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This restriction also applies to an agency appointed representative sitting on
another agency board that holds a closed session. The appointed official may not disclose
confidential information from that closed session to its appointing legislative body.

(Government Code § 54963; Harron v. Bonilla (2005) 125 Cal.App.4th 738, review granted (28
Cal.Rptr.3d 3) and subsequently dismissed (49 Cal.Rptr.3d 654); Kleitman v. Superior Court
(1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 324; ___Ops.CalAtty.Gen.___(2022), Opn. No. 21-1102; 86
Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen 210 (2003).)

V.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR HEARINGS
ON TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS

When considering new or increased taxes and assessments which are not subject
to separate notice and public hearing requirements, local legislative bodies must hold a public
meeting and public hearing in accordance with procedures set forth in the Brown Act. These
procedures require that the local agency publish a joint notice of the meeting and the public
hearing in the newspaper, with not less than 45 days’ notice of the hearing and not less than ten
days’ notice of the meeting. The meeting must also take place at least seven days prior to the
public hearing. The notice must contain detailed information about the nature, purpose, and
amount of the proposed tax or assessment.

Any new or increased assessment subject to the notice and hearing requirements
of Proposition 218 (California Constitution, Articles XIIIC and XIIID) are not subject to these
notice and hearing requirements.

With the adoption of Proposition 26 in 2010, the definition of taxes was expanded
to include regulatory and service fees where those fees exceed the costs of implementing the
regulation or providing the service.

(Cal. Const., art. XIIIC, § 1; Government Code § 54954.6.)

VI.
VIOLATIONS AND REMEDIES

A. INTENTIONAL VIOLATIONS OF THE BROWN ACT ARE MISDEMEANORS

A member who attends a meeting where action is taken in violation of the Brown
Act and where the member intends to deprive the public of information which the member
knows or has reason to know the public is entitled, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Government Code § 54959.)

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