AB 1156, as introduced, V. Manuel Pérez. Palo Verde Irrigation District Act.
Existing law establishes the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act with the purpose of, among other things, providing a unified and comprehensive method of supplying the district, as defined, with water for irrigation and domestic uses and protecting lands within the district from flood waters of the Colorado River. Existing law requires any person, firm, or corporation which owns, or has any interest in, real property or improvements on real property, or both, whose interest or ownership is assessed on the last preceding equalized assessment roll of the district be entitled to vote at certain elections related to the district. The act entitles a property owner to one vote for every $100 of assessed valuation on the equalized assessment roll, as specified.
This bill would entitle a person, firm, or corporation that owns land, or any interest in land, whose interest is assessed on the preceding equalized assessment roll of the district to vote at the specified elections. Ths bill would entitle each property owner to one vote for every $100 of assessed value of land, not including improvements, on the equalized assessment roll.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District
2Act is amended to read:
begin insert(a)end insert The State of California and the people thereof
4are hereby declared to have a primary and supreme interest in
5securing to the inhabitants andbegin delete propertyend delete owners of thebegin delete low irrigableend delete
6begin insert lowend insertbegin insert-irrigableend insert lands within what is known as the “Palo Verde
7begin delete valley,”end deletebegin insert
Valley,end insertbegin insert”end insert in Riverside and Imperialbegin delete countiesend deletebegin insert Countiesend insert, the
8greatest possible use, conservation and protection of the waters of
9the Coloradobegin delete riverend deletebegin insert
Riverend insert to the extent that the same may be lawfully
10diverted to their lands, to the end that their water system,begin delete theirend delete
11 land, structuresbegin insert,end insert and other properties may be protected from
12overflow of the flood watersbegin delete of saidend deletebegin insert from theend insert river, their swamp
13lands drained, and thereby the greatest productivity of the largest
14possible area may be accomplished and safely carried on within
15reasonable limits of economy.
16(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following:
end insertbegin insert
17(1) That as a special district, the purpose of the Palo Verde
18Irrigation District is to secure to the district’s landowners and
19inhabitants the greatest possible use, conservation, and protection
20of the waters of the Colorado River, to protect their water system,
21land, structures, and other properties from overflow of the flood
22waters from the river, and to reclaim swamp lands and thereby
23promote the greatest productivity of the largest possible area of
24land within reasonable limits of safety and the economy.
25(2) That the owners of land in the Palo Verde Irrigation District
26enjoy distinct benefits flowing as a result of the district’s declared
27purpose, and absorb specific costs related to this purpose, in the
28form of assessments against land and water charges, and that
29these landowners are therefore substantially affected by, and
30directly interested in, the district’s
governance.
31Investigation
end delete
32begin insert(c)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertInvestigation end inserthaving shown conditions in the Palo Verde
33begin delete valleyend deletebegin insert Valleyend insert to be peculiar to that valley, it is hereby declared that
34a general law cannot be applicable thereto, and the enactment of
35this special law is therefore necessary for the proper distribution
36and use of the waters available for the valley, the protection of
the
37valley against inundation, thebegin delete recla-mationend deletebegin insert reclamationend insert of the
P3 1swamp lands, and financing the development of the valley by the
2means herein provided.
Section 6 of the Palo Verde Irrigation District Act is
4amended to read:
Any person,begin delete firmend deletebegin insert firm,end insert or corporationbegin delete owning any real begin insert end insertbegin insertthat owns landend insert or any
6property and/or the improvements thereon,end delete
7interest inbegin delete real property and/or the improvements thereon (but not begin insert
land whoseend insert interest or
8including personal property) whichend delete
9ownershipbegin insert, not including improvements on the land,end insert is assessed
10on the last preceding equalized assessment roll of the district (and
11only the owners ofbegin delete propertyend deletebegin insert landend insert so assessed) shall be entitled to
12vote at any election, special or general, for the election of trustees,
13or for any other purpose pertaining to the affairs ofbegin delete saidend deletebegin insert theend insert district.
14Each property ownerbegin delete soend delete qualified to vote
shall be entitled to cast
15one vote forbegin delete eachend deletebegin insert everyend insert one hundred dollarsbegin delete of assessed valuationend delete
16begin insert ($100)end insert
or fraction thereof greater than fifty dollarsbegin delete, as the same begin insert ($50) ofend insert assessedbegin insert value of land, not including
17appears to have beenend delete
18improvements on the land,end insert on the equalized assessment roll of the
19district last preceding the holding of the election. In determining
20the total number of votes any voter is entitled to cast, the total
21assessed value of all parcelsbegin insert of the landend insert owned by the voter shall
22be divided bybegin delete one hundredend deletebegin insert 100end insert,
and the quotient shall determine
23the number of votes.
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