Every contract between a county and a city that provides for the furnishing of fire protection services by the county to the city, except a contract to render assistance whenever a fire occurs within the limits of a city of when it cannot be adequately handled by the fire department of the city, shall be for a term of at least one year.

Neither the county nor the city shall have the power to abrogate that contract during the term of the contract. The contractual relationship between the county and the city may, however, be terminated by the voters of either the county or the city.

Terms Used In California Government Code 55603.5

  • City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Government Code 20
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • county: means a county in which a county firewarden has been appointed. See California Government Code 55601
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.

The board of supervisors or the governing body of the city may, at any time, call and conduct a special election in the county or the city, as the case may be, for the purpose of submitting to the voters of the county or the city a proposition for the termination of the contractual relationship between the county and the city.

An election in the county shall be called and conducted in the same manner as other special elections in the county. An election in the city shall be called and conducted in the same manner as other special elections in the city, except that no notice of the election, other than the notice prescribed by § 12110 of the Elections Code, need be given and neither sample ballots nor polling place notices need be mailed for the election.

If at an election in the county or an election in the city, a majority of the voters voting vote in favor of the termination of the contractual relationship between the county and the city, the contractual relationship shall be terminated on the first day of July next succeeding the date of the election, if the election is held on or before February 1 of the fiscal year of the county. If the election is held subsequent to February 1 of the fiscal year, the contractual relationship shall be terminated on June 30 of the fiscal year next succeeding.

(Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 923, Sec. 81. Effective January 1, 1995.)

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