bills, including SB 854 which makes changes to monitoring and enforcement of the state's prevailing wage law by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). SB 854 took effect immediately but the changes affecting awarding bodies, contractors, and subcontractors are phased in gradually. Effective immedi...
New Legislation Imposes Greater Transparency Requirements and Structuring Limitations on General Obligation Bond Financings for CA. School Districts and Community Colleges
October 2013 Number 67 In response to recent negative media attention and heightened political scrutiny of some local agency bonds, Governor Jerry Brown signed important public finance legislation on October 2, 2013. Assembly Bill (AB) 182, effective January 1, 2014, places certain restrictions on the issuance of bonds by school districts and community colleges. As we have brought to your attention in a prior Client News Brief, AB 182 primarily addresses controversial issues concerning th...
New Prop. 39 Bond Accountability Requirements for School Districts and Community College Districts
September 2013 Number 53 On August 12, 2013, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 581, effective January 1, 2014, relating to school bonds and accountability. SB 581 requires that the governing board of a school district or community college district provide its Citizen's Oversight Committee (COC) with responses, within three months, to any finding, recommendation, or concern addressed in the annual independent performance and financial audits. SB 581 also requires that such audits be s...
AB 182 and Its Impact on General Obligation Bond Financings for California School Districts and Community Colleges
August 2013 Number 45 An important public finance bill that would potentially restrict the ability of school districts and community colleges to issue bonds is steadily making its way through the legislative process. As we have brought to your attention in a series of Client News Briefs, Assembly Bill 182 (AB 182) addresses controversial issues concerning the use of bonds that allow for the compounding of interest, including capital appreciation bonds (CABs), to pay for K-12 and community...
Court of Appeal Invalidates Tiered Rate For Parcel Tax Measure
March 2013 Number 13 In Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District (March 6, 2013) __ Cal.App.4th __ (2013 WL 820593), the court of appeal granted a rehearing after its December 2012 decision relating to the important issue of whether school district parcel taxes could be structured with tiered rates. Upon rehearing, the court again held that a tiered-rate parcel tax exceeded the school district's taxing authority and was invalid because the rate structure was not uniform for all taxpayer...
From Sacramento With Love: Impending Bond Legislation
January 2013 Number 6 An old axiom among attorneys is that bad facts make bad law. In politics a small sample of extreme circumstances may lead to sympathetic legislators making a law that seems to redress one inequity, but in turn has negative and usually unintended consequences for society. Sometimes an extreme set of facts can push the pendulum too far. Due to a great deal of media attention in recent months, the Legislature seems poised to take action to limit the way school distri...
A Local Funding Source In Troubled Fiscal Times: The Potential Of Parcel Taxes
May 2012 Number 25 With the ongoing uncertainty of state funding, school districts are forced to continue exploring local funding options to address funding shortfalls. A parcel tax is an attractive option because a school district can use parcel taxes for any purpose identified in the ballot measure, including operating expenses. As a result, a parcel tax can be a significant source of unrestricted general fund dollars to support any district programs and needs. In 2011, 18 of 27 (67%...
Court Eliminates One Basis For Public Agencies To Recover Attorney Fees In Stop Notice Enforcement Actions
April 2012 Number 17 When a public entity receives a stop notice on one of its public works projects, it has a statutory obligation to withhold the amount of the stop notice and its "reasonable cost of any litigation." (Civ. Code, § 3186.) Many public entities have historically treated "reasonable cost" as including attorney fees. However, in Tri-State, Inc. v. Long Beach Community College District (Mar. 12, 2012) __ Cal.App.4th __ (2012 WL 764416), the court ruled that "reasonable co...
Planning For Your Summer Projects
March 2012 Number 12 Spring is in the air, and now is the time for planning your summer construction projects. As such, we would like to remind you about two significant changes in the law on public works projects for 2012: the cap on retention and the new prevailing wage compliance monitoring requirements. Retention Cap The first significant change is a new cap on the amount of retention withheld from progress payments on a public works project. Senate Bill (SB) 293 enacted a new s...
Alameda Court Again Upholds Tiered Rate For Parcel Tax Measure
December 2011 Number 85 Backed by voter approval, some school districts levy parcel taxes with tiered-rate, rather than flat-rate, tax structures. Typically, tiered-rate structures have different rates for residential and non-residential use parcels, such as residential rates based on the number of housing units on each parcel, and nonresidential rates based upon the acreage of parcel. Questions have been raised about whether such structures comply with state law requiring that such taxes...
With Passage Of AB 80, School Districts Have One Less Bite At The Prop 39 Bond Apple
August 2011 Number 43 On July 29, 2011, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 80, which eliminates the stand-alone February presidential primary election and consolidates it with the statewide direct primary election in June. Proposition 39 (Prop. 39), passed by the voters in 2000, reduces the electorate approval threshold for school district and community college district general obligation bond measures from two-thirds to 55%. However, among other restrictions, Prop. 39 l...