AB 503

The Civic Center Act authorizes, and in some instances requires, the governing board of a school district to allow the use of school facilities or grounds as a civic center, for specified purposes. The act authorizes or requires, as applicable, the governing board of a school district to charge a fee, not to exceed the school district’s direct costs, as defined, for use of its school facilities or grounds. Existing law, for these purposes, defines “direct costs” to mean the costs of supplies, utilities, janitorial services, services of school district employees, and salaries paid to school district employees directly associated with the administration of this section necessitated by the entity’s use of the school facilities or grounds. Existing law, until January 1, 2025, expanded the definition of direct costs to include a specified share of the operating and maintenance costs proportional to the entity’s use of the school facilities or grounds and a share of the costs for maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment of the school facilities or grounds proportional to that entity’s use of the school facilities or grounds, as specified. This bill would restore, indefinitely, the above-described expanded definition of direct costs that was repealed as of January 1, 2025. The bill would require funds collected relating to maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment to be deposited into a special fund and to be used only for certain purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.